Your face says a lot about you. It’s your first impression when meeting new people, and our expressions communicate a spectrum of emotions. Those expressions also take a toll on our face over the years, leading to the natural lines and wrinkles associated with aging.
Facelifts are an effective way to reverse those signs of aging, but not everyone wants to go under the knife for an invasive and costly surgery. Fortunately, there are many great non surgical facelift alternatives in Lincoln here at Citrine Med Spa!
In this blog, we’ll go over why your skin ages, what non-surgical treatments work best to fight that aging in your face, and why Citrine is the best choice for facelift alternatives in Lincoln.
How your skin changes with age
Your skin changes a lot throughout the years. So before talking about treatment options, it’s important to understand what is happening to your skin.
20s
Until your mid-20s or so, your skin is resilient and voluminous. Unless you suffer from severe adolescent acne or another skin condition (e.g., dermatitis, psoriasis, etc.), most of us enter our 20s with bright eyes, full cheeks, and no wrinkles to speak of.
30s
According to researchers at Dartmouth, after the age of 20, your skin produces one percent less collagen each year (collagen and a similar fiber, elastin, create the structural framework for your skin). Your existing collagen and elastin become thicker, clumpy, and loose—setting the stage for loose, brittle skin that eventually wrinkles and sags.
Additionally, your skin cells start turning over much slower by your late 20s because of a decrease in fibroblasts in your skin and their collagen synthesis. This causes dead cells to accumulate and dull your skin’s complexion. The transfer of moisture between skin layers slows in your 30s, shrinking the fat cells that once gave you full, lifted cheeks. As a result, the hollows of your face begin to droop and sag, resulting in the deflated effect some people observe in their face.
40s & 50s
By your 40s, your skin is much thinner and can’t produce collagen anymore, so more wrinkles, lines, and sagging appear. Finally, in your 50s, your skin is parched and easily bruised, damaged, or broken. This trend continues with the skin becoming drier, thinner, and more sensitive.
Before you freak out, the above process we described, called intrinsic aging, does not take external influences into account. Extrinsic aging refers to the process and causes of aging that occur outside of the body. These can be influences that actually speed up the process of intrinsic skin aging, like:
- Smoking tobacco (secondhand smoke counts!)
- Unprotected and/or prolonged UV exposure
- Poor diet and skincare habits
- Pollution
On the other hand, some external factors can slow or even reverse skin aging, like:
- Consistent healthy skincare habits
- Healthy diet & regular exercise
- Protecting skin from UV exposure
- Visiting a medical aesthetics practice for collagen-inducing and other anti-aging treatments
Related: Our best tips for summer skin care
How you can fight aging in your face
So wrinkles and lines on your face are natural, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept their effects on your face! There are many different anti-aging treatments that help, ranging from invasive surgeries like facelifts or less-invasive facelift alternatives in Lincoln like Halo, Microneedling, Sculptra and Hyaluronic Fillers.
Understanding which facial contouring treatments are right for you can be tricky. With the help of experienced professionals like our team at Citrine Med Spa, you can receive incredible wrinkle-fighting results.
Our consultation process
We take a good look at your overall facial structure and individual muscles during the in-depth consultations with our highly trained providers. It takes a highly-trained eye and years of experience with facial rejuvenation to see exactly how to enhance a patient’s natural beauty. Looking at the face as a whole helps us as injectors come up with an appropriate treatment plan with a combination of skin rejuvenation treatments.
After we take the time to evaluate your face, we will recommend treatment options and explain the procedure for each in detail. Not only do we treat each patient individually, even patients receiving the same treatments will have customized experiences. For instance, individual patients may receive larger or smaller doses of neurotoxin injections or dermal fillers based on their unique needs.
Our staff’s experience plays a huge role in our consultation process. Kerri Otto, our Physician Assistant at Citrine Med Spa, performs all injection consultations herself because it’s important that the person injecting your skin is also running your consultation.
Non Surgical Facelift alternatives in Lincoln
After going through our consultation process, we can recommend the right facial rejuvenation alternative for your exact goals. There are a few different options we typically recommend, but the main two are Sculptra and Dermal Fillers.
Sculptra
Sculptra is a unique injectable that produces incredible, long-lasting facial sculpting results. It’s a collagen stimulator that restores facial structure. Unlike other dermal fillers, Sculptra contains Poly-L-lactic acid, which stimulates collagen production in the area. That stimulation can last for several years.
Sculptra injections occur in a series of treatments spaced approximately 4-6 weeks apart. The majority of patients require just 1 vial of Sculptra every ten years, and it typically takes 2-3 treatments to achieve desired results, depending on the amount of volume lost in the treated area.
Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers are gel-like substances, usually made of hyaluronic acid (HA), that we inject below the surface of the skin to provide volume and support. The depth will vary depending on the type of filler, anatomic location, and desired effect. This smooths out and plumps fine lines and wrinkles that aren’t affected by Botox and enhances the face’s natural contours.
Dermal fillers plump and lift the skin by replenishing volume loss caused by your body’s natural aging process. Certain injectable products like Sculptra can even stimulate your body’s natural collagen production process to replace lost collagen over time for longer-lasting results.
RHA advantage
At Citrine Med Spa, we use RHA Collection fillers, the first FDA-approved HA filler designed for dynamic wrinkles. These designer facial fillers can literally adapt to your facial movements! We are one of only a few highly selective practices in Nebraska that offer RHA Collection fillers.
RHA collection fillers have been clinically proven to last up to 15 months. RHA uses newly developed hyaluronic acid compounds that more closely resemble the natural HA found in our skin. Our body’s metabolism will slowly break down the HA gel over time. But the advanced RHA formula prolongs this metabolism allowing the hyaluronic acid dermal filler to last longer.
Other complimentary facial treatments
While Sculptra and Dermal Fillers are our go-to facelift alternatives, there are other treatments that can produce great results and work well together to create a balanced facial rejuvenation.
Botox
Arguably the most popular facial treatment in the world, Botox has earned its reputation through solid, achievable results. With Botox injections, we can temporarily relax the facial muscles that contract when you make expressions like frowning, laughing, squinting, etc., to hide—and reduce the severity of—the dynamic wrinkles that appear with these everyday facial expressions. With regular treatments, you can even prevent wrinkles from forming because your muscles are relaxed long term, lessening line and wrinkle formation.
Dysport
Similar to Botox, Dysport is an injectable treatment that temporarily relaxes facial muscles that contract when you make everyday facial expressions. Dysport has more of a tendency to spread than Botox, however, which is useful in some areas of the face but not others.
Related: How to combine treatments for a balanced facial rejuvenation
Why choose Citrine for your facelift alternatives in Lincoln?
Choosing a qualified and experienced medical aesthetic provider is crucial for ensuring you’re receiving the correct treatment. You need to find a medspa that prioritizes patient safety and clinical training standards for their providers.
At Citrine Med Spa, our years of expertise and a keen aesthetic eye help us recommend the best treatment options that will be safe and effective for our patients, whether that’s Sculptra, Dermal Fillers, or any other cosmetic procedure. Dr. Ashley Fratello, a board-certified physician with extensive experience and training in offering aesthetic treatments, leads our talented team of providers and always makes safety her number one priority.
There is a reason why we only have experienced injectors at Citrine. Deep understanding of facial vascular anatomy is essential to avoid complications from vascular occlusions which can occur more frequently in the hands of novice injectors.
Find fantastic facelift alternatives in Lincoln at Citrine Med Spa
Citrine is proud to be the premier medical spa in Lincoln. Our trained nurses and providers perform our consultations and treatments, so you can rest assured knowing you are in the most skilled and practiced hands in the region.
If you’re ready to start your facial rejuvenation process and turn back the clock on aging skin, come to Citrine Med Spa today. We can help you achieve your laser hair removal goals!
We offer the latest facial rejuvenation treatments and understand how to balance those treatments to create results you can be proud of.
Use our online virtual consultation tool to learn more about all our treatments or request an appointment today.
