The world of Plastic surgery and Facial Plastic surgery has benefited tremendously from new technology. We have better techniques, and better knowledge that allows to give our patients better results with less downtime than ever before.
I have come across an interesting finding though, over the last few years. Those patients of mine who have had Thermage and to a lesser degree Fraxel have had some degree of fat necrosis that has made their faces age in a rapid fashion (particularly the lower face and neck). This also makes their facelift surgery more difficult to perform and more difficult to get a good result. The face requires a certain amount of fat under surface of the skin to look and feel youthful. I have seen a handful of these patients who are in their mid 40’s who do need facelifts because of rapid early aging and they all have similar poor skin quality with a flimsy characteristic to the subcutaneous fat layer consistent with the skin of someone in their 60’s. It is possible that these people already had this quality to their skin which prompted them to get Thermage initially but it is my opinion that the Thermage treatments are a major contributing factor.
Here in Beverly Hills there are offices offering these treatments on every corner and heavily advertising them so I have no doubt I will be seeing more and more people with these issues in the near future.
Facelift, Nonsurgical Enhancement