The Anti-ageing Face – The Glamour and The Glory

When the news cries out “her face has undergone plastic surgery”, some of us believed its an unreal, expressionless face, some felt its another of those same-looking heroine faces, yet some believed its an artificial overdone face. But these are all the dogma about cosmetic surgery in the society. But now this is history because we have learnt to know about the science behind cosmetic surgery. Even in the city of Kolkata, people are gradually opening up to the idea of cosmetic treatments to the face and body.

When we feel the skin of a baby it feels so soft. With time and age, slowly the quality of the skin disintegrates. Folds and wrinkles appear and occasional scars and pigmentations are seen. The face becomes more hollowed and dark circles appear in the undereye regions. The heart shaped face slowly changes into an egg shaped round face. The neck becomes shriveled and sometimes tiers and bulges appear in our bodies.

The science about aesthetics says that these are all natural and very predictable and hence preventable and treatable. The fat in the face migrates downwards with age. Migration of the fat deepens the nasolabial folds and the marionette lines. Also there is gradual loss of the total volume of the fat. Hence we find the hollows and the bulges. The dark circles or the undereye is somewhat caused by this loss of fat below the eyes. The jaw definition is slowly lost. With age, the collagen in the skin breaks down causing a loss of elasticity and quality of the skin. With the loss of skin elasticity and constant folding of the forehead skin, due to the contraction of the forehead muscles, gives forehead wrinkles appear. On top of that, continuous exposure to sunlight creates pigmentation and marks.

Now if the cause of all these signs of ageing are found, it is but obvious that the treatment to these are all discovered. The primary therapy would involve using a sunblock at all times. The sun is harmful to the facial skin and the skin must be protected. A good facewash, that contains ingredients that actually penetrates the skin is essential. A moisturizer hydrates the skin and a good night cream would improve the quality of the skin.

As regards to treatment protocols, Botulinum toxin paralyses the forehead muscles thus removing wrinkles on the forehead. The same action is seen in correcting the “crow’s feet” i.e. the wrinkles around the eyes. Facial dermal fillers help in filling up the lost fat in the midface thus correcting the shape of the face. It also helps in reducing the undereye pigmentation and the tear troughs. Fillers enhance the projection of the chin and also create jaw contouring. It also reduces the nasolabial folds and other folds and lines. Threadlift help in creating a better contour to the middle and lower face. It also helps in skin rejuvenation.

The quality of the skin can be enhanced in many ways. Hydrafacial therapy is a non-invasive, transformative skin health treatment to deeply cleanse, extract and hydrate the skin. Chemical peels and derma-abrasions are techniques in which the upper layer of the skin are removed and new skin that is gradually formed has better quality. Chemical peels also help in treating acne scars and freckles and other superficial pigmentation. Skin boosters are hyaluronic acid molecules injected to improve the quality of the skin. Platelet rich plasma therapy is used for skin rejuvenation. Scars can be treated with microneedling treatments.

The advancement of laser therapies has increased the scope of antiageing treatments. Fractional CO2 lasers treat all types of scars while Q switch lasers treat pigmentation. The HIFU machine helps in reducing the saggy skin of the face and Facetite and Necktite therapies help in skin contraction and toning. There are treatments for loss of colour and density of eyebrow also.

So antiageing therapy is a reality today and it is gaining popularity rapidly among all classes of society. Gone are the days when this was considered a social taboo. Anti-ageing therapies have given the best of results and is here to stay.