With all of the cosmetic treatment options available, we’re able to pump the breaks on how we’re aging. More and more people are choosing nonsurgical solutions before or instead of committing to surgery. According to the Aesthetic Society statistics, nonsurgical interventions rose 23 percent from one year to the next. And while facelifts are surely growing in popularity, not everyone is ready for one. Fortunately, a myriad of noninvasive facelift alternatives exist to help achieve a rejuvenated look without going under the knife. Here, the transformative noninvasive facelift options that give the face a “lifted look” without going into the operating room.
A “Liquid Facelift”
Who it’s for: Someone with mild-to-moderate wrinkling and mild skin laxity or sagging.
What it is: This noninvasive facelift alternative can help with drooping eyelids, sagging cheeks, and severely wrinkled skin. Results are usually gradual and can range from subtle to significant
“A ‘liquid facelift‘ involves between four and eight syringes of filler and between 25 and 100 units of botox,” says West Palm Beach, FL Kenneth Beer, MD. “A good candidate is typically a healthy individual with mild to moderate skin laxity, lost facial volume, or wrinkles. Ideal candidates may have fine or deeper facial lines, mild jowls or ‘smoker’s lines’ around the mouth. It’s important to note that a liquid facelift is not a major recontouring of the face, but rather a revitalization of the natural contours.”
FaceTite Radio-Frequency
Who it’s for: Someone with mild-to-moderate skin laxity, particularly in the lower face and neck.
What it is: It’s a minimally invasive approach that uses radio-frequency heat and liposuction, offering an alternative to traditional facelifts. “A lot of younger patients want to seek facial treatments that will have an impact,” says Palo Alto, CA facial plastic surgeon Jill Hessler, MD. “So there’s a kind of nice combination of FaceTite, often with buccal fat removal and maybe a little fat transfer, that can create some powerful transformations.”
Ellacor Micro-Coring
Who it’s for: Someone seeking a facelift alternative who wants to improve the appearance of moderate-to-severe wrinkles and has ample downtime. Dr. Allenby says to plan to be out of sight for a bit during recovery. “I would recommend allowing yourself a few weeks for recovery. It might be uncomfortable for about a week before you can start using makeup to cover up.”
What it is: Ellacor is a minimally invasive treatment designed to reduce wrinkles and excess skin in the mid to lower face. “It uses coring needles to extract thousands of micro-cores of skin which causes the skin to then retract and tighten while its healing,” explains Delray Beach, FL dermatologist Dr. Janet Allenby.
Laser-coring
Who it’s for: Those with mild, moderate or severe sagging or laxity who want to see smoother, firmer skin.
What it is: Laser-coring by UltraClear is a skin treatment technology that uses a cold, ablative fiber laser to enable tissue coring, which helps improve deep wrinkles, scars and other age-related skin issues. A lot of people refer to is at a facelift alternative or noninvasive facelift, but it is minimally invasive. The treatment generates healing, which stimulates more collagen and leads to tightening. Like micro-coring, laser-coring creates tiny, miniscule cores into the skin, triggering the dermis to go into healing mode. “It’s significantly less painful,” explains Newton, MA dermatologist Madeline Krauss, MD. “The recovery is faster, and safety is greatly enhanced. The procedure is highly customizable, leveraging the combined benefits of tissue coring and laser rejuvenation. This synergy produces a compounding effect, leading to rapid collagen contraction.”
MyEllevate
Who it’s for: Good candidates for MyEllevate are those with mild to moderate sagging in the jawline and neck area.
What it is: “The MyEllevate is a more manly invasive way to control the neck and subcutaneous tissues of the neck,” says Portsmouth, NH plastic surgeon Anthony J. Wilson, MD. The minimally invasive contouring technique uses a supportive sling to hold the neck’s underlying structures, providing a more defined look. It is often done in-office, takes about an hour to complete, and typically requires minimal post-procedural care and recovery time.
