Non-Surgical Treatments for Younger Looking Skin

by Belle Ong Consultant

Non-Surgical Treatments for Younger Looking Skin

Younger-looking skin can now be easily achieved using non-surgical medical treatments. We are seeing minimal differences in terms of beneficial outcome between non-surgical facelift methods and surgical facelift procedures. Thanks to advances in medical technology, a visit to the plastic surgeon is no longer the only way to reverse aging and achieve younger looking skin.

With newer, better non-surgical treatments available, medical aesthetic doctors are now able to achieve excellent skin rejuvenative results within a couple of hours – with minimal downtime and no surgical risks.

According to Dr. Siew Tuck Wah, Medical Director of Radium Medical Aesthetics, non-surgical treatments to reverse signs of aging can be broadly divided 3 different categories:

· Injectable – Dermal filler treatments such as Filler Liquid Facelift

· Ultrasound – High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) to tighten sagging skin and lift facial contours

· Thread Lift – Absorbable sutures inserted in the skin to dramatically lift sagging skin and restore facial contours

Liquid Facelift Using Dermal Fillers of Different Viscosity

Dermal fillers, or facial fillers are highly versatile because there is a variety of fillers with different viscosity. Combining the different fillers and the doctor’s skills, small amounts of dermal fillers can be added to the face to enhance their facial features without exposing themselves to any unnecessary surgical risks. The brands of dermal fillers that are used for non-surgical facelift are often Restylane and Belotero. These fillers are made of Hyaluronic Acid (HA). HA is a naturally-occurring compound that is found in the human body.

The face augmentation treatment using dermal filler is often called “Liquid Facelift” because it does not only restore loss volume on your face due to aging, but it also fills up wrinkles and lifts aging skin – naturally.

HIFU Treatment: Ultherapy Skin Lifting

In 2012, Ultherapy received its FDA approval for non-invasive ultrasound treatment for skin lifting and tightening of the brow, neck, chin, and décolletage.

For those unaware, Ultherapy Skin Lifting Treatment is a non-invasive procedure that uses HIFU to lift, tone, and tighten sagging skin. There is minimal to no downtime immediately after the treatment because it is non-invasive in nature. Your face may feel a little red but it should subside in a matter of a few hours.

Ultherapy targets the deep layers of the skin at the Superficial Muscular Aponeurotic System (SMAS) layer to stimulate skin contraction for lifting, and collagen production. The SMAS layer of the skin is usually the layer that cosmetic surgeons reach the same depth when perform a surgical facelift. However, Ultherapy is able to stimulate collagen production by delivering consistent, controlled heat of 60-70°C for long-term anti-aging effects – non-surgically.

You may not see immediate, dramatic results because the lifting happens gradually over a period of 3 months. Ultherapy encourages gradual collagen stimulation in your skin and it takes about 3 months before you will see the full skin lifting effects.

Other than Ultherapy, there are other HIFU treatments available in Singapore.

Dramatic Facelift: Silhouette Soft Thread Lift and PDO Thread Lift

Silhouette Soft Thread Lift is an advanced face lifting technique that creates dramatic, lifting with collagen stimulation to provide overall skin rejuvenation – naturally.

Silhouette Soft Threads are made of Polylactic Acid (PLA) monofilament. PLA is completely safe for us in the human body. PLA is a key material used by surgeons for stitching wounds. It is also commonly used by pharmaceutical companies as a drug delivery system.

Silhouette Soft threads use resorbable sutures with tiny bidirectional cones. The threads are inserted under the skin using a fine needle. When inserted, the doctor applies some pressure on the face to guide the needles to the exit point. During the process, the tiny bidirectional cones act as anchors to lift sagging skin so as to restore facial contours and achieve the V-shape face.

The outcome of the treatment achieves 2 purposes:

· IMMEDIATE LIFTING can be seen as the cones lift sagging skin and restore facial contours

· COLLAGEN PRODUCTION is achieved as the cones stimulate the skin to produce more collagen over the next few months

Although the threads will dissolve in 6 to 9 months after the treatment, the face will continue to stay in the same lifted position for another 12 to 18 months.

PDO Thread Lift also works in the similar manner. Other than using PLA threads in the case of Silhouette Soft threads, PDO Thread Lift uses polydioxanone. PDO is 100% bio-compatible. PDO is also a material that has been used by surgeons for surgical procedures.

Find out more about what Silhouette Soft Thread Lift treatment and PDO Thread Lift treatment can do for you.