Due to television and internet advertising, I get a lot of questions from my exiting patients as well as new potential patients about the ‘Lifestyle Lift’. This one-hour ‘method’ shows some fairly significant before and after results with improvement in the jowl and neck areas. Many people as they age would understandably like to see these improvements.
First and foremost, the ‘Lifestyle Lift’ is a surgical procedure. That is not made obvious in any of the advertising. Only surgery with cutting and lifting skin can create those results. These are not results that can come from a bottle, laser, or a suture or threadlift. Regardless of the method of anesthesia used (local, sedation, or general) to perform it, this is surgery. Secondly, this procedure is nothing more than a version of a facelift known as a limited facelift. (don’t let the term facelift scare you, a facelift only changes the neck and jowl area) Limited facelifts are known by a lot of different names with the Lifestyle Lift being just one of them. It is a scaled down version of a full facelift that can have a powerful effect on the jowl area primarily with some improvement in the neck as well. Thirdly, it is a procedure that has some recovery with swelling and some bruising after surgery. While the recovery is fairly short (a week), it is not possible to have a surgical procedure and have no recovery. While the recovery is mainly one of how the face looks, there is some short sequelae of having been operated on.
Limited facelifts are very popular today and make up about half of the facelifts that I currently do. They are popular because they offer real visible benefits without an extensive operation. In essence, they do fit some patient’s ‘lifestyles’, hence the brand name from the Lifestyle Lift company. This operation, however, is not unique to this company and the franchise operators who perform it.
The limited facelift or short scar facelift is popular for two reasons. Younger patients today want to treat the earlier signs of jowl and neck changes rather than waiting until they are much worse. As a result, their facial problem is less severe and they do not need an extended or full facelift operation. The limited facelift can be combined with many other smaller procedures as well (e.g., Botox, injectable fillers, laser resurfacing, eyelid tucks, neck and jowl liposuction) to create an even better overall result without significantly extending the recovery. Older patients (who really need a bigger operation but do not want it) can partake of a simpler and less scary operation that provides some degree of visible improvement. This usually fits their financial situation and allows them to have facial surgery that they can afford.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana