Question:
I am 65 years-old and look my age or maybe a bit older. I want to know if it would be best for me to be treated with Botox or fillers versus having a facelift?
Answer:
As you describe yourself, the aging changes that would be apparent are usually hanging or loose skin around the jaw line and neck and perhaps some excess upper eyelid skin and loose or baggy lower eyelid skin. Fillers and Botox cannot have a significant effect on the overall aging appearance. Facelifts and blepharoplasty are far and away the best way for you to be treated, plus the result is permanent in that it sets back the aging process 5 or 10 years or sometimes even as long as 20 years depending on the degree of correction.
Your money is much better spent on the surgical procedures first. Fillers and Botox certainly may have a role after you have healed. Fillers and Botox can do things that surgery cannot do but they do not replace surgery. For a younger person who only has changes around the tear troughs (hollows below the eyes), marionette lines or deep facial grooves, the answer might be different.
Posted by Sheldon Kabaker M.D. FACS