To Cut or Not to Cut

As Mother Nature marches across your face will you be tempted to have the hands of time surgically removed in hopes that by eliminating the offending sags and bags you will look younger?
For some looking in the mirror takes its toll on the psyche as self-confidence diminishes. Looking old, looking tired while seeing a practically unrecognizable face will send even the most hopeful scurrying to locate something or someone to help them with their plight…the fight against aging.
Drugstore cosmetics, high end department store cosmetics, skin care and cosmetics from the physician or dermatologist all present one constant theme urging the user to try and buy their latest concoctions. Now skin care is important and mineral cosmetics are wonderful for evening out pigmentation flaws and disguising fine lines and wrinkles but do they really go to work to combat the real cause of an aging face?
The real cause of an aging face is soft, droopy, sagging facial muscles. Consider this: eyebrows drop with age so if you see hooded eyes, a lined forehead, crows’ feet and even puffiness under your eyes, this is a clear indication that your forehead is compromised because you are wearing muscles that are soft and mushy.
The mid face can also suffer from slackness. This is evident when the cheek muscles elongate and the apples of your cheeks are positioned somewhere near your nose. Usually a fold or line develops near the nose – this is called the nasal labial fold – and it is tell-tale evidence that your once taut, youthful face is losing its distinctive edge as the muscles that are anchored in the hairline begin to lengthen and slacken.
The lower face shows signs of age when there is a loosening of the muscles around the mouth and outward into the lower cheeks. Perhaps there are pouches and jowls developing on or near the jawbone, the mouth corners may turn downward and a little line can form under your bottom lip. The mouth muscle, the Obicularis Oris, is a circular muscle that surrounds the lips; when atrophy affects this muscle, lines above the lips can form while the soft-tissue of the lips deflate.
The neck and upper chest are also affected by weakened muscles. Beyond the lines and neck rings that are apparent in anyone over 40, bulges and sags under the jawbone can certainly deter from a once youthful face as a double chin and wattle continually remind the wearer that an aging face is no laughing matter.
In a youth-conscious environment, brought to the forefront almost daily by the media as they glom onto the latest and greatest anti-aging serums, lotions, potions, concoctions, injections and surgical procedures that easily captivate viewers on the nightly news, cyberspace and slick publications, it seems that brainwashing is occurring. Could it be that discouraged men and women are encouraged to use risky and dangerous substances and procedures to prop up aging faces?
Cutting perfectly healthy tissue, injecting chemically laden serums to plump and paralyze wayward facial features while burning one’s flesh using lasers that can result in pigmentation problems or painful deep heat treatments do not sound like beauty treatments – rather, these avenues seem torturous and somewhat barbaric and there are no guarantees that you will love or even like the results you receive. What will be the reaction from your friends and family when they see your new face? Will they turn away in surprise or horror and secretly wonder ‘what was she thinking?’
What about you? Will you come through these treatments unscathed? Many patients report that their nips and tucks were unsatisfactory and then seek revision surgery which is just more surgery to lift and tighten sagging skin and muscles. What these gals may not know is that even though surgery and injections create an initial difference in the skin and muscles, the facial muscles continue their slow, insidious downward slide and this downward motion affects the behavior of our skin. We may see wrinkles forming where we didn’t have them previously and scars that once were hidden can become more visible as loose skin collects around the incision.
What about the upkeep? Injections are designed to be repeated every 90 to 120 days so four times a year, year after year, a visit to the practitioner for another round of injections will run about $800 or more every time.
Instantaneous results? You bet! The slick advertising arouses the senses, doesn’t it? In your mind’s eye you can easily visualize a younger looking face – it’s the ‘what if’ disasters that may deter you from seeking a surgical intervention and the younger face you desire.
Choosing modalities that put your good health at risk may mean that you haven’t looked at all the options available.
The most valuable option is facial exercise. Just like exercise works for your body, exercise can work to correct the root cause of aging in the face – sagging facial muscles. Once you learn the anchoring techniques and how to contract those droopy muscles with isometric movements, your face will always look substantially younger as long as you are faithful to the exercise routine.
Imagine lifting droopy eyelids, contouring cheeks and stopping that dreaded wattle using only your thumbs and fingers. Can you visualize your face looking ten to fifteen years younger? Well, that is possible when you choose all natural facial exercise over risk, pain, scarring, discoloration and even death.
Without cutting, suturing, injecting, pain or risk your face will lift, tone and tighten and before you know it, your confidence will soar because you love that person looking back in the mirror. It’s you – only better!