Dr. Seckel’s 6 Step Facial Rejuvenation Program

Concern about facial aging, wrinkles, loose skin, sagging cheeks, jowls, and “turkey neck”, dark circles and bags under the eyes and other signs of advancing age is very common among the 40 to 50 year olds in the United States, both men and women.

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A startling 12.4 million cosmetic plastic surgey operations were performed in this country last year and estimates are that nearly half of them were to correct facial aging and this does not include the millions of non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedures.

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As the baby boomers reach their 50’s everyone wants to look younger but no one wants to have surgery. Most people do not want to have surgery especially if it is not for serious medical reasons.

However, revolutionary advances in technology have made it possible for many people to reverse facial aging changes using new non-surgical facial rejuvenation techniques without having to undergo plastic surgery.

On  Wednesday, September 28, 2005, I spoke on a panel entitled Non-surgical Facial Rejuvenation at the meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in Chicago, Illinois. My topic was Botox, the soft tissue fillers including Restylane and Radiesse and the many skin peels used for exfoliation to remove wrinkles and signs of facial aging. I came away from that meeting very excited and enthused about all the wonderful new non-surgical facial rejuvenation therapies that are safe and effective for patients today.

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There are so many new wrinkle removing and skin tightening non-surgical facial rejuvention options available that the patient must understand exactly what facial aging change it is that they want to correct. Usually the patient just feels that their face looks older but cannot pinpoint exactly which facial aging change is causing concern. It is important to seek consultation with an experienced board certified Plastic Surgeon or Dermatologist who understands all the options so that the correct option is chosen for your very unique face. I advise you to avoid doctors who only do one or two facial rejuvenation procedures and tend to push patients to have the procedure that he/she performs rather than customizing the procedure to the patient’s needs.

The 6 Step Facial Rejuvenation Program™ consists of:

Step 1-Exfoliation-topical cremes, microdermabrasion, superficial skin peels with various fruit and salicylic acids to produce exfoliation to freshen the skin and give it a youthful glow and remove wrinkles. These treatments also stimulate the skin to form new collagen to replace the old damaged aged collagen, and help rejuvenate and tighten the facial skin.

Step 2- Stimulation of new collagen production- Controlled inflammation of the deep skin layer called the dermis causes the dermal skin cells called fibroblasts to manufacture new collagen to replace the collagen lost by sun damage and aging. Topical RetinA and the deep exfoliative process in step 1 start this process. Newer technological interventions like the Lux1540, Fraxel, Lux294o, Sciton Profractional, and Lumenis bridge therapy are powerful stimulators of new collagen production.

Step 3-Remove pigment and red spots-In addition to exfoliation new light and laser therapies such as IPL, Photo facial, Lux1540 and Fraxel® can be used to remove brown spots, pignent, broken blood vessels called telangiectasias, and rosacea from the facial skin. Pigment and blood vessels are a classic sign of facial aging and the non-surgical removal of these skin discolorations provides noticeable facial rejuvenation. These high tech yherapies can also remove wrinkles.

Step 4-Remove lines of facial expression wrinkles- Botox can be used to relax the muscles of facial expression and remove crow’s feet, worry lines, frown lines, and bunny lines and dynamic wrinkles, all of which are very early signs of facial aging. Botox® effectively removes these lines in most people for 6 to 9 months after a simple nearly painless injection.

Step 5-Fill deep facial lines called the nasolabial fold lines and marionette lines make the face look tired and old and coupled with the frown lines often make people look angry. Deep facial lines are deeper than wrinkles, and I do not use fillers for wrinkle removal. New soft tissue fillers can soften the nasal labial fold lines and marionette lines when they are injected into the skin beneath the aging lines. Commonly used soft tissue fillers are Restylane, Radiesse, Zyderm, Zyplast, Juvaderm, Sculptra®, Fascian®, Cymetra®, and Isolagen®. Each of these fillers has different characteristics and are better for some facial aging changes than others. For a thorough discusion of fillers consult Chapter 7 “No Down Time Facial Anti-aging Procedures” in Save Your Face, available on line at www.saveyourface.com.

Step 6-Skin Tightening. The final facial aging change to treat is loose sagging skin. While the plastic surgical operation called a facelift is still the “gold standard” for facial rejuvenation, several new technologies are evolving which can tighten aged facial skin. LuxIR and Titan®, devices using infrared waves, and Aluma and Thermage® which use radiofrequency waves, are all being used to heat the collagen in the deep layers of the skin called the dermis causing the collagen to shorten and tighten the skin. While these technologies are new and only about 30% effective and require multiple treatments, they will most certainly be improved in the future and effective skin tightening of aging facial skin will be possible. Some wrinkle removal is seen following successful skin tightening.

Non-surgical facial rejuvenation is here and is getting more effective as new products come out every month. One of my common expressions whenever I speak about the new non-surgical options for facial rejuvination is “plastic surgery is becoming non-surgical” and try to encourage my fellow plastic surgeons to embrace the new technology. I still believe that an experienced board certified plastic surgeon is the best doctor to provide the non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedures to patients because these doctors are the facial aging experts and they have the ability to do what is necessary for the patient whether it is Botox or a face lift. Each face is unique and a “one size fits all” approach just does not work in facial rejuvenation.

Contact me for more information on any of the above procedures, or read Save Your Face.

Dr Seckel

Concord, Massachusetts