FACIAL AGING

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The quest to slow the facial aging process is occurring on all fronts and it is now generally believed that that simply stretching the skin over an aging skeleton is somewhat short sighted and shallow.

The mid-face, which is defined as that area from the brow to the end of the nose is where most all of the facial aging tends to occur.

Using new information obtained from MRIs of the face for dental surgery, has shown us that not only is there contraction of the maxillary bone (cheek bone) but that it also moves toward the back of the head and upward. This would then cause sort of a shortening and contraction of the bones around the nose. The frontal bone (forehead) on the other hand moves forward and downward, again causing a more forward mid-face contraction look. If you then add the fact that the size of our teeth are contracting anywhere from .5 mm to 1mm on both the top and bottom its no wonder we tend to lose that open smooth look of youth as we age.

Studies are also showing us that our faces have individual pockets of fat, which tend to dissolve over time. In the past we thought of the facial fat as one continuous but interrupted layer, but now we find that the pockets are not only separated but each one has its own time table of falling and disappearance.

All of this is not to depress you but to realize that if we can identify the specific type of aging you are undergoing then the more specific and better your results can be.
So it’s not just about stretching, but also thermal lifting and replacement of the volume.
Reversing the facial signs of aging is primarily about replacing the youthful volume that has diminished.

At the Murray Center we have believed this for many years and that is why our approach has been to lift with the Silhouette threads (not barbed sutures), revolumize
with Sculptra, and tighten with the laser Thermascan. This way there are virtually no scars to deal with, the look is a natural look (not stretched and wind-blown) and should the day arrive when surgery is indicated it can be done with the best possible results.