Mid Face Rejuvenation

The CustomLift® approach to the problem areas of the Mid Face.

1) Lower Eyelid

The lower eye lid is the most complex area of the face when it comes to the aging process. Only recently has plastic surgery begun to understand what really is causing the aging appearance here and even more recently have we figured out how to treat it.

The biggest culprits of lower eye lid aging include:

• excess skin
• sagging of the outer corner of the eye lid (crow's feet)
• bulging eye lid fat (bags)
• circles under the eyes

All of these problems are caused by different aspects of the aging process. The key is to identify which ones are your major concerns, prioritize them, and address them in methodical fashion.

Before we go into the individual aspects of the lower lid, I want to comment on the profound effect fat loss has on the cheeks and lower eyelid. It is probably the single biggest contributor to the aged look of the lower lid and mid face, yet, only recently have we begun to understand this. Because of its attention to detail, CustomLift® has been at the forefront of recognizing this extremely common problem.

Fat transfer to the cheeks and lower lids has become one of the most common procedures I perform on the face. Replenishing volume is treating the problem at its root.

Excess Skin of the Lower Lid

Excess skin of the upper eyelid occurs early in the aging process. The lower lid, however, is different. The skin laxity becomes a problem typically later in the aging process. Fat loss routinely precedes skin laxity. Excess skin shows itself as wrinkly, redundant skin over the lower lid. Often, it can be pinched and pulled away from the lid once it becomes significant.

Excess skin of the upper cheek/crow's feet; tired appearance

Conventional plastic surgery techniques typically treat this problem with skin and muscle removal. The CustomLift® treats this by performing a temple lift with or without skin removal of the lower eyelid. This elevates the saggy skin all the way down to the upper cheeks and crow's feet area. This does many positive things. It gets rid of the crow's feet as well as the excess skin of the outer part of the lower lid. In addition, it creates a bright, elegant appearance.

As you may have noticed, I have placed the temple lift as treatment for both the upper and lower eye lid. This is because the temple lift has a powerful rejuvenating effect on entire eye region. Aging of the temple region is responsible for much of what we have come to recognize as aging around the eye.

The temple lift is perhaps the most powerful rejuvenating procedure related to the eye.

Bags under the eyes

Bulging (Bags) of the lower eye lid is caused by two completely different processes. The first one is the most obvious; bulging fat of the lower lid. This fat swells more in the morning and when you are sleep deprived.

Animated Removal of Bags under the Eyes

Scroll over the image to see the effects of removal of bags.

Look at anyone over the age of 50. By this age most of the cheek fat has gone away leaving behind a hollow, gaunt appearance. Loss of cheek fat over the upper cheek bone leaves the characteristic circles under the eyes. The only way to treat this problem is to replace the fat, thus, restoring our fat reserves.

What does Fat Transfer do?

There are several aspects of fat transfer that make it extremely appealing.

1. First and foremost, is that it replaces the precious fat of the cheeks creating a youthful appearance that can not be obtained by any other method.

2. It takes fat from an area that usually has too much, i.e. the abdomen creating a win-win situation. Unfortunately, with age we gain fat in the areas we don't want it and lose it in the areas where we need it most.

3. It can easily be done under local anesthesia, thus, making it more cost effective and convenient.

Finally, the amount of fat transferred is controllable as the procedure can be repeated until the desired result is obtained. Adding fat not only replaces the fat you have already lost, it gives you a buffer so that when you lose fat in the future it is not so noticeable.

3) Naso-labial Folds

CustomLift's approach to the naso-labial folds, aka "parenthesis deformity," is quite different than the current standard treatment. The mainstay of current treatment is injecting a soft tissue filler to plump up the crease. This does not treat the root cause of the problem.

These folds are not caused by the crease getting deeper. It is caused by the fold above the crease hanging down. Therefore, filling in the crease does not make sense. In addition, this soft tissue filler rarely improves the look for more than two months.

The fold above begins to hang because of loss of cheek fat. Once the volume of the cheek is decreased the skin begins to hang. Therefore, CustomLift's long term treatment to the problem is to add fat. This will improve the hanging folds by inflating the cheeks.

By correcting the cause of the problem, facial rejuvenation looks much more natural.

Testimonial

Thank you for the fantastic work you did on my eyes and face. I feel so much better about myself.

I no longer hide behind glasses (I'm getting contacts). I use to look to the ground and avoid eye contact with people because I was so self conscience about the saggy bags and dark circle under my eyes. Now I'm excited to look at everyone and show off my new face.

My husband is excited about my new look too. He thinks that Doctor Cruise did an exceptionally good job on me. My husband now constantly compliments me. He says what he likes most of all about what the surgery did for me is that now when I smile my eyes light up too.

i can go on and on about how pleased I am from the moment I walked into your office to now. Your staff was so kind and knowledgeble and answered all of my concerned questions.

I assure anyone looking into cosmetic surgery to look no further than Doctor Cruise because he is the best at what he does.

Mary, 53
Lower Eyelid Surgery with Fat Transfer