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Facial Plastic Surgeon Discusses Facelift Alternative: The Liquid Facelift

 

Going under the knife is no longer the only option for facial rejuvenation, a Liquid Facelift uses a variety of facial fillers that can be combined to restore volume, erase lines and even restructure the face and turn back the clock.

With the market flooded with dermal or facial fillers, it's hard to distinguish which filler does what. Each filler has it's strengths and weaknesses and should be used to address individual needs but they may be combined to give overall facial rejuvenation or what it is known as in the aesthetic industry: the Liquid Facelift.

Houston facial plastic surgeon Dr. Haresh Yalamanchili comments, "People who are interested in non-invasive, non-surgical treatments like BOTOX or fillers don't really understand that they treat different things. BOTOX stops active expression lines, such as in the forehead, between the brows or Crows Feet. Facial fillers are used to volumize and plump up areas of the skin or lips."

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Actual BOTOX Before and After Photos of Dr. Haresh Yalamanchili



As we age, we begin to lose fat and tissue in the face and skin becomes lax due to that loss of volume. Similar to a balloon that has deflated, skin that previously had volume beneath it is now shrunken, giving the appearance of laxity and wrinkles.

A traditional facelift is a surgical procedure that removes fat, tightens underlying facial muscles and removes excess skin but many experts are now saying adding volume also plays a key part in restoring youthfulness to the face. As an option to a traditional facelift, a Liquid Facelift may be performed during lunchtime with little or no downtime, although results will not be as dramatic as it's surgical counterpart.

houston facial filler radiesse restylane results
Actual Radiesse & Restylane Before and After Results of Dr. Haresh Yalamanchili



Depending on what part of the face and what needs to be treated, each facial filler excels in different ways. "The way I treat patients depends on what area that we're trying to focus on. For example, if we're really focusing on the lines around the mouth, I like to use something that penetrates a little bit deeper such as Radiesse," says Dr. Yalamanchili, "But for fine or superficial lines around the mouth and to plump up lips I like to use Juvederm. We've also had good success with Restylane but we're using it more to restructure the face - for example, building up the cheeks or augmenting the chin a bit."

houston lip augmentation filler juvederm results
Actual Lip Augmentation with Juvederm Results of Dr. Haresh Yalamanchili



For optimal, long lasting results, Dr. Yalamanchili often adds the facial fillers in a bi-layer technique, utilizing 2 different fillers injected into the same site. "For example, we would inject Radiesse deeper into the dermis because it's a thicker facial filler and would serve as a foundation. After a few days, we would layer a lighter hylauronic acid filler such as Juvederm or Restylane on top of the same area previously injected with the Radiesse. The more superficial hylauronic acid fillers act as a type of Spackle to provide the smoothest possible results," says Dr. Yalamanchili. This use of dual fillers is ideal for patients who have deeper creases or have more severe wrinkles to be treated.

houston juvederm results
Actual Juvederm Before and After Photos of Dr. Haresh Yalamanchili



Another product that Dr. Yalamanchili uses in his practice to address facial rejuvenation is Sculptra. He says, "Sculptra is really a holistic approach to volumize in the face and something we're beginning to see trend in the last several years. It's not just about making things tighter or plumping up lines but rejuvenating the face overall." Sculptra is unique in it's ability to stimulate new collagen growth and creating an overall fuller and more youthful face.

According to Dr. Yalamanchili, "With some some of the facial fillers, such as Juvederm or Radiesse, patients will see results immediately. Sculptra takes a little bit of time to work because it is working in a different manner. With Sculptra, results are not immediate after injection because the body reacts to it by creating new collagen. That stimulation is what delivers the natural volumization, a nice plumpness to the face but occurs over several weeks."

houston facial filler results
Actual Radiesse & Juvederm Before and After Photos of Dr. Haresh Yalamanchili



Dr. Yalamanchili stresses the importance of having the different types of fillers for the different areas, "There are a lot of tools that we have that help rejuvenate the face, when we mix and match these different treatments, we can get get great facial rejuvenation results. Granted, the results aren't dramatic as they are in surgery, like a facelift, but it can be performed during lunchtime - patients can come in, go back to work and there isn't really any downtime."