Endoscopic Facelifts
Aazdak Alissimmo
When you picture plastic surgery, do you think about all the images from television shows? The bloody cut open bodies, the faces with bandages? Well, the newest technologies that surgeons are working on hope to eliminate some of that blood and guts imagery with fewer cuts and less blood loss.
One of the types of surgery that is often a bit gory is the facelift. In a traditional facelift the surgeon actually has to pull skin off of the patient's face, in order to get to the tissues that are underneath the skin. These tissues must then be manipulated, all through a large incision along the patient's hairline.
There are other techniques that are more recent than this - they allow the surgeons to do some of the facelift in steps. This means that there can be smaller cuts in the skin that are made, meaning smaller scars. There are also "mini" facelifts that work on specific parts of the face that need improvement.
None of these facelifts are blood free, or cut free for that matter. All of them will still require that the surgeon make a few pretty large cuts into the patient's face, and the patient will have scars. There is also the potential for blood loss and other issues, although doctors are trained to handle these issues.
One way that is being developed to perform both mini and full facelifts is the endoscopic facelift. Similar to traditional facelifts in that the goal is to make the skin smooth, the endoscopic facelift is different because it uses small cuts in the skin in which instruments are placed under the skin.
These instruments, along with a camera so that the doctor can see what he or she is doing, perform the work that would normally be done during a facelift. They manipulate and cut the underlying tissues, suturing them in place. Less blood can be lost, and less scarring takes place due to smaller cuts.
While this may seem like a perfect way to get a facelift, it is far from it, at least for now. Not every patient is a candidate for endoscopic facelift, and not every surgeon is trained in performing endoscopic facelifts. You will probably have to hunt around a bit before you find a surgeon who is.
Not all endoscopic facelifts turn out perfectly either - there is a chance, as there is in any endoscopic procedure, that your doctor may have to convert to the traditional form of the facelift in the middle of the surgery. This is because doctors can't always predict what will happen before the surgery.
The endoscopic facelift is still being worked out, and it will be a while before it is considered to be working at a perfect speed. They are, right now, best for those who cannot have a regular facelift due to health reasons, such as a bleeding issue - but stay tuned, as they will become the standard, someday.
About the Author:
Aazdak Alisimo writes about plastic surgery issues for PlasticSurgeonPractices.com, where you can locate a plastic surgeon in your city.
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