“Will this treatment lift my face?”
It is one of the most common questions we hear in consultation.
The difficulty is that the word lift can mean very different things to different people.
A patient may actually be describing laxity, loss of definition, crepey skin, reduced elasticity or a change in facial contour.
Tightening, lifting and improving skin quality are related — but they are not interchangeable.
Tightening
Skin tightening generally refers to improving firmness and reducing the appearance of laxity.
Depending on the patient’s anatomy and degree of laxity, treatments using radiofrequency, ultrasound, laser energy and other technologies may be considered to stimulate tissue remodelling and improve firmness.
The changes are often gradual, as the skin responds biologically over time.
Lifting
A visible lift involves more than the surface of the skin.
It can relate to tissue support, contour and the relationship between different structures of the face.
For carefully selected patients, minimally invasive procedures such as Endolift may be considered when the clinical objective includes addressing laxity and improving definition.
It is not, however, a treatment that should be prescribed simply because someone asks for a “lift”.
Skin quality
Sometimes the face does not need lifting at all.
It needs better skin.
Dullness, uneven pigmentation, enlarged pores, rough texture and reduced elasticity can make a face look tired even when there is little significant laxity.
In these cases, improving skin quality may create a much more noticeable improvement than attempting to alter facial contour.
So which treatment is right?
This is why the consultation is important.
A patient concerned about a softening jawline may require a very different approach from someone whose main concern is crepey skin. Someone with pigmentation may need an entirely different treatment strategy.
There is no single procedure that is right for every face.
The more useful question is: what has changed, and which change would make the greatest difference?
Once that is understood, the technology becomes much easier to choose.