LASER ASSISTED FACELIFTING CONTINUES TO OFFER DISTINCT ADVANTAGES OVER TRADITIONAL FACELIFTS

Nearly four years ago Laser Assisted Face & Neck Lifting or Smartlifting™ was introduced by Dr. Gentile to the Plastic Surgery Community as a new option for facial & neck rejuvenation. As thousands of these lifts have been performed by Dr. Gentile and other Plastic Surgeons he has trained in the USA and abroad he is reporting the distinct advantages Smartlifting™ offers compared to conventional facelifts. Traditional face and neck lifting is performed by first separating the facial and neck skin from the deeper layers of facial musculature and adjacent tissues. The separation of the skin is usually performed with surgical instruments such as scissors or a scalpel. Dr. Gentile believes that the initial dissection with a SmartLaser offers distinct advantages over conventional techniques. First the micropulsed laser helps to cauterize small vessels below the skin improving the surgeon’s view of the facial and neck anatomy requiring modification. As it cauterizes the tissue it also helps to melt fat which is frequently a problem associated with the aging face. The laser also guides the dissection of the skin flap so that the surgeon maintains the surgery in the appropriate plane. The net result in our practice is that operating time was reduced 1-2 hours from the norm. The improved visualization in the neck also aids in achieving better results especially in heavy necks. While these are desirable features for facial or neck rejuvenation the most significant benefit from Laser Assisted Facelifting is seen 4 to 6 months following the surgery. The laser heats up the facial flap and there is a skin tightening effect that no other facelift can produce. As an aesthetic laser specialist Dr. Gentile uses different devices to non-invasively heat up the skin and dermis to produce tissue tightening. This occurs after laser facelifting because the skin has been heated when the flap has been elevated by the SmartLaser. Again no other facelift has this delayed long term result. So what this achieves when every other facelift starts to fall about 3-4 months after the procedure our patients continue to tighten for up to a year. It is not unusual for a 9-12 month laser facelift to look better than they did at 3 months post-operative and this is never seen in conventional surgery. So to summarizeSmartlifting™ offers distinct advantages over other non-laser conventional facelifts. Some of these benefits involve improvements in the surgery from better visualization and the ability to melt fatty deposits that accompany the aging process. The single biggest advantage of laser assisted facelifts over conventional facelifts is the long term skin tightening effects stimulated by the SmartLaser with the associated deposition of new collagen the deeper layers. This new collagen produces contraction and tightening of the lifted face & neck that continues for up to a year.

For more information on Smartlifting™ or the LaserSmartLift™ or UltraMiniLift™ or LaserNeckLift™ call the main office 330-758-2001 or visit www.facialplastics.org or www.drgentile.info.The following case study demonstrates a typical result after a laser assisted facelift utilizing Smartlifting™ techniques.