Cosmetic Surgeon in Barrington - Facelifts

Facelift or a rhytidectomy, is a cosmetic surgery designed to help men and women achieve a more youthful facial appearance. We begin to lose bone in our early 30’s and stop producing collagen earlier than that. In addition, our skin loses its elasticity and begins to sag. This can leave your face looking tired and worn, with deep wrinkles, hollow cheeks, jowls and loose skin in the lower face and neck. A facelift can address all of these issues with other possible alternatives and help you look 10 or even 20 years younger.

What to Expect at Consultation

If you are interested in undergoing a facelift procedure, your first step is to learn as much as you can about the procedure and your options by scheduling a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

During your consultation, cosmetic surgeon Barrington will discuss your general health, examine your facial skin, tissue and bone structure, and inquire about your goals for surgery. Be as prepared as possible to clearly describe your concerns and the look you desire. 

Prior to booking your surgery, be sure to have a list of questions for the surgery with your cosmetic surgeon in Barrington IL, including your facelift risk profile and what to expect during your facelift recovery. In addition, fully evaluate facelift cost and make sure you have taken everything into account, including postoperative bandages and medications.

The Procedure

You will be provided with general anesthesia or local anesthesia, depending upon the case and the plastic surgeon.

Our surgeons will create incisions along your hairline and around your ears, possibly extending into your scalp. We then will lift your skin away from your face, rearrange the underlying tissue in a higher position and remove excess skin. He may also remove fat with liposuction. Lastly, your surgeon will re-drape your skin over your face and close the incisions with sutures.

Non-Surgical Additions and Alternatives

A facelift can produce remarkable results. However, the procedure only targets certain parts of the face — namely, the mid-face, lower face and jawline. You may find that other areas of your face require attention in addition to or instead of those areas that can be addressed with facelift. In this case, your cosmetic surgeon in Barrington may recommend additional or alternative procedures.

• Neck lifts are often combined with facelifts. These procedures are used to remove fat and excess skin to eliminate wrinkles and bands and create a smoother, tighter neck appearance.
• Eyelid surgery or Blepharoplasty, is performed to address droopy upper eyelids and puffy lower eyelids, which can cause you to appear older and more tired than you feel.
• Brow lift (forehead lift) can reduce the appearance of droopy eyebrows and deep furrows and creases on the forehead.
• Facial implants or facial fillers such as Juvederm or Sculptra.  Implants are made of silicone and can be placed in your chin, cheek or jaw to improve your overall facial symmetry and proportion.
• Rhinoplasty (nose reshaping surgery) can help bring your nose into better proportion with your face by making it larger or smaller. Your surgeon can also remove a hump from your nose or a dip from the bridge of your nose, or otherwise improve your nasal profile.

Ultherapy is another less invasive procedure, involves the use of ultrasound by your cosmetic surgeon Barrington IL. When applied to the skin, the ultrasound energy heats the skin's collagen, tightening the existing collagen and stimulating the production of new collagen, the result of which produces smoother-appearing skin. Ultherapy is the only FDA-approved non-surgical skin tightening device that tightens the facial muscles to mimick a surgical facelift.  The results are mild to moderate and present great results in our practice.

Other treatments that can be used in combination with — or instead of — facelift include facial injectables and fillers. Facial injectables include Botox, Dysport and Xeomin, which relax muscles that cause fine lines and wrinkles. Your Barrington cosmetic surgeon can use fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane to add volume to sunken or flat cheeks and minimize decrease folds. .

Cosmetic Surgeon Barrington - Traditional Liposuction versus Cool Lipo – What’s better for you?

Today’s society wants results and they want them now, hence the explosion of medical spas, smart phones and diet supplements and vitamins. Is it possible to reap the same results the same with quicker and newer technologies with your cosmetic surgeon in Barrington IL?  Cool Lipo is a laser-assisted liposuction that has had patients thrilled with the results and shocked by how minimal downtime and recovery is but, is it for everyone?

Traditional liposuction is a serious decision and in most cases, very successful. Your cosmetic surgeon Barrington IL uses liposuction to surgically remove extra fat from beneath your skin using a hollow stainless steel tube (called a cannula) with the assistance of a powerful vacuum.  Liposuction can be accomplished either with the use of general anesthesia, or with heavy IV sedation by your cosmetic surgeon in Barrington.  However, there are patients who religiously exercise and eat a clean diet but still are bothered by pockets of fat but do not have weight issues – is this person a candidate?  

As the plastic surgery industry grows, new technology appears; some good, some bad, some for marketing purposes.   Cool Lipo or laser-assisted liposuction, has been touted as simple liposuction with minimal to no downtime or recovery and, it does live up to its reputation…for most.  A good candidate for Cool Lipo is in a healthy weight range, healthy overall and wants to remove a pocket of fat and tighten skin but is relatively satisfied with their appearance.  With laser-assisted liposuction, your Barrington cosmetic surgeon uses a cannula with an attached laser light to liquefy fat cells. Once liquefied, the liquid fat is then removed through traditional liposuction incisions using standard liposuction cannulas. Manufacturers of these devices promote “skin tightening” and “decreased recovery time” as the main advantages.

In reality, laser-assisted liposuction is a form of liposuction—with the additional step of applying the laser energy before using the liposuction cannula to remove what has been treated with the laser. In my experience, laser-assisted liposuction is used to treat small problem areas under local anesthesia in the office.  Conventional liposuction is good for to removing greater amounts of fat and typically requires a general anesthesia.

The most important piece of advice when considering any form of liposuction, research all of the factors and choose a board-certified plastic surgeon – price shouldn’t be the ultimate factor.  To minimize complications, it is crucial to research many cosmetic surgeon Barrington and ask many questions during the consultation.  Not only board-certified surgeons have the most experience, but you must be comfortable with your doctor’s bedside manner.