Like Face-Lifts, Stackable Treatments Turn Back the Clock

Great article below from the New York Times on using multiple treatment options to provide a non-surgical facelift. I’m always amazed at what can be achieved through the combined use of Botox, Fillers and energy devices like the Exilis, Matrix RF & Fractional Lasers that in many cases can turn back the clock often by a decade or more with minimal downtime in just a few office visits.

Many patients tell us they cannot afford to take off a weeks to a month from work or simply do not want to go through the upfront cost & recovery of a combined surgical Face/Neck Lift. The great news in this day and age is that much “CAN” be done that was not thought possible even a few years ago. Now the results are not quite as good as a surgical Face/Neck lift but for many patients that’s ok as non-surgical options fit better into their lifestyles & budget. For patients who do want a surgical option our own Dr. LaGrasso has that option as well and it’s one of his favorite procedures. At [mrktmade_shortcode config=”practice”] one of our core philosophies is offering our patients multiple options for their medical aesthetics needs so we can work within your requirements rather than a one size fits all equation.

Like Face-Lifts, Stackable Treatments Turn Back the Clock

Dr. Debra Jaliman, standing, with a patient in her office. Dr. Jaliman offers a multistep procedure called “facial rejuvenation.”

By ALIX STRAUSS

The last time Lisa Marcus was at the Fifth Avenue office of her dermatologist, Dr. Debra Jaliman, she ran into someone she went to high school with.

“She asked if I’d had a face-lift,” said Ms. Marcus, 55, a recent retiree who had instead opted for a nonsurgical office procedure that some are calling a “facial face-lift”: a package of treatments that may include not just extractions but injections of neurotoxins like Botox and hyaluronic acid filler, as well as red light therapy.

“No one in New York can come back and forth for different treatments when you can do them all in one day and still find it result-oriented,” said Dr. Jaliman, who has been offering such a multistep procedure, called “facial rejuvenation,” for about a year, at a cost beginning at $3,000. “This is a step-down face-lift,” Dr. Jaliman said, adding that a surgical lift only pulls skin away from the face and lessens the appearance of wrinkles but doesn’t add volume or contour.

Dr. Julius Few, owner of the Few Institute for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Chicago who also has an office in Manhattan, is offering another version of the facial face-lift, featuring “stackable” treatments including ultrasound and lasers, for about $5,000. “You’re not doing a massive overhaul like you would with a true face-lift, but rather strategic, controlled intervention that has been tailor-made for you,” he said. “The facial is no longer just a facial.”

The development of such packages might seem prescient considering the release of a study published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that perceived attractiveness was only minimally increased after cosmetic surgery.

The field has suffered in recent years. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, cosmetic minimally invasive procedures increased more than 10 percent in 2012 from 2011, compared with 3 percent for cosmetic surgical procedures. “In the depths of the recession people were putting off plastic surgery, which aside from technology advancements is probably why these facials have become popular,” said Dr. Edwin F. Williams, the medical director and founder of the Williams Center for Plastic Surgery in Albany, with an office in Manhattan.

Technological advancements have also enabled amped-up facials in nonmedical settings like Dangene’s Institute of Skinovation, in the Core Club on East 55th Street, which offers a “skin rejuvenation treatment” involving 90 minutes of wet and dry microdermabrasion, ultrasound with serum, oxygen and LED light (it does not include injections, though the spa also offers them). The price: $2,500. “Facials that are face-lift-like are what our first cellphones were,” said Dangene Enterprise, the institute’s founder and owner and an aesthetician. “They’re extremely pricey because the equipment is expensive. If they lower the cost of the equipment, we would lower the price of a facial.”

Since their results can last as long as three to four years, “stackable” treatments like Dr. Few’s might seem a better value than multiple facials from a high-end spa. But though Dr. Williams’s practice offers a nonsurgical “liquid face-lift” that involves multiple fillers customized to the individual patient, he doesn’t consider them a sound investment, relatively speaking. “If you see marginal results and you’ve spent $10,000 on it, it’s not a good value when a brow, neck and jawline face-lift can cost $25,000 to $50,000 and last 7 to 10 or more years,” he said.

One person’s “marginal” is another’s “subtle.”

“I don’t have to spend $30,000 or go into hiding for weeks,” said Ms. Marcus, the patient who was pleased with her facial face-lift. “You can have the work done in the office, go home, look better and your husband or boyfriend will never know you’ve done anything.”