How can I tighten sagging skin without surgery?

This is just my opinion, but it sounds to me, that considering all the treatments combined you would have to get to get an even somewhat similar outcome to a facelift you might as well just go ahead and get the real thing done. Might be less stress, resource, time, money, and even physical inconvenience in the end!

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A good option that may delay the need for a facelift requiring surgical intervention is what we often refer to as a "chemical facelift." This involves the use of Botox strategically placed to soften lines, lift the brow and much more. When combining this with fillers such as Perlane, Restylane, and Juvederm, one can really re-shape the face by adding volume. As we age, we often feel as if our face is falling. This usually is a result of a loss of volume to the mid-face area. By using filler products, we are able to restore the shape and volume with minimally-invasive techniques. The types of modalities are a good option for those not quite ready to undergo surgical intervention. Make certain you pick a practitioner that is skilled, knowledgable with all technqiues, listens to your concerns, and has an artistic eye.

Sagging skin is real big nuissance and it affects everyone at some point.  There are a whole list of factors that affect the rate of developing sagging skin.  They include: 1. Genetics which affects the actual skin and skin type.  The darker the skin the less overall damage by the sun due to the protection of melanin. 2. Environmental factors such as smoking 3. Age 4. How well you maintain your skin - a carefully chosen daily skin regimen goes a long way in preventing skin damage while maintaining the youth of the skin Someone who is caucasian, 55, sun worshiper, never took care of their skin - there chances of making noticeable corrections to sagging skin, will be extremely difficult.  These women will be best served to have a face/neck lift. Someone who is in the late 30's and is started to develop some jowls can be helped to some degree without surgery.  Skin tightening devices such as Aluma, Thermage, Titan, etc can be helpful.  They work by heating the deep layers of the skin to stimulate new collagen growth which leads to tighter skin.  I prefer the Aluma because it gives more consistent results. But the biggest advantage is that is not painful at all and there is no downtime. There are other lasers that can help with skin laxity.  These lasers include CO2 resurfacing lasers.  They are ablative lasers meaning they actually vaporize some excess skin.  This process also causes deep heating of the collagen which stimulates collagen growth provided some skin tightening. In addition, jowls can be treated with mesotherapy.  Because jowls are fat collections underneath the jaw line, mesotherapy can target the fat and break up the fat.  In a lot of medical circles, mesotherapy is controversial because it lacks FDA approval and medical studies to back up its claims.  However, in a more practical sense, when done correctly it is quite effective if done in the right hands.  In some certain instances, there are procedures that practitioners would perform that are not FDA approved.  For example, Botox is only FDA approved for frown lines yet we do it certainly to correct crow's feet and forehead lines and we use it to raise eyebrows and the corners of the mouths. Whatever procedure you do, remember to avoid sun exposure and smoking and remember - a good daily skin regimen can help - so stick with it.

There are several options for non surgical skin tightening today and these are wonderfully effective if they are used for a good candidate for the procedure. Some patients who complain of sagging skin are better first treated with fillers to replace lost volume in the face which either causes or aggravates the looseness of the skin. Examples of agents that replace precious volume in the skin include Radiesse and Sculptra. As far as tightening procedures, the two most effective treatments today include Thermage (if no downtime is required) and Fraxel Repair laser, if a period of downtime is ok. Thermage is a tolerated quite well, takes about an hour to perform and has a very low rate of any complications. Unfortunately it takes several months to see the full effect of the treatment. Fraxel Repair laser is the most effective technology at tightening the skin and can be used on the face, eyelids and neck too. With this treatment, one will notice decreased wrinkles, improvement in skin tone and texture. The tightening effect is noticed early and improves with time. Side effect profile with Fraxel Repair is great. i have been less impressed with the results of Titan.

Although many skin tightening procedures have been developed, none of them is perfect. Therefore, we are always looking for new ways to improve skin tone and texture. The main reason why your skin is sagging is hormone levels decline. The most important is testosterone drop. Even though testosterone is considered to be a male hormone, it is still responsible for sagging skin in women as well as men. So what is the solution? Bioidentical hormone replacement is definitely an option to consider. Bioidentical hormones are chemically the same as your own. Given as an individually compounded cream, they restore the hormonal balance, improving not only your skin tone, but also your sleep, sex life, mood and energy level. What about laser, Thermage, mesotherapy and fillers? They are also very effective for skin rejuvenation and can be used if indicated. Everyone is beautiful! One more, one less. And the doctor's job is to enhance your natural beauty. In order to do this we should consider every reliable procedure available.

Example.  Joan Rivers.  Your face continues to age and sag after you have a facelift.  5 years later, you might be asking the same question again.  Knife or no knife.  Alternatives include IPL, thermage, and/or profractional laser treatments which will give you skin tightening and collegen remodeling.  You will need to do maintenance treatments, which is true even after a facelift.

There are several non-surgical options for treating facial skin laxity and volume loss, which can be used alone or in combination. Thermage uses radiofrequency to stimulate collagen, has minimal downtime and takes roughly 2 hours to complete. It can be used to treat the full face, cheek and jowls, and neck. The results are typically seen 3-6 months after treatment but can be subtle. Using fillers to improve facial volume can also improve skin laxity and jowling. Sculptra and Radiesse work well in broad areas such as the cheeks (malar region), below the cheeks (submalar region), and temples. And HA fillers (Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane) are great for adding volume to smaller regions, lines or folds.

Absolutely! For today's health concsious consumers, there are several options to improve facial tone and elasticity without going under the knife, especially if you start relatively early at mild or even moderate elastosis ( saggy skin) stage First, I suggest to improve your skin care routine as a preventive and to some extent corrective  measure . Better skin care aimed at improving skin health, reducing activity of oxidating (aging) enzymes, reversing aging by stimulating collagen production of your own skin, free of irritants  (like retin A) and toxins(parabens and preservatives) and finally with adequate sun protection factor (SPF 15 or higher everyday indoor and cloudy days) will prove to be your best long term investment on your skin.http://www.nailamalikmdskin.com/inside_page.php?id=21 Healthy lefestyle is paramount in keeping your skin healthy from inside out thus slowing down and rebersing age. Avoid prolonged periods of intense sun, healthy diet , regular exercise, adequate stress management, avoidance of ciggarettes and moderation of alcohol are a few things that will certainly have a great impact on your skin. For mild sagging, I have had excellent results with no needle mesoitherapy http://www.nailamalikmdskin.com/inside_page.php?id=9 this is a non invasive procedure which produces cumulative results over a period of weeks to months. Most of my patients notice a moderate improvement in facial tone, texture, elasticity with regular treatmentys over 2 to 3months. The cost of 6 face and neck treatments at out office is $1200. You can call around for treatment costs. For moderate sagging in patients who are looking for more dramatic results, I recommend Rhytec plasmaportrait skin regeneration http://www.portraitpsr.com/. One in office treatment under local anesthesia takes about 30 to 40 minutes for face and neck and for $4000 to $5000 produces very impressive results in all aspects of aging from deep lines, rough texture, brown spots to jowls and saggy eyelids. You dont have to take a chance of bieng "overstretched" or having too much skin taken off your eyelids, like some of the celebrities you see on TV.

If the laxity is not severe, Thermage combined with fillers like Sculptra or Radiesse are very helpful. With aging, there is a loss of volume in the face which can be associated with loose skin. Thermage uses radiofrequency to heat up the dermis and stimulate collagen production. it can take 6 months to see the full results of Thermage. There is a synergy in the results if it is combined with fillers like Radiesse and Sculptra. There fillers are very different from each other but both help with stimulating collagen production and restoring volume in the face. Radiesse is very effective in restoring volume in the midface area ( around the cheekbones). Loss of volume in this area is associated with lines around the nose and the mouth. Building up this area helps to lift the nasolabial fold and make it less visible. Building up the lateral cheek can help with sagging jowels. The advantage of Radiesse is that results can be seen immediately and last up to 12 months. Sculptra usually requires more than one treatment. It can take time to see the full result of the collagen stimulation from Sculptra, but the results can last as long 2 years or more.