Mid-drift, Mid-life, and now the Mid-face. Rejuvenating the mid-face or the cheek area with volumizing fillers signals a new revolution in the treatment of this area. Understanding the anatomical complexity of this region and how it changes with age has been a focus of Dr. Doft’s for her entire career. As the face ages, there is a decent of the malar fat pad, the fat pocket which rests along your cheekbones. As this fat pocket and the other superficial facial fat pockets descend with age, the nasolabial folds become deeper and deeper and the cheeks become more hollow, drawing attention to your lower face and mouth instead of your eyes. The aging face starts to look less like a heart shape and more like an egg, loosing volume from cheek area and adding it to the mouth and jowls.
An exciting new category of fillers has evolved to treat the mid-face, adding volume where it has been loss, camouflaging the signs of age. Dr. Doft places deep injections into the upper cheek area to help lift the nasolabial folds and build upon the bony foundation, so that the fillers are hidden from the surface. She has always believed that the placement of fillers is more important than the volume, using less material but injecting it at key points will change how the light reflects off your face, alleviating aging shadows.
The newest fillers on the market for mid-face rejuvenation are Restalift and Juvaderm Voluma XC. Both are made from hyaluronic acid but cross-linked differently from their sister products restylane and juvaderm so that they result in more volume. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance in your body so patients are not allergic to either product. It is injected through a very small needle that Dr. Doft specially imports from Japan so that it is less painful. The product also contains lidocaine, a numbing medication, to help improve comfort during the treatment. The results are immediate. As Dr. Doft injects you, she will periodically stop and show you the difference so you can watch your wrinkles soften.
The newest fillers are specifically formulated to instantly add volume to all three areas of the cheeks (the apple, apex and hollow), giving a subtle, natural lift. They are excellent options to help restore a more youthful contour to sunken or hollowed cheeks, enhancing your profile by adding more definition to your cheeks. Adding volume to your cheeks, lifts the nasolabial folds so that less filler is needed to camouflage the smile lines. When correctly placed fillers are combined with neuromodulators like Botox, Dysport or Xeomin, the effect has been likened to a “liquid facelift.” The liquid facelift is a cutting-edge technique to help rejuvenate an aging, tired face through injections rather than surgery. Unfortunately, the results do not last as long but there is no downtime…a perfect option for the city that never sleeps.
