Liquid Facelift vs Surgical Facelift: Know Your Top Facial Rejuvenation Options

Sooner or later, most of us begin exhibiting signs of age. These signs tend to be most evident on the face and often include wrinkles, fine lines, sagging skin, jowling, lost volume, and a general loss of elasticity.

As you wrestle with these signs of the aging process, be aware that you have plenty of options to regain a youthful appearance. These include both surgical and non-surgical solutions. Specifically, you might consider the pros and cons of a liquid facelift vs surgical facelift procedure.

The best way to explore these options, and to determine which one is right for you, is to schedule a consultation with an experienced plastic surgeon. In the meantime, here is a general review of the two procedures.

Liquid Facelift vs Surgical Facelift – Review

What is a Liquid Facelift?

We’ll begin with an overview of the liquid facelift. We most often recommend this option for patients who want to enjoy some of the beneficial rejuvenation of a facelift, without the need for anesthesia or for a prolonged recovery time.

In fact, there is no surgery required to perform a liquid facelift. Instead, this procedure involves injections of various soft tissue fillers, placed in targeted areas to restore volume and produce a “lifted” appearance without the need for any incisions.

Specifically, liquid facelifts can use dermal fillers to fill out your cheeks, nasolabial folds (creases around your nose and mouth), sunken temple region, and the area surrounding your eyes. Additionally, a liquid facelift can smooth over wrinkles and fine lines.

What are the Pros and Cons of Getting a Liquid Facelift?

In choosing between a liquid facelift vs. a surgical facelift, it’s important to know the advantages and disadvantages of each procedure. Certainly, the liquid facelift offers many benefits. It allows you to improve your aesthetic appearance without the need to have any incisions, without the need to be placed under anesthesia, and without the need for a lengthy downtime. Additionally, when you get a liquid facelift, the results are more or less immediate. You may have some minor swelling, perhaps temporary bruising, but nothing major; many patients feel comfortable returning to work within a day or two of their liquid facelift.

However, there are also some downsides. One downside is that a liquid facelift does not provide permanent results. The fillers naturally break down, a process that may take place in 12 to 18 months. Of course, touch-up procedures can help you continue to maintain your results.

The other considerations to be aware of are; a liquid facelift does not provide the same level of correction that you can expect from a surgical facelift. Liquid facelifts are beneficial when the desired goal is to provide volume, create definition, or asymmetry to facial features, thereby offering a more youthful face. Unfortunately, a liquid facelift is not able to address skin laxity (sagging skin). A surgical facelift restores once youthful facial features, offers a more permanent solution, with the added benefit of addressing excess tissue by either removing or repositioning it. For patients seeking more dramatic or more permanent results, you may wish to consider the surgical route.

What is a Surgical Facelift?

This brings us to the surgical facelift, which involves the use of carefully placed incisions. These incisions are typically made behind the ears or behind the hairline so that the minor scars are easily concealed.

Once the incisions are made, the surgeon can lift and tighten the underlying tissue while also removing any excess skin. This produces more clearly defined cheeks, reduces sagging and jowling, and smooth out lines and wrinkles.

Facelift Patient Results

What are the Pros and Cons of Getting a Surgical Facelift?

Pros: For patients who desire a more substantial or dramatic effect, a surgical facelift tends to be the best option. When done properly, by a skilled board-certified plastic surgeon, a facelift will create a refreshed, revitalized appearance, enabling you to look younger without appearing as though you’ve “had work done.”

Something else to consider is that a surgical facelift offers much longer-lasting results than a liquid facelift. Where liquid facelift results tend to fade within a year or less depending on the product used, the results of a surgical facelift can last for a decade or more.

Cons: For most patients, the concern most have is that a surgical facelift requires you to be placed under anesthesia, which is not without risk. You will also have some scars from the procedure, though a good surgeon knows how to conceal the scars so that they are close to invisible.

Additionally, a surgical facelift will result in more significant swelling and bruising. The recovery period can last for several weeks, for some, it may be longer for the swelling to subside before you are able to fully realize the results of your surgical procedure. All worth it in the end.

Which Procedure is Right for You?

As you research these two procedures, there are a number of factors to consider, beginning with: First, how pronounced are your signs of aging really? If you only require a touch-up to address some minor wrinkles, restore a bit of volume to achieve a more youthful appearance, then, a liquid facelift may be a very suitable option. For those requiring a more comprehensive restoration, deep wrinkles, sagging skin, surgery may be required.

The other big consideration is your tolerance for surgery. Some patients simply do not wish to go under the knife, while others may not have the time required for post-operative recovery. Naturally, we’d encourage these patients to explore their liquid facelift options.

Some patients choose to explore, by having a liquid facelift first, to “try on” a new look; if they like what they see and wish to make it more permanent, they are more inclined to proceed with a surgical facelift a few months down the road. This may be a great way to determine whether having a facelift procedure is truly right for you.

Speak with a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon About Getting a Facelift

As you try to decide between a liquid facelift and a surgical facelift, we recommend speaking with an experienced plastic surgeon. This is the only way to ensure that you fully understand the different options available to you and that your treatment plan aligns with your aesthetic goals.

At Charlotte Plastic Surgery, we have years of experience offering both liquid facelifts and surgical facelifts and would love to provide more information about each option. As you explore these anti-aging procedures, schedule a private consultation with one of our board-certified plastic surgeons by contacting us at Charlotte Plastic Surgery at your earliest opportunity.