Is There a Non Surgical Face Lift That Works?

You join a long line of people praying to the gods of beauty to bring some non-surgical answer to their prayers for facial rejuvenation. It is truly the Holy Grail of plastic surgery. Unfortunately, there is no non-surgical way to get the same results as a facelift. There are, however, a variety of treatments that can provide some rejuvenation and bridge the gap for those who just don't want to go under the knife. Anyone advertising a non-surgical facelift is performing some combination of the procedures described below.
To begin, everyone over the age of 35 should be using some kind of skin care. At a minimum, even at younger ages, everyone should be using sunblock. Beyond that there are a large number of skin care lines which can greatly reduce sun damage and aging of your facial skin. Good skin care can be prescribed by a plastic surgeon, dermatologist, or even an experienced aesthetician. Its something you can do now without any real downside and a lot of potential benefit.
The next type of treatments include injectable products. The most popular option here is Botox/Dysport. These products are injected into muscles to relax them and stop the progression or the production of facial wrinkles. Its very safe, effective and affordable. You will need to have these treatments every 3-4 months to maintain the results since their effects are temporary, but they are VERY effective. Frown lines between your eyes and in your forehead as well as crows feet can be treated very well with Botox or Dysport (same basic stuff, different companies).
For the deeper lines like the ones from the corner of your nose to the corners of your mouth (nasolabial folds) you might consider filler injections. There are many products available with the most popular ones being made of hyaluronic acid (Restylane, Perlane, Juvederm, Hydrelle and Prevelle). These can be injected to soften (but completely alleviate) deeper lines and folds in your face. The results can last from 2 months up to a year depending upon the product used and the location of the injection. There are other products that can be injected to add volume depending upon your needs. In fact, one of the best options is taking fat from other areas of your body and injecting it into your face to add volume. You can discuss all of your options with your surgeon.
The last group of options are for tightening and/or resurfacing of the skin. This is usually done with lasers though there are other types of machines that can be used as well as chemical peels that can be very effective. The best options currently (in my opinion) is fractional CO2 laser treatments. With that treatment (the one I use is called the Matrix by Sandstone Technology) a resurfacing laser is used to treat your skin with little dots leaving spaces of normal skin in between. This allows your skin to heal very quickly (usually within one week) and still get a nice improvement. You can see some tightening of the skin with this and other treatments, but it will never equal the benefit of a facelift.
Always discuss your options with board certified plastic surgeons. You can choose the options that sound the best to you and make a plan together to achieve your goals. If you have excess hanging skin, you will probably need to have it removed which means surgery. In the end, if you need surgery for the best results, you will never match it with non-surgical options.
I hope this info helps!

Thank you for your question regarding non-surgical face lifts. There are many different techniques on the market today that offer some lifting, tightening, and contouring of the face.  Since you are in your early 50's it is impossible to evaluate without photos and knowing the elasticity of your skin which, if any, of these techniques might be of benefit to you. Choosing a board-certified plastic surgeon with experience and expertise in facial aesthetics will be a good place for you to start. In our office we offer Ultherapy, which is an ultrasonic, non-invasive method of lifting and tightening the skin, but full results are not realized immediately but after around 3 months.  Most of my patients are very satisifed with their results, but they will not be the same as with a surgical facelift.  For our Ultherapy patients we also offer complimentary Radiesse, Botox, Belotero or Juvederm to help fill in lines and create volume and contour in the face.  You should also know that a MACS lift, which is my number one choice for most of my facelift patients, offers minimal downtime with excellent results.  I hope this helps. 

Often the marketing term "Non-surgical facelift" or "Liquid Facelift" is used by doctors who cannot perform a real facelift because they are not trained to do so.
Because they can't do a facelift, these doctors attempt to rejuvenate the face using only injectable products such as Restylane, Juvederm, Sculptra, Radiesse and Botox Cosmetic. Many of these patients would be better served by a combination of skin tightening using a facelift, cheeklift, or necklift along with the "nonsurgical" techniques mentioned above and and sometimes frational CO2 laser. The overall result would be better and and more durable, lasting 7 - 10 years. While the initial cost of facial rejuvenation surgery is more, the "non-surgical" techniques could easily add up to more cost over a 7 - 10 year period because of the need for repeated injections.
Most board certified plastic surgeons are trained to do all of these procedures, therefor they have no vested interest in trying to "sell" someone on a "non-surgical facelift".
Physicians offering only a "Non-surgical facelift" are most likely not trained to do advanced facial surgery (including the gold standard facelift), therefor they have a vested interest in marketing the "Non-surgical Facelift" as the best or only approach. If all you have is a hammer (needle in this case) everyone starts to look like a nail.
Often this aggressive marketing attempts to play on your fears by saying you don't need to have invasive surgical procedures or that the downtime is much less for a "non-surgical facelift" or even worse claims that the "non-surgical facelift" is a replacement for a real facelift
To avoid being lured in by slick or deceptive marketing:
1. Always consult with a board certified surgeon who has training and experience doing the entire spectrum of procedures for facial rejuvenation including the gold standard facelift. If you are not sure about the doctor you are seeing, find out by asking the question, "If I needed a facelift would you be doing it or would I have to go to a different doctor."
2. Avoid physicians who treat all facial aging only with injectable fillers and Botox or that say a "non-surgical facelift" can replace a real facelift.
3. Remember that dermal fillers, Botox cosmetic and Sculptra have added greatly to our ability to rejuvenate the face by replacing lost volume in key areas, and reducing wrinkles but they don't solve the problem of laxity (loose skin of the face and/or neck)
4. Don't fall for the ploy that the "non-surgical facelift" involves less cost, or downtime. Over 7 - 10 years this is probably not true.
5. Understand that not all patients with facial aging need a facelift. If there is little or no loose skin (laxity) dermal fillers, Botox Cosmetic and Sculptra often work very well. But you will not know the answer to this question unless you ask a surgeon who can offer you all of the different surgeries and injectable techniques.
Truly sound, long lasting facial rejuvenation often involves a combination of surgery (facelift, cheeklift, necklift, eyelid lift, browlift), injectable techniques such as fat grafting, sculptra and dermal fillers and Botox Cosmetic and laser (fractional or traditional laser resurfacing).
This unified approach to facial rejuvenation will give you the best and longest lasting results.

FaceTite can internally tighten the skin in the lower face and neck. After all the skin has been heated and contracted, we shape the neck with liposuction to give definition and remove stubborn pockets of fat. In one quick treatment, we can tighten skin, remove fat, and contour the lower face, jawline, and jowls with only a weekend of downtime. Keep in mind that combination approaches will give you a more significant improvement as opposed to a single procedure. I recommend getting a consultation with a board-certified cosmetic dermatologist and facial sculpting expert. Best, Dr. Emer

Hello,All good feedback from panel members.  There are many reasons why an individual may not be wanting a surgical option, and without knowing yours, we cannot provide feedback that may give you a different perspective.  Regardless, being only in your fifties is encouraging when considering cosmetic injection treatments to address volume loss, heaviness of the face, or loss of support.  Filler products are able to offer improvement in all of these areas.  Botox & Dysport work well to offer a lifting effect of the eyelids and brows by relaxing key muscles that pull us heavy in these areas.  There are several options in the family of filler products that can restore and rejuvenate the face.Choosing a practitioner that offers balanced information, realistic expectations for limitations vs benefits of injection treatments, and works collaboratively with you to help you meet your treatment goals is the best treatment plan.

There are many methods to combat the effects of aging on the face that are not surgery.  However there is no intervention that can achieve the result of a facelift other than a facelift surgery.  
The aging face is the result of several factors, skin and soft tissue descend with gravity, also the youthful fat and soft tissue as well as bone structure of the face recede with time.  The texture of skin can change and develop fine lines.
Fillers are a nonsurgical option and can help a lot with the volume loss aspect of aging in the under eyes, cheeks, temples and nasolabial fold areas.  Different injectable products work better for different areas - make sure you see a board certified facial plastic surgeon, dermatologist or plastic surgeon to make sure you get a good result. 
You may also consider laser treatments, or chemical peel for textural changes in the skin. 
Some nonsurgical treatments such as ulthera and excilis, and face tite can help to improve the skin tightness as well.  
However, surgery is the only option that can lift, and get rid of excess skin and hanging jowls.  

I classically combine Ultherapy, which is FDA cleared for a nonsurgical brow lift and submental neck lift in combination with Voluma in the mid face and Radiesse to the lower third of the face with natural nonsurgical facelift results.

Unfortunately
for a fifty year old individual, there is no non-surgical treatment to get the
same results as a facelift. There are few non-surgical treatments that can
provide some rejuvenation and buy some times for those who just don't want to have
surgical treatment. Facial fillers such
as Juvederm, Restylane, Radiesse, or fat grafting can camouflage the deflated
area of the face and laser treatments can improve the tone of skin.

I try to use this term carefully as it can lead people to think they are getting some type of real facelift and it is used with in a completely different approach. A liquid facelift is using injectables to provide a rejuvenation to the face, which is experiencing:   volume loss, muscle contractions that are causing deep wrinkles and lip line definition. It does not take away from the need of a facelift and vise versa. A facelift will tighten and remove sagging drooping skin and give a nice jawlines, and more, however, it does not always address the issue that injectables would be able to.

A liquid facelift combines Botox and injectable fillers, like Juvéderm or Restylane, in a single treatment. The treatment injects hyaluronic acid and Botox to your face where wrinkles, creases and sagging exist. It achieves results that last a few months. A surgical facelift will achieve results that last longer, however it comes with the risks related to surgery.

The question is to which procedures would most help someone look more youthful can only be answered with careful physical examination.  There are some conditions for which surgery is the only option and others for which surgery is not an option at all.  If volume loss is leading to an aged appearance then volume replacement is your best option.  However if sagging or redundant tissue is the primary source of your appearing to be older than surgery will be your best option.