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New York — If what’s happening in New York is any indication, traditional facelifts are going the way of the city’s two major-league baseball stadiums: They’ll soon be replaced by new, sleeker versions.
New York’s Daily News reports that facelifts are up 14 percent this year, and that local facelift patients prefer minimally invasive “plumping” facelifts over more traditional cutting-and-tightening procedures. According to sources cited by the Daily News, the focus of the “new” facelift is the midface, and the goal is to achieve a look that’s plumper and more youthful rather than tight and taut.
The Daily News quotes St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital plastic surgeon Darrick Antell, M.D., as saying, “We’re seeing a much different approach today. Plastic surgery should whisper, not scream. Today, instead of tightening the neck, there is a re-suspending of the muscles in the face.”
Many facial-rejuvenation candidates choose fillers first, but, says Dr. Antell, “If you just keep filling up a face with fillers, after awhile you look like the Michelin man or a squirrel with a mouthful of nuts. You actually have to lift the skin up.”
The Daily News quotes Upper East Side plastic surgeon David Rosenberg, M.D., who specializes in the plumping facelift procedure, as saying, “It’s not as much a pulling back of the skin as it is a muscle correction. In the cheek, I go under the fat pad and re-support it to a place where it was earlier in time to recreate a younger-looking cheek. I go under the muscles along the jaw line and neck, and re-support them back to a more youthful position.”
According to Dr. Rosenberg, the new method results in less bruising and a lower complication rate. “A person looks good at seven days and very good at 14 days,” he says.
