Top 5 Treatments to Make You Look Younger
Do you feel like you’re starting to look older? Is it affecting your confidence?
While ageing is a part of life, no one wants to feel tired and haggard when they look in the mirror - especially if you’re full of life on the inside!
In this article, we’re going to look at five treatments that will turn back the clock and help you feel vibrant once more.
Best for restoring volume: Fat transfer or fillers
The loss of facial fat is a key culprit for making us look older. Volume loss happens gradually throughout our lives - think of how a baby’s chubby round face slims down as they grow up. Eventually, our faces can start to look hollow and drawn and - without the fat to fill it out - our skin begins to sag. The extra weight in the lower half of the face results in marionette lines and jowls.
Our lips also lose volume and as they become thinner, wrinkles appear around the mouth. By contrast, young people have full lips and soft, round cheeks. Because of this, replacing lost volume is one of the best ways to make the face look younger. There are several techniques for doing this - the best option for you will depend on your budget and the areas that need treating.
Injectable hyaluronic acid filler is a quick and affordable way to give your lips a boost, fill in under-eye hollows or pad out deep lines. The drawback is that it’s not a permanent solution and will need to be repeated every 9-18 months. Additionally, you pay per millilitre, so if you have a big area that needs treating, like the cheeks, it can get expensive.
At Ocean Clinic, our preference is fat transfer because it’s permanent and most people have an abundant supply of it! The fat is extracted with a very fine cannula from a donor area on your body and processed into either microfat or nanofat. Microfat is grafted droplet by droplet to rebuild volume in areas where it has been lost, while nanofat is infused across the whole face via a microneedling pen. The fat not only plumps out the face but also helps to rejuvenate the skin thanks to the stem cells, growth factors and other regenerative material it contains.
Fat transfer is a minimally invasive procedure, requiring only local anesthetic for both the removal of the donor fat and the re-injecting. The two procedures can be carried out on the same day.
Best for treating sun damage: Chemical peel
We are blessed with the sunshine here in Spain but it can take its toll on our skin. If your face is starting to show lines and wrinkles, has taken on a crepey appearance or has age spots and discolouration, a chemical peel can be used to get rid of the damaged upper layers of skin.
The treatment involves using various types of acid to break down layers of top skin, to expose fresh, new skin beneath. The peel ‘depth’ (i.e. how many layers of skin are removed) is determined by the strength of the chemicals used.
Depending on the nature of the problem being treated, you may have a light, superficial peel, a peel targeted to one area (for example, to treat smokers lines or crow’s feet), or a full-face, deep phenol peel for more severe wrinkles.
For a light or medium depth peel a numbing cream will be applied to the skin, while a short anaesthesia or deep sedation is necessary for a deep peel. After a deep peel, a powder mask is worn for a week to protect the skin while it regenerates.
As the redness subsides over the following 6-8 weeks, it will give way to soft, blemish-free skin and a radiant glow. Providing you care for your skin well afterward, the results can last as long as 10 years.
Best for skin tightening: Ultherapy
Ultherapy (also known as HIFU) is a treatment that uses ultrasound to lift and tighten the skin. The science behind Ultherapy is based on heating the tissue underneath the skin in order to jump-start your body’s own process to create fresh, new collagen.
Different handpieces can be used to reach tissue at three depths: 1.5mm, 3.0mm and 4.5mm. The 4.5mm depth is what sets ultrasound technology apart; it targets the deep ‘SMAS’ muscle layer of the face that is tightened in facelift surgery.
Real-time ultrasound imaging lets the doctor identify and target the areas of your face that require treatment (as well as avoid blood vessels and bone). As the treatment takes place, you may experience a warm or tingling sensation beneath the surface of the skin but it should not be painful.
You can return to your normal activities immediately after treatment. Some patients see an initial effect right away, but the real results appear over two to three months as new collagen works to lift and tighten skin on the face and neck.
Best for rejuvenation of eye area: Eyelid surgery
If you feel like you’re looking tired, it’s likely that under-eye bags are to blame. Eye bags are often thought to be a sign of not getting enough sleep but, actually, they can simply appear with age. Orbital fat around the eye can start to prolapse and protrude, creating pouches under the eye.
Eye bag surgery – also called lower blepharoplasty or lower eyelid surgery – involves the removal of prolapsed fat through an incision on the inside of the lower lid. If the patient also requires removal of excess under-eye skin and tightening of the muscle structure, the incision is hidden in the lower lash line.
Another ageing factor is when the upper eyelids begin to sag, resulting in hooded eyes. Drooping eyelids can be treated with an upper blepharoplasty (also referred to as an eyelift), where excess skin and fatty tissue is removed (and the levator muscle can be tightened). The incisions are made in an eyelid crease so as to make them inconspicuous. Following treatment, your eyes will appear more open and you’ll look more youthful and alert.
Both types of blepharoplasty are generally performed under local anaesthesia with sedation. Your eyelids should look more or less normal within a week or two; however, you will not see the full results for 1-2 months. The results will last for many years.
Best for wrinkles: Injectable Muscle Relaxants
If you don’t want surgery, injectables are the best way to tackle lines and wrinkles on the upper portion of the face. They works by relaxing the muscles responsible for forming wrinkles, meaning it can be effective even on quite deep lines. Injections can be administered in minutes and results will appear over the following few days.
You can choose to have a single area or multiple areas treated. Injecting around the eyes will ease crow’s feet, while placing it between the eyebrows will eradicate frown lines. When used on the forehead, it can not only banish forehead lines but also lift the eyebrows, improving the appearance of sagging eyelids and opening up your eyes.
While the effects are temporary (3-6 months), it can quickly take years off your appearance, making you look fresher and well-rested. What’s more, due to its muscle weakening effect, regular use can prevent the formation of new wrinkles - or the worsening of existing ones.