FaceTite® vs. Facelift: Which One Is Right for You?

The aging process is a challenging one — perhaps you love the wisdom you’ve accumulated over the years, but you’re not as enthusiastic about the changes in your face. Or, you feel like the changes in your face aren’t reflective of your ever-youthful spirit on the inside.

The good news is that science and technology have kept up, and we’re able to offer more solutions than ever before to dial back the years in your face.

At our practice, board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Jonathan Zelken is an industry expert in facial procedures, and we offer two great approaches — a facelift and FaceTite®. There are significant differences between these two facial treatments, and we’ll get into those here to help with your decision-making.

FaceTite — a minimally invasive approach to aging skin

Let’s start with the easier path to youthful skin, which is our FaceTite technology. At the heart of FaceTite is radiofrequency-assisted lipolysis (RFAL), which accomplishes several objectives. 

To start, with FaceTite, we deliver RF energy into your skin where it heats up and breaks down fatty layers in your face. 

At the same time as the RF energy tackles the fat, the heating action also leads to collagenesis (the creation of new collagen) that will tighten any loose skin in the treatment’s wake. In addition to new collagen support, FaceTite also leads to soft tissue envelope contraction. 

So, between the fat sculpting, the boost in collagen, and the soft tissue contraction, FaceTite is an excellent tool for updating your appearance.

Another benefit of FaceTite is that the RF energy cauterizes your blood vessels at the same time, which cuts down on bruising and inflammation.

Our clients love Facetite because it’s minimally invasive — we only use small entry points to insert a cannula just under your skin. So, there’s no scarring and very little downtime.

For more on FaceTite, check out this video by Dr. Zelken.

Facelift — a more dramatic approach to aging skin

Each year in the United States, surgeons perform more than 365,000 facial surgeries, including facelifts. Arguably, facelifts remain the gold standard for addressing the signs of aging, as they allow us to achieve significant results.

In the hands of Dr. Zelken, your options in facelifts are even better as he uses a wide range of tools and procedures to meet your goals, such as:

• Buccal fat pad removal
• Facial tightening
• Removing loose skin
• Using implants, fat grafts, and fillers

Dr. Zelken views each facelift as a sculpting project, and he takes great pride in creating customized results for each client.

For a more comprehensive look at your options in facelifts, check out this video.

The downside of a facelift is that it’s a surgical procedure that involves general anesthesia and some downtime afterward. 

Things to consider when choosing between a facelift and FaceTite

It’s difficult for us to say which facial procedure is best for your circumstances without an in-person consultation. That said, we can give you a few guidelines here.

At our practice, we view FaceTite as an excellent intermediary tool that can smooth away wrinkles and lift sagging skin. As such, FaceTite is great for delaying a facelift, but it’s not quite a substitute because it has some limitations. The biggest one is that we can’t remove loose skin. So, if your skin is really sagging, it may be beyond the capabilities of FaceTite.

As well, we have more options with a facelift in terms of facial sculpting.

Ultimately, the decision is yours to make, and our role is to manage expectations. The best way to determine which approach is right for your goals is to sit down with Dr. Zelken for an evaluation. During this visit, we can plug in all of your variables to come up with the best solution.

To get that ball rolling, we invite you to call Jonathan Zelken, MD, in Newport Beach, California, at (949) 432-4730 or request an appointment using our online booking tool.