The Aging Face: Finding the Fountain of Youth

“Nothing is so discreet as a young face, for nothing is less mobile; it has the serenity, the surface smoothness, and the freshness of a lake. There is no character in women’s faces before the age of thirty.”    Honoré de Balzac

During the aging process, the face and neck succumb to the inexorable forces of gravity and inelasticity. This leads to a descent of the lid/cheek junction which creates a  “ tear trough deformity” or tired/hollowed look below the eyelid, loss of cheek volume and definition, increased nasolabial fold depth, sagging jowls, droopy eyelids and brows, prominent wrinkles and lines, and an ill defined, sagging neck. A myriad of procedures has evolved to combat the aging process and restore beauty. All of these techniques can be executed individually or in tandem to achieve the ultimate result depending on the surgeon and patient.

FACELIFT

The facelift is an invasive operation and is often incorporated with a neck lift. The facelift can restore definition to the lower jaw, establish a more youthful neck without bands and sagging tissue, and rewind the skin to a more youthful form. Incisions are made in inconspicuous places such as behind the hairline and in natural folds of the face and ears, and scars fade to near invisibility in time. Click Here to Learn More About Facelift Surgery

Neck Lift

A Neck Lift, or platysmaplasty is designed to reduce the loose look of sagging skin in the neck area and under the jaw. A Neck Lift procedure can address problems with the fat, muscle and skin of the  neck and jaw line.  It can  help correct a fleshy neck, "jowls", plastysma or neck "banding", or that "turkey gobbler".  The inconspicuous incisions are hidden behind the ears and under the chin.  Click Here to Learn More About Neck Lift Surgery

Midface Lift

Unlike the traditional facelift, the midface lift successfully attacks and corrects the hollowed area below the lower eyelid, sagging cheeks, the loss of cheek volume and projection, and the deep, drooping nasolabial folds. One may simulate the results of this procedure by placing a finger next to the corner of your lip and gently elevating upward and outward. A midface lift/suspension accomplishes this by elevating the depressed cheek/malar tissue and suspending it to the skull or temporal region. Incisions are placed unnoticeably within the hairline at the temple and inside of the mouth.  Click Here to Learn More About Facelift Surgery

Browlift

As we age, many people develop deep furrows and wrinkles along the forehead and depressed brows without a youthful arch.  Endoscopic and limited temporal browlift surgery smoothes and tightens  a person's forehead skin through  inconspicuous incisions near the hairline.  A Browlift can combat the effects of aging sun exposure and stress while yielding a younger and more refreshed appearance. Click Here to Learn More About Browlift Surgery

Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery)

Blepharoplasty can provide a younger look and rejuvenate puffy, sagging or tired-looking eyes by removing excess fat, skin and muscle from the upper and lower eyelids. It may be performed for cosmetic reasons or to improve sight by lifting and removing excess skin from droopy eyelids that hinder the patient's field of vision. . Fat of the lower eyes may also be repositioned to prevent a "hollow eye" appearance following lower eyelid fat removal.  Click Here to Learn More About Blepharoplasty Surgery (Eyelid Surgery)

Rhinoplasty (Nose Reshaping / Nose Job)

Rhinoplasty, or surgical nose reshaping or commonly referred to as a "nose job", is one of the most common of all plastic surgery procedures performed Rhinoplasty can reduce or increase the size of your nose, change the shape of the tip or the bridge, narrow the span of the nostrils, remove a hump, or change the angle between your nose and your upper lip. Rhinoplasty may also correct a birth defect, traumatic injury or help relieve nasal obstruction and breathing problems.

Most incisions are made inside the nose. In some cases, a small external excision is required. Cartilage and bone are removed or rearranged to alter the appearance of the nose. Insurance may cover rhinoplasty if it is done for reconstructive or medical reasons.  Click Here to Learn More About Rhinoplasty

Fat grafting

A patient’s own fat can be injected and sculpted to smooth out contour deficiencies, scars, and aging to help create a more youthful appearance by restoring elasticity to the skin. This fat is harvested from the patient’s body using liposuction techniques and processed accordingly. It is injected meticulously into areas of contour abnormalities/irregularities or areas that require volume enhancement such as the cheeks and lips. It can also fill in lines and wrinkles in the forehead, chin , and nasolabial folds. Fat grafts offer the benefit of potential permanent correction and enhancement compared to the evanescent soft tissue fillers which are always absorbed.

Lip Augmentation and Eversion

Soft tissue fillers such as collagen, Restylane, and Hylaform  Plus can augment one’s lips. Fat grafts to the lip can also achieve the same fullness but with longer lasting results.

Lip eversion, performed with or without fat grafting, provides a round, full convex shape to the cupid’s bow of the upper lip. This provides long lasting results unlike the soft tissue fillers. Very small hidden incisions are made in the nostrils and along the lip in order to suspend and roll out the upper lip to create this more convex, youthful appearance.  Click Here to Learn More About Lip Augmentation
 
Ear Surgery

Ear surgery is typically performed to set prominent ears back closer to the head, or to reduce the size of large ears known as Otoplasty. Surgery may correct and improve "lop ear," "cupped ear", large or stretched earlobes, and lobes with large creases and wrinkles. A new ear or portion of an ear can be constructed and fabricated from rib cartilage for defects due to traumatic injuries and amputations or due to congenital causes and anomalies.  Click Here to Learn More About Ear Surgery / Ear Reconstruction

If you are interested in speaking with Plastic Surgeon Alan Bienstock, MD about a particular plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, or reconstructive procedure please contact him at either his Manhattan, New York Plastic Surgery / Reconstructive Surgery Office via phone (917) 257-7560 or his Lawrenceville, New Jersey Office via phone at (609) 977-9286.  You may also email the plastic surgeon at info@drbienstock.com for more information or to make an appointment.