If you wouldn’t let your doctor do your facelift
why would you let them do your filler?

Don’t settle for anything but an expert in facial plastic surgery
Dr. Michael Stampar

Looking younger at any age- Restoration of facial volume with dermal fillers

Although I’ve been doing facelifts for 0ver 20 years, I’ve always known that lifting and tightening isn’t always what some people’s faces needed to look younger. If the loss of fullness in the upper face is the primary reason for looking older or more tired but the skin laxity isn’t severe, a facelift will only make that person look tighter, not younger. In reality, loss of facial volume as well as the collagen in the skin is the cause of all wrinkles, grooves, folds, and facial aging, essentially “deflation and descent”. Only in the past few years have we finally found filler materials that can be used artistically and last a reasonable amount of time to restore lost volume. Fat transfer is the alternative but lumpiness, the fact it doesn’t last, and the need to harvest it are three of the many reasons NOT to do fat transfer.

 We all start with a facial shape which is basically an inverted triangle-wider at the cheekbones than the jaw line. Unfortunately, fullness is lost from top to bottom in the aging process and eventually, we end up more triangular with a wider base in the lower face, and flattening in the cheekbones and under the eyes. Early on, mid 30’s to mid 40’s, the signs may be flattening under the lower lids causing tired looking eyes or flattening over previously robust cheekbones causing the fold between the nose and mouth to start forming as the cheek slides down. Even people blessed with great bony structure can see the fold and not realize the cause and only see the symptom. Most novice doctors doing filler will simply do what you ask them to do-fill the groove. But, to truly restore your younger appearance, filling the upper face “re-inflates” the face restoring the lost shape and lessening the fold. This should not be done by anyone but a facial expert because putting it back in the wrong place can give a terrible result. Even some prominent stars such as Heather Locklear and Faye Dunaway ended up with fat looking faces because the doctor filled the cheeky look they had at 20 instead of recreating the elegant sweep up the cheekbone that looks best after 40.

As a specialist in faces, I appreciate the unique characteristics of each patients aging process and restore volume to make anyone look younger at any age much more often than surgically lifting. But, because I am an expert at both surgical and non-surgical rejuvenation, I can do what’s right for you-not what’s right for me! In other words, doctors that do only surgery will always recommend surgery and “providers” working out of their expertise or who don’t do surgery will always recommend non-surgical treatment even when surgery is really needed to see an obvious improvement. My guarantee is that I will give each patient all of the options and do what’s best to address what bothers them most with the best technique for the problem.

So, who needs filler? Anyone with a deep line of expression, fold of tissue around the mouth, (after Radiage skin tightening to reduce the fold), lip and smile line, and flattened faces. There should be a gentle outward curve from the lip to the eyelid and over the cheekbone to the sideburn. Puffy lower lids are rarely an indication for surgery! A FLATTER SMMOTHER LID WITHOUT FILLING THE GROOVE TO THE CHEEK IS ONLY FLATTER AND SMOOTHER-NOT YOUNGER. The puffy lid comes on because the volume lost under the eye lets it show. Filling, and rarely, conservative surgery, restores the tired looking eye without flattening or pulling. Here are some examples of volume restoration one side at a time to help visualize the change.

All 3 patients have the left side treated with filler rather than eyelid surgery to look younger
In cases where the nasolabial cheek fold is deep, additional filler can be placed to reduce it more effectively after Radiage tightening to flatten the high side of the fold before filling the base. Many different types of filler can be used and are selected based on the severity of the volume loss, immediate vs. gradual results, and tissue texture. This is discussed at length at the consultation.
So, when I say you can look younger at any age, I mean it. It may be some quick early tightening of softened tissues with Radiage, simple filler with Juvederm, full volume restoration with Sculptra or Radiesse, or a surgical face or eye lift. By the way, Say no to Lifestyle lift. I do the same type of lift, without general or IV anesthesia, and take 5 meticulous hours, not 2 rushed hours.  What I can assure every patient is that together we will choose a treatment plan that meets your individual desires for rejuvenation as artistically, painlessly and efficiently as possible.