NON-SURGICAL FACELIFT PROCEDURES

As we age, the collagen fibers that hold our faces tight, much like the springs in a mattress, loosen, lose their form, and as a result, we observe the sagging of our cheeks downward, the deepening of our cheek-nose lines, the inability of our jawlines to resist gravity and starting to sag downward, and an increase in neck lines.

All these negative developments distort the form of the youthful triangle, with its base at the top and its pointed tip at our chin, known as the golden triangle. This reversal causes us to appear older.

In the past, in order to look younger, many patients had to undergo surgical operations, taking on much more risk of side effects, enduring pain, and being forced to stay away from work and social life for weeks. However, nowadays, life is flowing at a dizzying speed for all of us. None of us have the expansive time we used to have. Even within all this hustle, non-surgical facelift procedures, which are high-tech, highly effective, and almost devoid of side effects that we can still implement, have started to replace surgical operations for many patients at an increasing pace without hindering us from our social life.

These procedures, called non-surgical facelift, include:

1. **HIFU (High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound):** This procedure applies a focused ultrasound wave, with the help of a special head, by creating millimeter-controlled damages immediately below the skin where cell groups called fibroblasts are located. The goal is to initiate new collagen production and restore the skin to its former tight structure. It is particularly effective in lifting sagging cheeks and necks.

2. **Dermapen:** This procedure involves creating micro pits on the skin using a device with sterile micro-needles attached to the end of a vibrating device. These micro pits are created to initiate the skin’s repair mechanism by forming controlled damages between healthy skin areas, resulting in the production of new collagen and the creation of smoother, more vibrant skin.

3. **PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) Applications:** PRP is applied by taking blood from the patient, separating the platelet-rich plasma from red blood cells using a centrifuge device, and then taking the enriched plasma into a syringe and injecting it into the skin with special fine needles. The application can be made to the face, neck, back of the hands, and scalp. It is used to increase collagen production, rejuvenate, and tighten the skin on the face, neck, and back of the hands. Scalp applications are frequently performed to reduce hair loss and improve hair quality. When performed after hair transplantation, it will enhance the success of the procedure.

4. **Fractional Laser Application:** This procedure involves creating controlled damages on the skin’s surface through laser light, forming micro-pits millimeter by millimeter without needles, and allowing the skin to repair these damages. This helps reduce acne scars, pores, and spots on the surface while being applied once a month for an average of three sessions.

5. **Gold Needle Application (Microneedling Radiofrequency):** This procedure involves micro-needles with a person-specific sterile micro-needle attached to a head that is inserted into the skin about 1-2 mm. by the depth of the micro-needles and giving high-power radiofrequency energy by creating micro-pits. It is a procedure applied once a month.

6. **Youth Serum Application:** It is an application that produces enjoyable results by injecting special solutions prepared by combining hyaluronic acid, which gives moisture and tension to the skin and decreases with aging, with some other substances that stimulate collagen production, into the skin. It is an approximately three-session application lasting 30 minutes.

The decision of which of these procedures or combinations will be applied should be made by the doctor after correctly identifying the problems on the face. For example, if there is only sagging in the cheeks or under the jaw, HIFU application can provide very good results. However, if there are also problems such as acne scars, spots, and increased pore visibility, creating a protocol and combining the use of HIFU, followed by Gold Needle and PRP, will provide unexpectedly good results.

To be honest, the desire for a much younger appearance with small touches from the patient’s perspective, and the great pleasure we, as doctors, derive from the excellent results of these procedures, provide significant motivation for us to perform these procedures more.