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Laser Scalpel Vs. Traditional for Facelift?

asked 2 years ago by sign_here in Cupertino, CA
Latest answer by Anil R. Shah, MD
Question viewed 807 times
Tags: plastic surgeon

I've been consulting several plastic surgeons about a facelift. Given equal skill levels of surgeons, would you go with someone skilled with a laser scalpel or traditional? I'm captivated by the idea of the laser scalpel (cauterizes immediately), but does it really result in shorter healing times? Does it last longer? In short, what are the real advantages (if any) to a laser scalpel? (I'm sure this applies to other surgical procedures, too, but I'm shopping for a facelift surgeon. Thanks.

16 answers to Laser Scalpel Vs. Traditional for Facelift?

Laser scalpel- innovation or hype

Dr. Aldea is spot on with his assessment. There is absolutely no advantage to using a laser scalpel. An experienced facelift expert will do a facelift procedure with virtually no blood loss. The laser has the disadvantage of inadvertently burning a nerve, permanently damaging it.

Brent Moelleken, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

www.drbrent.com

It is the surgeon that is the important part of the operation

See an experienced facelift surgeon if you want to get the best result. See live patients he has done that you like. Forget the marketing of how he does it and go for established quality of results.

Toby Mayer, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.bevhills.com

Laser scalpel is pure marketing fluff for a facelift

As Dr. Aldea and Moelleken have so nicely stated, you are being scammed by a doctor who is telling you his/her tools will make a better result than someone else's. (I'll bet they are either young or not a real plastic surgeon, or both). It isn't the tools but who is using them that makes the result so I would be very cautious about your opening statement "given equal skill levels" because no 2 surgeons are equal. Just to continue the Tiger Woods analogy, there are thousands of... more

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

LASER versus Scalpel

Although a LASER sounds more technologically advanced and therefore a better option than a standard scalpel, it is not a good option for facelift incisions for the following reasons: Heat damage created to the surrounding tissues Possibility of damage to hair No evidence to support better incisions More time spent on incisions- however not necessarily providing any benefit Inability to bevel incisions (can allow hair growth through the incision with a... more

Anil R. Shah, MD
Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon

Laser scalpel vs traditional scalpel for facelift

The laser is a burning and cutting tool. The actual facelift procedure is the same. A laser, a knife, and scissors are all cutting tools used to perform the facelift operation. The only advantage that the laser has is that there is minimal bleeding. When properly performed, there is minimal bleeding with a facelift anyway, especially when Jackson-Pratt drains are used in the postoperative phase. Since the laser is a burning tool, the healing and swelling takes much longer and... more

William Portuese, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattlefacial.com

More important that you are having the right type of Facelift

As you can see from the well stated answers here, the type of scalpel doesn't matter. For me personally I don't like the laser scalpel for two reasons: 1. I prefer the "clean cut" of a traditional scalpel for dissecting out the layers of the skin / SMAS / muscle 2. I prefer "pinpoint" cautery as opposed to the "broad" cautery of the laser scalpel. It is my feeling that this results in less compromise of the blood vessels / capillaries that are important for the... more

Kamran Jafri, MD
New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

Healing time and scarring potentially greater with laser for facelift

There are studies that have shown that the healing time and ultimately scarring is potentially greater with the use of the laser as scalpel vs. the traditional use of a surgical knife blade. Use of the laser is more cumbersome, time consuming and costly. There are added inherent risks in using the laser. Lasers have many wonderful indications and uses. In my opinion, the use of a laser as a scalpel for facelift or eyelid surgery is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate.... more

Sigmund L. Sattenspiel, MD
Freehold Facial Plastic Surgeon

Laser Facelift

Pick the surgeon, not the instrument. You should only be concerned about the final result. No studies have demonstrated a consistent advantage of one technique over the other. Your "captivation" with lasers will not guarantee better results, but demonstrates the rationale for this marketing campaign.

Richard W. Fleming, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Best Scalpel for a Facelift

The best scalpel is the one that the surgeon is used to. Every surgeon has a level of comfort with her/his own instrument choice. The concept of laser scalpel is great but it causes a lot of heat trauma to tissues and also can cause laser related fires in the operating room burning drapes and at times the patient as well. Here are your scalpel options: 1. Cold Steel (the regular old fashioned blade) 2. Electric cautery (Bovie) It is a radiofrequency instrument that cuts and coags(stopping... more

Tanveer Janjua, MD
Bedminster Facial Plastic Surgeon

Lasers and facelift surgery

Not all lasers cauterize as they cut and so you still must use a cautery unit in addition to the laser. A laser does not guide the surgery and putting a laser into the hands of a surgeon does not make him/her a great surgeon.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

The laser does not make the surgeon

Lasers are just another cutting modality. But gosh they sure are sexy. However, just because a surgeon uses a laser to make a facelift dissection, it does not make them a better surgeon. It does not make them a worse surgeon either. Ultimately you have to decide on other factors like what is the reputation of this surgeon? What does this surgeon's patients say about them? Do you like the surgeon's before and after pictures? Does the surgeon have hospital priveleges for facelifting and... more

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD
Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Laser Scalpel is Laser Marketing

The idea that a laser scalpel may be used for your incisions may sound good, but it really has very little applicability to Facelift surgery. The only circumstance where it may be appropriate is via use of laser assisted lipolysis (LAL) in the neck. However, the superiority or inferiority of LAL to traditional liposuction is quite debatable. The ironic thing about using a "laser scalpel" to make incisions is that most lasers transmit a certain degree of thermal injury and a... more

Stephen Prendiville, MD
Fort Myers Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.drprendiville.com

Lasers do not make a difference in the incision but may help elsewhere

Lasers do not make better incisions than a scalpel. Sometimes surgeons use buzz words such as laser to sell a procedure. However, I have been using lasers under the skin and find that there is less bleeding when I separate the skin. This will lead to less black and blue. The overall result is no different but the black and blue goes away a little faster.

Steven J. Pearlman, MD
New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

Laser scalpel

A laser is a focused beam of light energy which destroys tissue with heat. Scars result from tension and delayed wound healing. There is no burning with traditional scalpel and therefore incisions heal beautifully. Blood loss during facelift surgery is minimal and there is no need for a laser scalpel. The surgeon may prefer this device but it does not mean better results are achieved by using it. In fact, I see inherent problems with using a laser scalpel. Seek out a board certified plastic... more

Robert W. Kessler, MD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Technology may sometimes help with facelift, but the scalpel is equal or better than laser

I have been involved with lasers since the 1970's. There have been many that have come, gone, been modified, and been updated. We currently have over $600,000 in lasers on site that we own. Several of these could be used for "laser" facelifts, but we still do not use them. We have tried it through the years, each time returning to the scalpel as faster, actually more delicate, and safer. As others have alluded to, it is more the violinist and less the violin that creates the best... more

Nathan Mayl, MD
Fort Lauderdale Plastic Surgeon

Be careful when surgeon starts naming his or her facelift

Whenever a surgeon has to elevate himself from other plastic surgeons by resorting to branding his/her own proprietary Facelift names (for procedures already well known and used by all of us), by claiming his "laser" is better than a scalpel yielded by a well trained hand and other similar shenanigans -- it is time to start running the other way. YOU ARE BEING FLEECED. Regardless of the cost of golf clubs, I will NEVER play a game like Tiger Woods. As a matter of fact, I would bet... more