The Lifestyle Lift is a fairly well known cosmetic procedure due to extensive marketing and long-term branding efforts. It represents one of the few plastic surgery operations that has become ‘franchised’ and turned into a medical commodity of sorts. This is very different and much more difficult than what occurs with drugs and devices which by definition are already packaged and priced. What started out as selling a procedure (Lifestyle Lift) eventually morphed into creating a nationwide chain of plastic surgery centers. It was hard to overlook them, both physician and patients alike, due to their heavy promotions in magazines and TV ads.
On March 2, 2015, the Lifestyle lift company abruptly shut down the majority of its businesses. Speculation abounds as to why and the company has not explained its reasons, other than bankruptcy, or whether it may eventually reorganize and re-emerge. One can only assume that the cost of doing business (marketing) surpassed its revenues for too long.
Whatever may be the outcome of the Lifestyle Lift ‘story’, it shows how tricky packaging and selling an elective operation can be when done on a grand scale. The premise of the Lifestyle Lift was initially based on offering a mini-facelift operation done under local anesthesia as an office procedure at a discount price. The typical prices for these operations were often about half of that offered by many plastic surgeons and certainly far less than a ‘full’ facelift. In addition, the operation promoted a quick recovery and minimal downtime. Their ads were compelling with the before and after results shown although many questioned whether a mini-facelift alone could produce such results.
The appeal to prospective patients was obvious…low cost, little recovery and results that showed (and indirectly promised) a facial rejuvenation outcome that was almost too good to be true. For some patients good results were almost certainly obtained but there is no denying that there was also a significant contingent of patients who were either unsatisfied and with some that developed actual complications. Whether their rate of complications was higher than that of other facelifts will never be known.
The Lifestyle Lift saga illustrates that it is hard to create and sell a ‘one operation fits all approach’ when it comes to treating facial aging. The effects of time, gravity and the environment on the face are highly variable. Many patients are drawn to a mini-facelift, due to recovery or budget, when they really need a more extensive facial rejuvenative effort. As a result they can be easily sold and are ripe for disappointment when their mini procedure fails to deliver a maximum result. Like in all of plastic surgery patient selection and education is paramount and that can easily be overlooked when trying to make production numbers.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana