How is the Y-Lift Different Form a "Liquid Facelift"?

Yeah, yeah,  yeah, I've heard it all before.  trust me there is no  "magic" out there although many would have you think there is.  Most facelifts are essentially the same.  Cutting around the ears and pulling the skin tight.  Except for the so called liquid facelift, which is not a true facelift but just involves fattening your face up with fillers.

    The only difference between this technique and injecting fillers is that this technique uses a blunt cannula and fillers in the past used sharp needles.

People love to put label on techniques that are not unique or really that new. Both of these refer to injection of fillers with blunt cannulas both deep and under the skin to add volume to the face. Neither really lifts the face. By adding volume they certainly make the face look more youthful. What they do is lift the face out and not really up, but give the illusion of up due to the great affects of volume enhancement.

Thanks for such a great question. I just watched the Dr. Oz segment with Dr. Trokel's demonstration of the Y-lift. Essentially, he is re-volumizing the face with hyaluronic acid. The titanium instrument is nothing more than a very long blunt-tipped cannula. Cannulas are becoming more popular with injectors since they are not sharp on the end and cause less trauma to the tissues and less bruising. He makes two stab incisions on each side, then introduces the cannula and deposits the hyaluronic acid deeply on the cheekbone and jawline. It is essentailly just another way of filling the face with an injectable material.

Thank you for your question. You want to know the difference between a Y Lift™ and a liquid facelift, and I can certainly help you with this as I am the first physician to be trained in the Y Lift™ method by the inventor of the Y Lift™ himself, and I routinely perform the Y Lift™ in my offices in Manhattan and Long Island. I’m also a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic surgeon, practicing for over 20 years.A liquid facelift was a concept that came out many years ago, and the term “facelift” has been reinterpreted in so many ways, from so many different perceptions. Essentially, for a cosmetic surgeon, a facelift is a surgical procedure done to restore definition and angularity to the face and to bring everything upwards. This somewhat overlaps with the Y Lift™, except that there is no surgery involved.With the Y Lift™method, we add volume deep into the structural level of the face, below the muscle and near the bone. Dermatologists do not go into this area, but cosmetic and oculoplastic surgeons like myself routinely deal with this area and are very familiar with it.Liquid facelifts offered by dermatologists and the like usually consist of an artful combination of a neurotoxin like Botox or Dysport, and fillers like Radiesse, Juvederm, or Restylane. These are usually added in areas of the face where there is volume loss, but is limited to the soft tissue areas of the dermis (the backbone of the skin) and the subcutaneous layer. The problem with soft tissue volumizing is that it can make people look pillowy or doughy, which doesn’t make someone look younger.A young face has structure, so with the Y Lift™, we try to achieve this structure by placing a long-lasting filler, like Juvederm or Voluma, into the deeper levels of the face in a very specific way to improve the angularity and definition of the cheekbones, the vertical aspect of the jaw, the jawline, and the chin, so you end up with the appearance of a facelift. The procedure is so precise, elegant and effective, that even our own colleagues in cosmetic surgery are in disbelief that it is not a surgical procedure.The Y Lift™ does require a lot of filler, and this tends to make people hesitate. But if you understand facial volume loss, and the fact that we’re putting it at a structural level, it is actually not that much.So, for your case, I would suggest meeting with a doctor who performs the Y Lift™ and learn more about the procedure to determine if it’s right for you. Keep in mind you don’t necessarily have to get the full procedure. If there are certain areas of your face that don’t need enhancement, you can forgo those and focus on the ones that need it. That’s the beauty about this method—you can choose to use it on specific areas of your face. So far, the results we’ve have with this procedure have been very transformative and has filled in the gap between people who only need volume, and people who need surgical lifting.We’ve found that the ideal candidate for the Y Lift™ is usually a woman in her mid-40s, who is fit and healthy, and has good overall structure but has lost volume. However, we have also been able to treat women as young as mid-30s to 60s, and have successfully helped them to look their best. Ultimately, it all depends on the individual’s facial anatomy.I hope that was helpful and I wish you the best of luck!This personalized video answer to your question is posted on RealSelf and on YouTube. To provide you with a personal and expert response, we use the image(s) you submitted on RealSelf in the video, but with respect to your privacy, we only show the body feature in question so you are not personally identifiable. If you prefer not to have your video question visible on YouTube, please contact us.