Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Liking What You Look Like When Looking At You

One of the most fought against processes is not the electoral process or a better judicial process as it were; it is the aging process. All over the world, matched only by the efforts to conserve the environment and to fight against climate change, people are attempting anything and everything to stay young and look youthful.

This is what has given rise to procedures like face lifts. One of the first organs to show signs of aging is the skin. When one begins to age, the skin becomes more rubbery, loose and wrinkly. Often times, most of these effects can be regulated by hydrating the skin, keeping it moist by taking lots of fruits and fluids and even through many beauty regimes that aim to revitalize the skin.

Unfortunately, there are some effects like wrinkles that cannot be treated by theses options. For those who have a hard time accommodating them, surgery becomes the next option, in a bid to permanently, remove the wrinkles. This is technically known as rhytidectomy.

Rhytidectomy involves the removal of excess facial skin and may include the tightening of underlying tissues and re-draping the skin on the patient's face and neck.

As depicted in cosmetic surgery videos, this surgery is achieved through incisions. The first surgery of its kind was performed by making the incision on the front of the ear up to the hairline. The incision would then curve behind the bottom of the ear and end in the hairline on the back of the neck. The skin would then be separated from the deeper skin tissues, a process called undermining. This would be done over the cheeks and the neck.

It is at this point that the deeper tissues were tightened with sutures. At times, this would call for the removal of some of the deeper tissues found to be in excess. This would be left to the judgment of the surgeon, his expertise and experience. The skin would then, be re-draped, and with excess skin being removed and sutures being done to close up the incisions earlier made.

When considering this procedure, it important to understand that it is not suited for all facial adjustments, those features on the face that are considered marionette lines are among those best addressed through Botox procedures. Incisions made in the front of the ear or behind it for that matter, tend to be well hidden and not easy to detect.

However, hair loss may result especially if the incision was along part of the scalp that bore hair. It is noted that for men, there is difficulty in achieving a natural look after such surgery because of the facial hairs that they possess; side burns may appear pulled either upwards or backwards. Also, because with age comes changes in the bone structure, the result of the procedure may be a pulled back facial appearance.

As with every surgery, there are risks involved and the best approach would be to consider all the likely eventualities before taking the plunge.