Face Procedures |
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Customized Facial Rejuvenation
CUSTOM LIFT®
PROCEDURES IN DETAIL
Overview of Customized Face Rejuvenation
The key to facial procedures is to rejuvenate the face and create facial harmony. Well performed plastic surgery has evolved beyond the point of just skin pulling. Recent advances have highlighted the importance of treating all aspects of the aging face. This includes muscle tightening, fat suspension, fat transplantation, as well as skin tightening.
Dr. Cruise has gone over in detail the facial rejuvenation procedures that he utilizes routinely in his practice. It is important to educate yourself and to consult with a plastic surgeon whom you can trust. This will allow you to be able to make the right decisions to achieve the goals that you are looking for.
The concept of face rejuvenation has undergone dramatic improvement over the last last decade. In my hands and other experienced plastic surgeons, it has become less focused on skin-tightening and more focused on the resuspension and addition of fat with gentle redraping of the skin. This eliminates the over-done "surgical look" and creates a more natural, youthful appearance. The difference between "surgical-look" of the traditional face lift and the natural look of the new CustomLift® is apparent in the pictures. With the Custom Lift® it is not appearent that they had anything done, aside from the fact that they look more refreshed. There is no reason to have an "operated on" look.
Custom Lift®
Facial aging is a very complex process. It primarily involves the descent and loss of facial fat and muscles and secondarily the sagging of the skin. This is why it is essential to address each patient's specific problem areas instead of performing a one-size-fits-all lift. The CustomLift® is a methodical way of identifying the individual causes of each patients facial aging and applying the most appropriate correction method possible. This creates predictable results with minimal down time. It addresses the underlying problem instead of creating a "pulled" look.
Youthful Face
Aging Face
The real value of the Custom Lift® is in the experience and methodical thought process of the board certified plastic surgeon. Rather than a "one size fits all" procedure created by a cosmetic surgery marketing team, the Custom Lift® is unique for each individual and performed by highly experienced Board Certified Plastic Surgeons. These Plastic Surgeons have their own practices based on great results and patient referrals as opposed to being managed by a marketing group.
What exactly is CustomLift®?
There are three fundamental processes that make the CustomLift® exceptionally predictable and successful:
- Clearly Define the Priary Concers
- Identify the Contributing Factors
- Prioritize
The fundamental concept of the CustomLift® is to educate each patient in an easy to understand fashion outlining the causes of their facial aging. Then, to prioritize their treatment plan so that the patients can achieve their desired result in the least invasive manner possible.
1. Clearly Define the Primary Concerns.
A consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon will accomplish this task.
The most common concerns include:
- a tired appearance of the eyes
- a gaunt, hollow look of the cheeks
- sagging jowls
- hanging neck
It is essential to understand the patient's primery concern to make sure that, at a minimum, this concern is corrected.
2. Identify the Contributing Factors.
CustomLift® categorizes this via a "Regional Approach" to facial rejuvenation. Facial aging is not an isolated process; it usually involves an entire region, if not the entire face. This can be a difficult concept to understand but it makes sense. A great example is the tired, sagging upper eyelid. Patients routinely believe that simple removal of the upper eyelid skin will take care of their problem. Usually, this is not the case; especially in people over 40 years of age. Often, there is a sad look to the outer corner of the eye caused by descent of the temple region. In order to treat the problem completely a regional approach is necessary; otherwise you will get an unnatural appearance as one part is rejuvenated and the other stays lax. Typically this is best addressed by an upper blepharoplasty and temple lift. Together they correct all the contributing problems to this region. Conveniently, adding the temple lift does not significantly increase the recovery or cost of the procedure.
Eyelid Rejuvenation
A more complex example is what occurs with aging with the face and neck. There are always multiple contributing factors. It is the plastic surgeon's responsibility to determine what they are based on his/her extensive experience and training. Later in this section we will break down each area into components. This is the methodology that is used by plastic surgeons who perform the CustomLift®. Breaking down each area will allow you to easily understand what is causing your area of concern.
3. Prioritize. Simply telling telling the patient what needs to be corrected is not enough. It is critical for the surgeon to accurately assess what is the relative importance of each contributing factor and to prioritize them. This enables you to make an educated decision as to what is necessary to achieve the results you are looking for. You can make an educated decision regarding how much or how little you wish to have done. A "one-size-fits-all" face lift is never appropriate.
Obtaining the Best Result Possible is Paramount.
Other heavily marketed face lifts concentrate on a "one-size-fits-all" factory-type face lift. CustomLift®, on the other hand, represents the best that plastic surgery has to offer.
To enhance the results certain ancillary procedures such as a chemical peel, fat transfer or BOTOX® can be added. This allows for a more complete facial rejuvenation.
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Face lift enhanced by Chemical Peel and conservative Lip Augmentation. |
CustomLift® Components
The CustomLift® evaluates facial aging by separating the face into three anatomically linked regions; the upper face, the mid face, the lower face and the neck. This regional approach allows the patient to understand all the components of aging within that area.
Typically, it is critical to address multiple components within the problem area in order to obtain an optimal natural rejuvenation. In keeping with the CustomLift® philosophy, it is essential for you to understand the relative importance of each component. This allows you to obtain the optimal result with the least invasive approach. Let's go through each region.
Poor Skin Quality and Sun Damage
With age and sun exposure many unfavorable things happen to facial skin. The surgical procedures above address how to manage skin excess, skin sag and volume loss. The most difficult problem to correct, however, is poor skin quality.
Aging causes the dermis to become thin. This, along with sun damage, causes the skin to loose its elasticity. Therefore, neck and facial skin that is tight and smooth in a 30 year old becomes loose and saggy in a 50 year old.
How can skin quality be improved?
The CustomLift® addresses poor skin quality primarily using two modalities. One is a chemical peel. This penetrates the dermis causing it to heal with thicker, more elastic dermis. It has anywhere between a 3 day to a 2 week recovery period depending on how strong of a peel is desired. The most impressive result of a chemical peel is its ability to get rid of the aged spots and caused by sun damage.
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Sun damage corrected with chemical peel. Notice the dramatic improvement of skin quality. |
The second modality is daily exfoliation and dermal thickening. This is typically done with a glycolic acid moisturizer in the morning and retinoic acid (Retin A) at night. Both of these agents are excellent exfoliators. They effectively get rid of the top layer of dead skin and leave a healthier, radiant appearance to the skin. They are effective and inexpensive, unlike many highly marketed products which really do not work. Other products can also be incorporated but these two are essential.
Face Lift incisions |
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Traditional face lift incision. |
CustomLift incision. Notice there is no incision behind the ear. |
Testimonial
Facial Rejuvenation Video
This surgery lifted my spirit as well as my face, it just have given me new outlook on life. I look in the mirror and I'm really happy with what I see. Dr. Cruise did a wonderful job. I'm so happy I went to Dr. Cruise. He was more than just a doctor, he was a friend. Shortly after my surgery he called me not once but twice at home to see how I was doing, to see if I was depressed or if I was happy. He was just perfect. My after care with Dr. Cruise, I couldn't even put into words, he was just so great. He really was and continues to be a good friend.
Maria, 63
Facial Rejuvenation
Upper Face Rejuvenation>> |
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Glossary of CustomLift® procedures for facial rejuvenation
Upper Face
1) Upper Blepharoplasty
2) Temple Lift
3) Brow Lift
4) Soft Tissue Filler of the Upper Eyelid
5) Botox®
6) Chemical Peel/Skin Care
Mid and Lower Face
1) Lower Blepharoplasty
2) Temple Lift
2) Fat Transfer
3) Face Lift
4) Chin Implant
5) Dermabrasion
6) Lip Augmentation
7) Botox®
8) Chemical Peel/Skin Care
Neck
1) Face Lift
2) Neck Lift
3) Neck Lift Midline
4) Platysma Plication (Neck Muscle Tightening)
5) Liposuction Neck and Jaw Line
6) Platysma Muscle Transection
7) Muscle Suspension
8) Chin Implant