Face lift vs Filler | Story of a Pretty Face
Hi! We often get asked: facelift vs filler—which one is right for me? Often, it is a matter of a facelift kept up through the years with additions of face filler injections along the way. Even after a facelift, we continue to age, & face filler can go a long way in keeping up your lovely facelift result. In this blog, I am going to discuss a pretty face and summarize how we have treated it throughout the years. Beauty is a journey. There are as many aging issues to address as there are beauty treatments out there in Beauty Land.
One analogy that I like to use is this: aesthetic medicine and the endeavor for youth and beauty is more of a process, a journey, a long… voyage…, not a speed boat, not a sprint race. Optimal aesthetic treatment is not a “one and done.” There is not one particular magic bullet that will address every sign of aging. Aging is complex. The signs of facial aging are numerous. Thus the treatments offered are numerous, too. I love the role of helping my patients sort through various treatments and coming up with a plan just for them. My patients know that I say this– come and see me a handful of times a year and a year from now, you will like what you see.
Our faces age in our skin, our muscles, our ligaments, even our bones. We aesthetic doctors have various tools to address each of these facial layers. This story of a pretty face is one example of having a glorious treatment relationship where the pretty patient invests in herself. She takes care of herself. She sees us and returns. She invests in herself to make herself feel better.
When we think of facial plastic surgery, the one most dramatic aesthetic treatment that comes to the top of our minds is a facelift. Sometimes this is indicated. This patient had a facelift years ago. She had a wonderful result. Here she is pre and post face lift surgery with Dr. Thaxton:
This patient had a facelift by Dr. Thaxton
This is a side view of Dr. Thaxton’s beautiful facelift patient- before and after.
This looks great! She really got a natural looking freshen up. Look at her sharpened jawline and her more youthful neck. Also notice she regained her soft, apple-y cheeks. This, too, makes her look younger. It also looks natural. She looks very smooth, much like she did when she was younger. Her surgery was a real face and neck lift, in the deep plane of the face. This also involves lifting and rejuvenating a tissue layer in the face called the “SMAS.” A superb face lift involves lifting not only your skin, but also surgically working deep in your face to lift your deep tissues. Facelifts that address not just “skin only,” in other words, facelifts that address and re arrange the deeper face layers are one way to keep it natural looking and not “fake.” Super beautiful for her!
A face lift surgery resets the clock. A face lift does not stop the clock. So, years down the road, same like we all do, she continued to age. She experienced further aging changes. In particular, she experienced further volume loss. Our faces lose very much volume as we age. On average, our faces lose about a cc of volume per year after age 30. Keep in mind, “wrinkles” have more than one cause. One cause is that wrinkles are due to the muscles in our face pulling and tugging on our precious skin. We can treat this type of wrinkle with Botox. Another cause of wrinkles is skin laxity and sagginess. Dr. Thaxton can treat this with a face lift, like he did on this pretty girl.
Yet another cause of wrinkles is volume loss in our face. Sometimes, depending on the situation and where the filler is placed, we can fill out wrinkles with filler. As this lovely patient continued to age, years down the road, she kept her nice jawline and face lift result. She experienced a little bit of further volume loss in her mid-face. This we can treat with filler. Dr. Thaxton could repeat the facelift if necessary to address further aging. She did not need another face lift. Here she is before and after filler by me, Rebecca Thaxton, M.D. The after photo was taken 2+ months after her treatment. What I did here was to volumize her cheeks and her lateral face. I also added product along her lower face at the corners of her mouth and around her mouth. I placed almost like an “anchor” of product along her jawline beneath her mouth to smooth her lower face. I used a total of 4 syringes of filler on this treatment. Look how much smother and rounder her cheeks look. Her face is so much more “up” in the after picture. She looks a bit younger, more refreshed, and less tired in the after photo. Sometimes patients fear “looking fake” with filler. They don’t want to look fake. We don’t want you to look fake, either! We want you to look natural! & younger! & fresher! We want you to look beautiful after filler, just like she does:
This is before and 2+ months after face filler injections. This filler treatment took place years after her face lift by Dr. Thaxton
Look at the improvement in the cheek hollowness on the side view
Here she is on another side view! We love the more “up” of her face on the after picture!
We think she looks amazing! We are so thankful to her for allowing us to share her gorgeous results! We are extremely glad that she allowed us to share them and help educate potential aesthetic patients. We are in love with learning.
Usually, there is not one unique treatment, no one isolated zinger that will give you the final best you. It is typically a combination of treatments, like Botox, Filler, skin resurfacing skin treatments like Morpheus 8 or even face lift surgery. The nice thing about our practice is that we offer the gamut—from simple skin care product regimens to Botox, filler, Morpheus 8 to face lift surgery. We recommend what we think would help you achieve your goals. We do not treat every patient the same because everyone’s different. Importantly, we offer all of these treatments in the safety of our medical and surgical office.
The best part of this story is the ending: her face just keeps getting prettier. I hope you enjoyed the story! Call us if you would like to come see us for your very own evaluation. We would love to meet you & learn the story of you and your aesthetic goals. Every face is unique. We are all ears for any concerns you have. Let’s talk about your face!
We also offer a range of injectables like Botox, fillers, Face Tite, and Morpheus 8. Contact us for your very own appointment! You can text or call us at (304) 925-8949! We look forward to seeing you!
