Minimal surgery = minimal results ?
The last decade, a new evolution has entered the world of plastic surgery: minimal or non-invasive surgery. Typical examples of this kind of surgery are: laser treatment, radio-frequency, ultrasound, and shock wave therapy. Depending on the type of treatment, these procedures promise to deliver you a lifting effect, skin retraction, or skin resurfacing. Several areas can be treated, such as the eyelids, the cheeks, the arms, the abdomen, and thighs. And sometimes, they are seen as an alternative to surgery, in order to avoid a scar, have a quicker recovery, all with the same results as open surgery.
It is especially that last claim that needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of innovative techniques and state-of-the-art procedures that can give great results with minimal to no incisions. I also offer procedures, such as muscle relaxants, dermal fillers, and skin tightening treatments in my practice. And they do work. But what we must not forget, is that they will only deliver good results if the indication is right. What do I mean by that ?
RF-induced skin tightening
The power of radiofrequency is an elegant and non-invasive way to stimulate collagen production skin tightening. Patient selection is key to ensure optimal results!
When analysing any body part and looking at the changes it undergoes throughout the years, we must not only look at the outside (mostly the changes of the skin), but also at the deeper tissues. In most cases, the ageing process involves both a change in the skin as well as the deep soft tissues. In order to have a good and long-lasting rejuvenating effect, it seems only logical that both layers are addressed and treated. If your bed feels very saggy or makes more noise than usual, it doesn’t suffice to only change the bed sheets. You might have to change your mattress as well.
Minimally invasive skin tightening
Radiofrequency-induced Helium Plasma is a very powerful technique to stimulate skin contraction and collagen production after liposuction. It is recommended to use during the same surgery for enhanced results.
Young patients with firm skin may definitely maintain their healthy, fresh looks through regular cosmetic treatments such as Botulinum Toxin injections to avoid wrinkles, dermal filler injections for volume enhancement and skin-tightening treatments. However, if you suffer from significant skin laxity and tissue sagging, choosing for minimal invasive surgery only may not give you the results you are hoping for. The reason is two-fold:
Skin that has lost its elasticity will just not contract sufficiently, regardless of the treatment. This counts for patients after weight loss, with saggy breasts after pregnancy and breast feeding, or just due to the natural ageing process. Skin excess with general laxity needs to be treated with some kind of excisional procedure to restore its youthful and smooth aspect.
Sagging skin is not only caused by its loss of elasticity, but also due to sagging of the tissues underneath the skin. The only way to truly have a long-lasting rejuvenating effect after treatment, is to treat both the deep tissues and the skin. The deep tissues need to be lifted and the skin needs to be redraped and partially excised. Treating only the skin will most of the times only give short-term benefits, which will ultimately fuel into disappointment.
Minimal invasive procedures are therefor a good indication if:
You want to slow down the ageing process and maintain a fresh look. Therefor, you choose early enough to get regular cosmetic treatments to avoid wrinkle formation, boost your collagen and elastin levels, promote skin hydration, and reinforce the deeper structures beneath the skin.
You only suffer from moderate tissue sagging and skin laxity, and are looking for a treatment to improve your skin texture and skin tone with minimal downtime and minimal to no scars. Some treatments may then be indicated to tighten the skin, flatten out wrinkles and improve skin texture, while keeping natural results.
You are planned for some kind of surgery, during which some additional treatments may further improve the final results. A typical example of this is to combine a liposuction treatment with skin tightening. While the liposuction will reduce the fatty deposits in certain areas of the body, the additional skin-tightening treatment will significantly enhance the level of skin retraction to give you an overall better surgical result. Another example is the combination of a facelift with micro-needling and fat grafting. The facelift will lift the sagged tissues beneath the skin to restore a youthful face, while the micro-needling and fat grafting will improve skin texture, skin tone, and skin quality. Combining both truly has a powerful effect.
Filler treatments have several indications
Treatments with dermal fillers know many good indications to treat specific signs of aging or to accentuate specific facial features. As with all minimally invasive treatments, patient selection and setting the right expectations are key to enhance the results and increase patient happiness.
The aim of most of the “minimally invasive” methods is extremely rapid recovery time. However, the reason someone chooses to have plastic surgery is to effectively correct defects related to ageing. So it has little importance that your downtime is shortened, if your surgical result does not satisfy your primary concern. So if sagged soft tissues are not lifted or lax excess skin not surgically treated, a satisfactory long-lasting result is very hard to achieve.
Therefor, when you consider some kind of aesthetic procedure (surgical or non-surgical), look at more than the promised recovery time. Look at the long-term effects as well. The right indication for the right patient will result in the best outcome. And most importantly, consult an experienced surgeon who knows what they are talking about.