As you get older, the ability for restoring facial volume decreases. Not only does skin get thinner, but the production of the proteins collagen and elastin (which provide skin with an attractive plumpness) gradually declines. If your face seems prematurely old, chances are you can benefit from adding some volume back to your face. Here, top Chicago plastic surgeon Dr. Marco Ellis explains where and how volume can be restored.
How the Face Can Look Better with Volume
By restoring volume to your face, you can rejuvenate your appearance, effectively counteracting the sagging skin and sinking fat. Usually, the area that can benefit most from a volume boost is the cheeks. The “baby fat” you enjoyed in your younger years can be recreated to achieve a round fullness with smooth, unwrinkled skin.
Adding volume can also transform the bags beneath your eyes. Loss of fat and collagen can exaggerate the appearance of your tear troughs, causing the eyes to look more sunken and extremely tired. With more volume, the hollows are filled in and your face looks more alert and refreshed.
Believe it or not, your lips can also lose volume with age. As bone density is lost, the lips curl inward, causing them to appear thinner. You may end up choosing to augment your lips not to achieve plump Kardashian-like proportions, but simply to restore the former appearance of your mouth.
Ways to Restore Volume
Dermal fillers are the easiest way to restore facial volume. Most fillers contain hyaluronic acid, which gives volume and fullness to thinning skin. Afterward, the skin appears softer and wrinkles and fine lines are eliminated. An extra benefit is that injectables stimulate the body’s production of collagen to further enhance the appearance of the skin.
Although patients enjoy dermal fillers because they are relatively painless and feature no downtime, the main downside is that the volume restoration is temporary, usually lasting a few months to a year, depending on the amount and type of filler used. Periodic injections are necessary if you hope to duplicate the results.
If you prefer a longer-lasting procedure, you may be interested in facial fat transfer. This is a surgery that harvests fat from another part of the body where it is in surplus (often the abdomen or thighs) and reinjects the (purified) fat cells into an area that needs fat loss. Your body recognizes its own fat and accepts most of the transferred cells. Instead of months, fat transfer lasts for several years (sometimes over a decade) before the aging process begins to thin the skin all over again.
Schedule a Consultation with Dr. Ellis
Dr. Ellis is known widely for his ability to recontour faces that look attractive and youthful. If aging has left you looking gaunter than you would like, speak to an expert about the best way for restoring facial volume. Please call Dr. Ellis’s office at (312) 695-6022 today or contact us via our website.