We all look perfect when we’re born. Babies look beautiful. Toddlers look cute. Grade school kids look wholesome. Middle school kids look awkward. Some high school kids begin to take on their adult appearance. We reach our full young adult appearance by our early 20’s and our full adult appearance by age 30. And then facial aging begins. Patients of all ages have cosmetic concerns that make them feel self-conscious, uncomfortable and insecure. Our best results are realized when our patients experience a feeling of confidence and satisfaction.
These are the most common concerns and their solutions by age:
Teenagers
Issues
- Poor facial balance due to a nose that’s too big or too small for their face.
Options
- Rhinoplasty surgery can be safely performed around the age of 16 (a bit earlier for girls and a bit later for boys).
20-30 Year Olds
Issues
- Poor facial balance due to a nose that’s too big or too small for their face.
Options
- Rhinoplasty to achieve facial balance.
30-40 Year Olds
Issues
- Cheeks hollow, bottom part of the face looks slightly heavy, and nasolabial folds deepen.
- Jaw line looks less crisp and the neck is more loose.
- Lower eyelids become longer and puffier with a trough underneath.
- The brow starts to drop and upper eyelids look heavy.
- Temples begin to hollow.
- Wrinkles in the forehead, the crow’s feet, and in between the eyes deepen.
- Lips thin and the corners of the mouth turn down.
- Skin tone and texture is uneven with mild skin laxity.
Options
- An endoscopic brow lift to eliminate heaviness in the upper eyelids.
- Upper and lower blepharoplasty for eyelid wrinkles and puffiness.
- A signature lift to re-establish full cheeks, a crisp jawline, and a smooth neck. This also shortens the lower eyelids and recreates a youthful oval shape to the face.
- Injectable fillers in the cheeks, lips, mouth, brow, temples or lower eyelids to restore a youthful appearance without surgery.
- Botox or Dysport to smooth wrinkles in the forehead, crow’s feet, and between the eyes, or to raise the corners of the mouth, lift the brows and make the eyes appear more open.
- Laser treatments, skin care treatments, and skin care products to improve skin quality, texture, and tone.
40-50 Year Olds
Issues
- Overall cheek volume decreases and sags, creating a squared-off, bottom-heavy facial contour.
- The falling cheek tissue causes the lower eyelids to get longer and exposes “bags” under the eyes.
- The jowls become more apparent and the jaw line softens.
- The neck sags, the neck skin becomes loose, and mid-line neck bands start to form.
- The brows become heavier and excess upper eyelid skin causes a tired appearance.
- Wrinkles become deeper and the skin becomes looser overall.
- Skin quality, tone and texture worsen.
- Lips lose volume and become less defined, lines around the mouth get deeper, and the corners of the mouth pull down further.
Options
- A facelift or signature lift to elevate and fill the cheeks, shorten the lower eyelids, soften the nasolabial folds, eliminate the jowls, level the corners of the mouth, sharpen the jawline, smooth the neck, and eliminate neck bands.
- A neck lift to reduce the jowls, crisp the jawline, smooth the neck, and eliminate neck bands.
- An endoscopic brow lift to smooth the forehead, crow’s feet, and wrinkles between the eyes, reshape the eyebrows, eliminate heaviness in the upper eyelids, and make the eyes appear more open.
- Upper or lower blepharoplasty to remove lower eyelid bags and excess upper and lower eyelid skin.
- Injectable fillers in the brow, cheeks, under-eye area, nasolabial folds, lips, corners of the mouth, chin, temples, lines around the mouth, and specific areas of the jawline to delay surgery or to enhance the results of surgeries already performed.
- Botox or Dysport to smooth wrinkles in the forehead, crow’s feet, and between the eyes, or to raise the corners of the mouth, lift the brows, and make the eyes appear more open.
- Laser treatments, skin treatments, and targeted skin care products to tighten loose skin, remove discoloration, improve skin quality, and slow down the aging process.
50-70 Year Olds
Issues
Issues for the 50-70 year old include all of the things seen in the 40-50 year old category plus:
- The distance between the bottom of the nose and the top of the upper lip becomes longer, making the mouth appear older.
- Age-related changes have now also started to occur to the nose: drooping of the tip, lengthening of the nose, development of a hump, and retraction of the area where the nose attaches to the top of the upper lip.
- Changes to the skin continue with a noticeable increase in visible broken capillaries.
Options
- Facelift, signature lift, or neck lift.
- Endoscopic brow lift.
- Upper and lower blepharoplasty.
- Lip lift to shorten the space between the top of the upper lip and the bottom of the nose. This also adds volume to the upper lip.
- Chin, cheek, or lip implants.
- Rhinoplasty.
- Laser skin resurfacing.
- Injectable fillers.
- Botox or Dysport for lines or wrinkles.
- Laser treatments, skin treatments, and targeted skin care products.
70+ Year Olds
Issues
Issues are a progression of those in the 50-70 year old group.
Options
Maybe the same as those for the 50-70-year-old group with some exceptions:
- For all surgical procedures requiring a general anesthetic or significant sedation, we must consider your overall health, other medical issues, and general activity level to determine if a particular procedure can be performed safely.
- There has been recent data suggesting that a prolonged general anesthetic (over three hours) in people over the age of 75 can cause a decrease in mental acuity for as long as six months.
- Therefore, for those over the age of 75, options are typically limited to those that can be performed with a local or topical anesthetic.
