Technology and social media have caused many positive human interactions and experiences. They have made connecting to those close and far away as easy as the push of a button and available in a matter of seconds. They also allow us to visually share every aspect of our lifes, whether others really care to see them or not.
Several instantaneous visual methods of human communication that was not available even five years ago are Skype and FaceTime. While FaceTime is unique to the iphone, Skype can be done on the computer, iPad or on a variety of smartphone models. I have used it extensively over the past few years and a consultation that I did just a few weeks ago illustrates how easy it is to have a plastic surgery consultation today….on my iPad mini I was talking to a young female in regards to a lip procedure while she was being driven in a car on the way to Kentucky on her iPhone. You virtually can connect with anyone just about anywhere in real time.
One interesting aspect of these visual virtual connections is that we can see ourselves in the computer or on the phone. Unless you are a child, most of us would agree that we usually don’t like the picture that we see of ourselves. Some of this is because most people have a distorted image of how they really look…and seeing pictures of ourselves does not visually match the image to which we are mentally familiar. Some of it is also because there are conversion ratio errors in the picture display that really does distort our face. (appear more bloated than one really looks) There is also the reality that those of us who are middle aged and older really do look that way and are showing our age.
These visual facial aging changes have spurned some to pursue plastic surgery for some facial rejuvenation improvements. A plastic surgery procedure known as the FaceTime Facelift has even been touted as the surgical solution for those puffy eyes, double chins and dangling necks that may be discovered in a video chat session…if not seen in pictures long before any video chat.
Whether one is having a virtual-spawned facelift procedure or not, facelift surgery has taken on many forms and variations over the years. Often with catchy marketing names and touted in various ways, the underlying theme of all surgical facelifts are the same. It is a lower 1/3 of the face procedure that changes the jowls and the neck. Incisions are made around the ears, skin is lifted various distances from the ears into the face and neck and the deeper tissues (plastysma muscle and SMAS) manipulated for a tightening effect in various ways. The skin is then lifted, tightened and excess removed. Such facial tissue manipulations will really take about 10 to 14 days for the significant part of the recovery.
Within each facelift, most plastic surgeons have developed their own technical variations for many steps of the procedure. These variations, however, do not usually make the procedure have less of a recovery, connote a magical technique or necesarily create a better or longer-lasting result. These are facelift nuances that work best in each plastic surgeon’s hands to create a satisfying result.
While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a video may leave one with an image that words alone can not really satisfy. What may have started as a casual conversation with a friend or relative may have unintended consequences that may lead one to making a new friend…their local plastic surgeon!
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana