Lifestyle Lift Controversy on NBC

Why can't I find any description of the actual procedure? The way this LFL is advertised is just like a multi-level marketing scheme. First they make a ridiculous statement like, "you'll make $10,000 a month from the comfort of your own home". Then they'll parade all of the people that have done so in an endless stream of video clips. But the NEVER tell you HOW they did it? Why, because they need the chance to sell you in person; to play on your current situation and emotions. To any sentient being, they are obviously scams. However, if you find the right message to feed to emotionally needy people, man can you make a killing. So since no one wants to describe the procedure, at least open your eyes to the MARKETING con. First, every con needs a mark. The best marks are usually needy people that can be easily swayed by the promise of huge rewards. In this case, the Lifestyle Face Lift chose aging women, a group that certainly fits the previous description of a great mark. Now, every good con-person (just being politically) needs to study their mark, so let's profile our typical victim; aging women that have spent their lives: 1. Maintaining horrible eating habits 2. Cigarette smokers 3. Never exercised 4. Bombarded by the media with unrealistic icons of how they "should look", making them feel totally inadequate. 5. Trying one non-surgical weight loss fad after another and failed because they were just too week to maintain healthful things like diet and exercise. Now if you're a Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon, then I suppose you have enough clients that will fork out the big bucks for getting it done right. However, there is much bigger market of middle class women that can't affort the time or money for plastic surgery, and who are much more likely to fit the above description. Oh my God! Could you find a more target rich environment? Now for the con. 1. Come up with a catchy name. 2. Find test subject willing to do testimonials for a big discount (perhaps free?) on the procedure. 3. Wrap them in a nice multimedia presentation. 4. Find the media outlets frequented by our target audience. 5. Promise incredible results, but leave enough “outs” to avoid law suites. 5. Hit it hard and fast. This is a brand new procedure, so we need to hit as many marks as soon as possible because once the procedures begin to break down, we’ll be finished. And for the Coup de Gras (coo-de-grah)? 6. Offer guaranteed financing so that even women that don't posses the financial means needed for the surgery can get the procedure! And by the way, because women are so desperate for a quick fix, we'll charge interest rates that are so high that we'll make more money on the financing then we do on the surgery. Oh look. Hundreds of thousand of suckers are lining up at the door waiting to get bilked. But wait, what about my original question -- WHAT EXACTLY IS THE PROCEDURE? I found 150 websites advertising LSL, plus some pages with pro and con reviews, but no one seems to want to give a detailed description of the procedure? This is a classic application of the misdirection con. Keep their eyes focused on the potential results, does it really matter how they are achieved? No, just sign here and you can look young too in just one hour! Good Lord, didn't any of you people watch The Sting! If you haven't go rent it NOW! The three bucks you plunk down at Blockbuster will save you thousands later on. CONCLUSION: If you have three working brain cells in your head you will see through this scam. And if you have any strength of character you will quit smoking, start eating right, and take all of the money you saved from NOT getting this procedure and join a health club. I'm sure you'll be able to afford a lifetime membership for the cost of the LSL. If not, then you deserve to get taken. Well, I’m done now and headed to the gym, where by the way you can talk to all types of people that will tell you how to keep looking good and active into your 90’s. I thought that one woman on the infomercial was hilarious when she said that a LSL would give her that. Lori

What a bunch of psychobabble. Ever occur that going to the gym won't make a creepy hanging neck and jowl line go away? I am in great shape, but didn't like the way my neck and jawline looked. Guess what, Lori? I had a LSL and look 10 years younger. Get off you soap box.

I did not find a single statement indicating you have spent any time researching the pro's and con's of this procedure. Instead you took a shot at the marketing approach and at women who are interested investigating a realistic procedure that may offer them a younger looking face. I am 59 years old and have choosen a very healthy lifestyle; great eating habits, no smoking and have worked out a minimum of 5X a week for 30 years. I have the body, stamina and strength of a women half my age. No one can guess that I am nearly 60 years old. I have not had the Lifestyle Lift but will certainly consider it along with other procedures when the time is right for me. It is certainly a biased statement to say that women considering it should get up and go to the gym. You sound somewhat bitter; what is the real issue here?

A Lifestyle Lift (LSL) is a new name for an old procedure, first performed in the early Seventies, called a Submuscular Aponeurotic System (SMAS) facelift. The question you can't seem to answer is what is it? First you must know that SMAS is a layer beneath the skin that controls the facial muscles. The SMAS procedure tightens the SMAS and, if all going according to plan, the neck is tightened, jowls are lifted and cheeks are elevated. Any man or woman whose face and neck have begun to sag -- but, take note, whose bone structure and musculature are still strong and well-defined -- is a candidate. This facelift rarely takes just an hour, as advertised by aggressive telemarketers and infomercials. It can take, and often does last, several hours and often results in pain during lengthy recoveries. In some cases, a brief in-patient stay is required. What does SMAS surgery do to the patient besides make all those promises of turning back the clock 10 to 20 years? Let's get down to business: An incision is made just above the hairline at the temples and followed down the face and in front of (or behind) the ears. If you're getting the optional neck firming procedure, a physician will also incise your skin just below the chin. Facial skin is then separated from fat and muscle layers prior to the surgeon suctioning and trimming any fat deposits. The SMAS and surrounding muscles are then tightened and the skin is pulled back and trimmed. Sutures close the incision and secure the underlying tissues. Sometimes a small tube will be placed under the skin behind the ear to drain any blood. Recovery takes a week to two weeks during which time the patient must avoid strenuous exercise. Bruising lasts for about two weeks.

You seem to know a lot about the procedure. Can you tell me then why after 8 weeks my jowls are already bach? Can you also tell me why on one side of my head the scars are ok but on the other they are painful and quite noticable and do not match the hairline incision from the other side?

Oh, did they sew your earlobe down& to your face? That's why mine is not bad on the front of one side, but the scar is straight down on the other and the ear juts out on the top.. I was unhappy w/ what I called my ' upside down smile'. They told me it was a jowl problem... I look no different after the swelling went down than I did before the surgery..

I am glad that you were one of the lucky girls, however, many are not. I went to Massachusetts to check it out. It was suppose to be $3000 two years ago. The girls in the office wanted me to make a downpayment and commit without ever seeing a doctor until the day of surgery. I don't think Dr. Kent exists but he chooses and researches the doctors who perform lsl. To top it off, they informed me that it makes a difference only if I do eye-surgery at the same time plus, plus, plus. I did not go for it because I will not trust my beautyful face to just anyone and have experience with doctors that I was interested in who are now thankfully out of business. I have seen horribble results in people that can't do anything about it. Please save up your money and go to a great doctor who you will research for a long time and talk to previous patients. Good Luck! Beate

Thank you for the straightforward and detailed description of the procedure and recovery!

Thank you. That is what I was told, plus I read about it. I have had a mastopexy so I know that results are not the same for every patient.

According to a BCPS I spoke with who has years of performing various facelift procedures, the LSL does not address the SMAS. It is a superficial surgery. This is why results typically do not last for more than a few months.

According to a BCPS I spoke with who has years of performing various facelift procedures, the LSL does not address the SMAS. It is a superficial surgery. This is why results typically do not last for more than a few months.

Glad you liked it. But LSL has already been busted for "astroturfing," which is paying people to post fake positive reviews, so I really don't now if you really had it or if you are being paid. Thus, I will play the safe side and avoid LSL like the plague. I'd prefer to go to a real BCPS who addresses the total issue.

$3,000 for a botch job? You can get a great face lift for $7,000! Our faces are worth even more than that tho.

I was reading about the Lifestyle Lift MD from Boston. I was researching the LSL and also live in that area. Are there ant other reviews of this practice? Sounds like something I shouldn't do. Jane

Lucy, I had my procedure done on Julu 19, 2007 in Santa Ana and had terrible results exactly like yours. I thought I was reading my own comment. Dr. Fink also pulled my skin up, suggested that lipo would be necessary for a more defined jaw line at $300 per jaw so my bill was 4900. I ended up with very loose double chin and my jawline hanging worse that before because he did did very little lipo. And then he charges me an extra $300 for lipo under my chin that we did not agree on. I had blood lumps behind my left ear that took forever to heal, I have enormous pain behind my ears because of ingrown stiches that we not taken out. I have written to them time and time again, have gone to see them and they just ignore me, promise me this and that but then say they can't do anthing. I refused to pay the $300 we didn't agree on and complained to the insurance company and that amount was put on dipute. LSL later said they made a mistake and removed it from my bill. I should have put the full amount on dispute.

omg, i LIVE IN Garden Grove....I almost went in to get a consultation on the Life Style Lift. I read so many bad things about it. I had a regular face lift done. I had not problems, but I think that the skin could have been pulled tighter. I had "NO" pain. I could not believe it. My scars are totally hidden, good job with that. I just hope it lasts....as when the swelling went down...I lost some face volume...It is an improvement though....I hope it lasts at least 5 years. I would definitely have a traditional face lift again....not bat an eye.

Don't do it. Years ago (15) I had a normal face lift and it was everything you would expect it to be. Three months ago I had the LSL and there is very little difference except for the neck. That is tighter but my face looks like nothing ever was done and this is after most of the swelling is gone. I saw on TV a Plastic Surgeon who said that in this procedure they do not cut off the excess skin and tighter it. They pull up your muscles but if the skin isn't tightened up you will still sag. Don't waste your money.

What was your outcome. Like you I had unsatifactory results after having the procedure done 3 years ago. I have a white sizeable scar on the left side of my face and I've tried to obtain their Insurance Company so that I can pursue a claim to no avail.

You say that you had a regular face lift and it was successful, could you tell me the name of the doctor? I'm in your area and wish to have a face/neck lift procedure done but I don't trust anyone to do it! I too almost went to the Santa Ana clinic for the Life Style Lift, so glad I didn't!
Thanks for the info.

No I never did get a face lift. After all the checking I decided to accept how lucky I am. I did have an appointment with Life Style Lift and then I checked them out on the internet and then phoned the Licensed Plastic Surgeons in California and found that my proposed LSL surgeon was not on the list, which indicates that he was certified as taking his studies but didn't pass the grade to be a registered plastic surgeon. I know too many people that have dealt with LSL with regrets. Have you ever had an appointment with LSL? If so, did you ever wonder about the room you are held in locked away from ALL the staff including the receptionist? The reason is that unsatisfied customers phone and their calls never go through to their doctors and their calls are never returned, so their next approach is to go to the office where they will never be let in. They are locked out in a waiting room. Good Luck. My personal advice is if you want the job done, don't worry about the cost. It is your face after all that you are dealing with and you should get the best.

Would you mind giving me the name of the doctor? I live near Garden Grove, CA and want a good face lift and it sounds like you got one! Thank you

I'm really sorry but my posts aren't going in the right place. I keep trying to reply to the lady or man named Geminio and the posts keep showing up here! Sorry!!!

No, I did not get a face lift. I chose to not do any surgery.