Liquid Facelift

About ProContour MD Liquid Facelift ™

The ProContour MD Liquid Facelift ™ is a personalized, non-surgical approach to facial rejuvenation. Instead of incisions, it enhances your look using fillers and neuromodulators.

As we age, volume is lost in fat and bone. Most of what we see as a sad or tired look is due to this loss of volume rather than stretching skin. It can appear as:

• Sagging skin
• Jowls
• Deep nasolabial furrows
• Dark circles
• Fullness under the chin
• Cheek creases
• Sagging brows and eyelids
• A long upper lip
• Loss of lip volume
• An upside-down mouth
• Blurring of the jawline)

We can also be born with facial features or musculature that can exaggerate this sagging. Such features include a weak chin or overactive mouth muscles. Additionally, our natural features might create asymmetries or imbalances within and between the facial structures.

Combined Knowledge for Cutting-Edge Restoration

Dr. Clark has combined her intimate knowledge of facial anatomy and dynamic function with decades of experience and the experience of other experts from around the world*. By doing so, Dr. Clark has crafted a safe approach to facial recontouring that provides impressive results for your particular concerns. Most importantly, after treatment, the face and neck look natural both at rest and when moving.

How Often Are Liquid Facelift Treatments Done?

ProContour MD Liquid Facelift™ can be completed in a single session or several sessions a few weeks to months apart. She uses fillers that can last up to two years or longer. In addition, biostimulatory fillers create new connective tissue proteins like collagen and elastin fibers that remain even when the filler has dissolved.

Why Shouldn’t I Just Get a Facelift and a Neck Lift?

Surgical face and neck lifts can reduce laxity and redundant skin with more duration and more dramatically than a “liquid facelift.” However, they will not look natural if the lost volume is not also replaced. Additionally, they cannot relax muscles that pull facial features down. You might be surprised by the amount of lifting you can see from strategically-placed fillers and neuromodulators.

You will always need volume correction, whether you need a surgical lift or not. But the opposite is not true. Dr. Clark can determine whether a surgical face or neck lift in combination with later fillers and neuromodulators is more appropriate. She will always point this out to you and offer a referral to a plastic surgeon for the surgical portion of the treatment.

Does the Liquid Facelift Treatment Cause Round or Fat Cheeks?

When done correctly, this treatment does not create a round or fat look for your face. The ProContour MD Liquid Facelift ™ instead results in a natural look because volume is only replaced where it has been lost.

Jowls, nasolabial folds, and sagging of the neck improve even without any specific treatment to these areas because the skin is now draped over a restored facial architecture.

For example, filler may need to be placed over bone where bone mass has been lost. Likewise, we only place filler where fat has been lost to maintain a natural appearance both at rest and with movement. This tightens skin at the jawline, nasolabial folds, tear troughs, and jowls without creating fat or protruding cheeks.

Is Liquid Facelift Treatment for Men Also?

Absolutely! Men often benefit from a strengthening of their chin and jawline, which also helps define the neck. Other areas can be treated as well! For each treatment, we focus on retaining features that define masculinity.

Is It Safe to Have This Much Filler?

Every procedure carries some risk. When filler is introduced with pressure directly into an artery, it can block that artery or travel to other arteries. The ProContour MD Liquid Facelift ™ is carefully designed to place small amounts strategically. We inject it only at locations and depths where arteries, veins, and nerves should not be present. The fillers are never injected quickly or with undue pressure. There are several areas where it is safe and necessary to place the filler using a very tiny needle. But a blunt-tipped cannula is used in all other areas. This tool makes it much less likely that an artery could be affected, and trauma or discomfort are minimal.

Matching Your Liquid Facelift Treatment to Your Needs

Dr. Clark will first want to have a consultation with you. She will assess your facial architecture, features, animation, and skin quality. Preferably, she will compare these to photos of you from a few to many years ago.

She will ask about your areas of concern and discuss whether you feel your face expresses what you feel. For example, do you feel your face conveys you are tired, sad, or angry when you are not? She will ask about your specific goals, timeline, and budget.

We offer 18 different fillers to choose from for your treatment. Together, we can choose several to match the quality of your skin and the areas to be treated. To choose the best fillers for you, we look at important characteristics of your treatment, such as:

• Particle type and sizes
• Degree and type of cross-linking
• Ability to integrate smoothly
• Tendency to swell
• Reversibility
• Cohesivity
• Dynamic strain
• G-prime
• Light reflection
• Ability to stimulate native collagen production
• Duration
• And cost.

We offer five different botulinum neuromodulators with different onsets of action, purity, duration, and diffusion for specific needs. Dermatologist, Dr. Clark will consider what might be done to restore the architecture of the face and neck and its contours, after which refinements can be made. After integrating these considerations, a unique treatment plan will be created for your review and modified as needed.

What Is It Like to Have This Treatment?

It may be possible to begin treatment on the day of your consultation. Most patients find the treatment to be quite tolerable, with a few small pinches in some areas. For any lip fillers or neuromodulators, very tiny insulin syringes are used that patients tolerate well. However, we can use topical anesthetics on the outer and inner lips to make this more comfortable if desired.

For all fillers except Sculptra, you should see immediate results. However, in some areas, the filler will become smoother after a few days. Swelling is not usually significant except with a few fillers sometimes used in the lips, and even this swelling can be avoided if you desire. Some areas will feel a bit sore, especially with chewing or pressure, and bruising is possible. We offer laser treatments at no charge to resolve any bruises quickly.

We are available nights and weekends to address any concerns after your treatment sessions. Additionally, we will see you for a follow-up visit to review your results.

Can I Pay for My Procedure Over Time?

We offer Care Credit and ALPHAEON credit, often with immediate determinations. Some plans allow for payments with 0% interest.