At his Manhattan-based practice, top facial plastic surgeon Konstantin Vasyukevich, MD performs a great deal of nonsurgical and surgical procedures. The facial cosmetic procedures offered at his office range from fillers that restore volume to the gold standard of facial rejuvenation— the facelift. “Fillers are great, and they work beautifully well, but only up to a certain point,” he says. Here’s what he says might help a patient know they are a good candidate for that “next step.”
Has there been a trend in the last decade with younger patients coming in who are interested in pursuing a facelift?
“It’s challenging to realize you’re part of a trend until you’re well into it, as trends typically develop gradually. Only in hindsight do you realize you were in the midst of this phenomenon. I can say that, when I started my practice, we barely saw any young patients coming in and wanting surgical rejuvenation. Now, we see more and more of the younger patients—the 30-somethings and 40-year-olds.
There is a point that patients get to—after they’ve tried fillers, Botox, and all those nonsurgical procedures, where it just doesn’t help, and the patient needs a more permanent solution. A lot of times, we hear, ‘I’ve tried everything under the sun, I’ve tried every popular procedure, and I cannot get rid of these jowls.’
Patients have become well-educated about cosmetic procedures, especially ones they liked. They have a good understanding of how the procedure is done, what they’re looking to achieve and what results can be expected.”
What can someone expect post-facelift as part of the recovery process?
“Typically, people take one to two weeks for recovery, and obviously, every patient is different and not everything is going to heal within this timeframe. By the end of that one-to-two-week period, most people can feel confident facing the public.”
How does someone know they might be a good candidate for a facelift?
“Fillers work beautifully well—but only up to a certain point. When one uses too much filler, the face starts getting overfilled and loses contours and individual characteristics. It can also lose shape and have the opposite effect than what is intended. There is definitely a line that one does not want to cross.
A good way to tell whether you need a facelift is this little test: Stand in front of the mirror, put your fingers on the side of your cheeks and gently lift your skin upward and slightly back. If you see a striking difference and say to yourself, ‘I’d love to look like that,’ then you might be a good candidate for a facelift or mini-lift. If the difference is fairly minor and you don’t see much of a difference, then you’re probably not a good candidate for surgery.”
Is there anything else potential candidates should know about considering a facelift?
“We’ve made great advancements to get to a ‘modern facelift’. To get the best results, seek a board-certified surgeon who specializes in natural-looking facelifts that makes the face appear younger, without changing the character of the face.
One of the biggest attractions of the natural-looking facelift is that you can never go wrong with that kind of good result—your only regret will be not doing it sooner. So many patients tell me that they are concerned that their face will look different, and everyone will think they’ve done something, when, in reality, you just look more refreshed.”
