Gold Coast cosmetic doctor Dr John Flynn believes facial rejuvenation patients need to be clear in their own minds about what they want to alter and why.

More patients are asking for advice on how to achieve the best cosmetic outcomes with the least amount of surgery. Advances in both technology and techniques are helping us in this area. Current thinking by cosmetic surgery practitioners is moving towards the philosophy of "less is more."

But with the variety of facial rejuvenation treatment options available today, the process of finding the best treatment can be daunting for patients. If you are asking yourself, "what treatment is the best one for me?" Stop. What you should be asking yourself is: "what is it I don't like and really want to change?"

Being clear in your own mind about why you are seeking the advice of a doctor is the first step in identifying the correct treatment. The next is to discuss your priorities with your doctor. Only then can a treatment plan be tailored to the individual. "Once a patient has identified the issues that concern them, I can recommend a surgical or nonsurgical facial rejuvenation programme with individual elements for their specific needs," says Dr Flynn. "It's never a case of one size fits all. Each patient requires a different combination of procedures that has been tailored to achieve the best possible results for them. I also encourage patients to take their time when deciding on cosmetic surgery. Often it is better to have a series of smaller procedures over a period of months or even years."

By taking cosmetic surgery gradually a patient is more likely to be satisfied with the outcomes. Following are some of the options available to patients.

Small facelifts

Short incisions are used to gain access to the underlying tissue that gives support to the skin. This is elevated and tightened and then the skin is re-draped. The result is a smoothing of the nasolabial folds and more dramatic tightening of the jowls.

Neck lift

A small incision hidden behind the ear allows access to the neck's supporting tissues, which are elevated and the skin re-draped.

Browlift & eyelid surgery

A range of "mini" procedures is available to rejuvenate this area. Tiny incisions are all that is needed to rejuvenate the brow as a small telescope can be inserted under the skin to give access to the soft tissues that need tightening.

Cheek implants

Lifting the cheeks with cheek implants is a minimally invasive way of giving the face a more youthful appearance. Cheek implants can be inserted through incisions placed in the mouth so there are no external scars and the results are subtle yet effective.

Fat transfer

Taking fat from where it isn't wanted on the body and replacing it where it makes sense. Only tiny amounts are needed to plump up facial volume loss and replace gaunt with glamour.

Fillers

Collagen is a non-permanent injectable filler that is particularly beneficial for smoothing finer wrinkles because it can be injected close to the skin surface.

Aquamid is a polyacrylamide gel that has a natural feel and appearance under the skin. It is a more long lasting filler that is injected in a deeper plane so is more advantageous for deeper furrows and folds.

Isolagen is a new cellular skin and tissue rejuvenation that uses a patient’s own cells to treat frown lines, wrinkles and scarring caused by acne, chicken pox or injury. From a small skin sample, millions of collagen-producing fibroblast cells are grown in a laboratory over six to eight weeks. Once injected, the fibroblasts stimulate long-term rejuvenation of the treated areas and, unlike Collagen or autologous fat, Isolagen remains effective for years.

Photorejuvenation & laser

Vascular lasers reduce broken capillaries and other vascular blemishes. Pigmentation lasers deal with uneven pigmentation and will rejuvenate the face without burning the skin or requiring any downtime.

Skin peels

Peels are often underrated by patients yet the results can give the skin a glow and lift. Topical exfoliating creams like the fruit acids or Vitamin A or C derivatives can give a rejuvenating effect. They are also helpful in evening out skin tone and pigmentation blemishes.

Chemical peels, while effective, can require more lengthy recovery periods. At our clinic we have developed a way to achieve the excellent results of the medical strength peels but without the associated downtime. This requires determining a combination of treatment modalities, including at-home skincare.

Facial liposcuplture

Using a microcannula, which only requires 2mm incisions that become imperceptible with time, the fat underneath the chin causing a "double chin" can be removed and the neckline smoothed.

Botulinum toxin

This is a wrinkle treatment that relaxes the muscles causing the wrinkles to occur. This simple injection is useful for dynamic lines, those created by facial movement, but in turn also smoothes the static lines that become etched into the skin over time.

Conclusion

We don't age all at once, so trying to rejuvenate all at once can be quite dramatic and not necessarily a good thing. Like most things in life, in cosmetic medicine there is rarely a single process to fix a range of problems and the best answer usually lies in combinations of the most appropriate procedures and treatments. The best combination for each individual is out there but requires a thorough assessment from the doctor of the patient’s face and complaints. Beware of surgeons who have one approach for all patients. As everyone is different, so is everyone’s ideal treatment plan.