Beauty has been sought after, idealized, and revered for as long as men and women have been around. Beauty is the subject of poetry, art, and music, and although it is certainly in the eye of the beholder, people continually strive to achieve their idea of beauty. Many tools today are available to help, from cosmetic products to plastic surgery.
These days, enhancing your appearance has never been easier. Read on to discover three simple plastic surgery procedures that will take years off your face.
1. Cheek Augmentation
Approximate Cost: $2,500 to $4,500
Weak cheeks can give a person an aged and gaunt look, and this is a great time to think about a cheek augmentation. This is a procedure where the surgeon restores the fullness of the person’s cheeks in order to reverse the look of aging.
The surgery will help define the facial contours and make the patient look years younger with the use of implants, fat transfers, or injectable fillers. Recovery is quite straightforward, lasting a week to 10 days. The price depends on the area where you live.
How It’s Done
The surgeon will usually make a small incision in the upper mouth near the top of the gum line and slide the implants into proper position. Some surgeons will use an external incision near the patient’s eye, but this can create a scar others will see.
If the surgeon uses injections, this type of procedure is less invasive than implants and less expensive; the downside to these is that they will eventually be absorbed by the body.
2. Forehead Lift
Cost: $3,000 to $8,000
Sometimes done along with other procedures, a forehead lift, also called a brow lift or browplasty, is popular among older women and men with deep forehead creases. The main goal with this surgery, as the name indicates, is to reduce the appearance of those creases across the forehead.
It can also reverse any aging to the eyebrows. Generally a safe procedure, it may result in non-permanent hair loss and swelling.
How It’s Done
Endoscopic surgery is often used in forehead lifts, where tiny incisions are made and a lighted camera is used to help the surgeon see to perform the surgery. Sometimes a full
open forehead lift is required, but that only occurs in about 1% of cases.
Alternatives: With the advent of Botox injections, many patients have decided to forego surgery altogether and get the Botox injections every four to six months, until or unless more drastic measures are required.
3. Eyelid Surgery
Cost: $3,000 to $8,000
A blepharoplasty, also called eyelid surgery, will help to repair sagging or droopy eyelids, or to help reduce puffy eyes. The operation is done to remove any loose or extra skin in the folds of the lower or upper eyelids. Swelling lasts a few weeks post-procedure. Afterwards, all appearance of aging around the eyes will be gone.
How It’s Done
This is a more complicated surgery than the other two mentioned. During the procedure, the surgeon will eliminate excess skin, smooth the underlying eye muscles, tighten the supporting structures, and re-drape and resect the excess fat in order to keep the smooth transition from lower eyelid to cheek.
External incisions are made along the natural creases of the upper and lower eyelids; this helps to hide any scarring that occurs as a result. The surgery takes between one and three hours.
