What a drag is it getting old… unfortunately aging is inevitable. Lines and wrinkles start showing up on our faces as early as our 20’s due to the sun, smoking, environment, and lifestyle. The mouth is one of the first places to age; it sags, thins out, and deep folds start to form as gravity pulls the face downward. Another tell-tale sign of aging occurs around the eyes as eyebrows thin and begin to droop, especially at the outer corners. Volume around the brow begins to decrease, causing them to droop. Sagging brows can factor into the formation of forehead wrinkles because the primary muscle that raises the eyebrow is in the forehead, and people can subconsciously raise their brows more frequently if they feel unnaturally low or to unweight heavy eyelid skin, leading to faster wrinkle formation. Also, the skin between the brow and upper eyelid will lose elasticity and often result in hooded eyes.
The separate subunits of the face age at variable rates. It’s important to address each change as it occurs if you want to maintain a more youthful look. There are a plethora of options that promise to tighten specific areas of the face, but the only way to effectively correct sagging skin is with surgery. Consulting with a dual board certified facial plastic surgeon will help you decide which surgeries are more necessary and which ones are complimentary for optimum results. For example, if a patient decides to have a facelift but doesn’t address eye bags and sagging brows, they may be disappointed in their overall result.
It is best to start early when trying to slow the signs of aging. Getting Botox in your 20’s can prevent fine lines and wrinkles from getting worse. If young patients have dark circles and bags under their eyes, they can be treated with Hyaluronic acid fillers which fill in tear troughs, or hollows that form under the eyelids, improving the appearance of eye bags. Using skin care products with collagen forming growth factors and Retin-A can plump skin from the inside out. Introducing chemical peels and laser treatments have also proven to slow the aging process dramatically and reverse the effects of sun damage.
If you’re over 50 and never had Botox, fillers, or skin treatments, it’s never too late to start! In conjunction with surgeries like a Facelift and Blepharoplasty, ablative lasers can correct years of skin damage and fillers and Botox can still offer tremendous improvement.
