Dr. Robert Vitolo has been described as having “the eye of the artist and the hands of a seasoned surgeon, whose skills make your vision of beauty, a reality.” He is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Additionally, he is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons. He is a licensed physician in New York and New Jersey and has three office locations in the New York City and New Jersey area.

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A Scar Less Facelift is the first step to ridding yourself of drooping jowls, facial wrinkles, excess upper eyelid skin and folds around the nose, mouth and cheeks. Haute Beauty’s cosmetic surgery expert, Dr. Robert Vitolo breaks down misconceptions and gives the facts on how this hi-tech procedure can help maintain a youthful face. Here’s the five facts to know:

1. On the operating table you look 10 years younger.

At a consultation appointment, I tell my patients to find a photograph of themselves at a wedding 10 years ago. That is what you will look like after a Scar Less Facelift. The key points to looking that good so quickly are the five small incisions in the hair (that are not visible) that allow the use of an endoscopic technique for the Scar Less Facelift, resulting in a two-to-three-day recovery.

2. There are alternatives to Scar Less Facelifts that are nonsurgical.

You won’t get the same results as Scar Less Facelifts but there are a few non-surgical options. The first thing that makes a patient look younger is the removal of the jowls (fat pads) and the double chin with liposuction. This can be done with a 1/8 inch incision hidden under the chin.

Another option is long-acting fillers. These long-lasting hyaluronic fillers are typically placed on the high cheekbone (malar areas) and around the curve of the face. By doing so the folds along with the mouth and the sagging skin of the cheeks can be tightened basically giving you a mini facelift. Typically, the results can last for two years or more.

Photo Credit: Dr. Robert Vitolo

3. Your skull shrinks over time causing you to have loose skin.

As we age, all the bones of the body lose calcium and demineralize and begin to shrink, including the bones of the skull. Since the bones of the skull get smaller, but the skin remains the same, the result is some degree of skin looseness resulting in wrinkling. In other words, the skin of the face is on a smaller skull resulting in loose skin and wrinkles.

We can rebuild your framework with fillers, tighten the skin with ultrasonic liposuction or reposition the skin with a Scar Less Facelift so the body has the chance to tighter it up. A prime example of this is a Scar Less Facelift which we tighten from underneath the surface.

4. Scar Less Facelifts can’t make wrinkles or aging spots go away.

A Scar Less Facelift is not designed to do either. It does tighten folds on either side of the nose and the mid cheeks, but to treat the fine wrinkles you need laserbrasion or hyaluronic fillers. If you have wrinkles that call for resurfacing the skin with a laserbrasion.

5. The longevity of a Scar Less Facelift is about 10 years.

Realistically, every patient is different. In the average patient, in my hands, I’ve seen well over 10 years of longevity with the Scar Less Facelift. Some people get 15-20 years depending on when they had their first facelift.

If you receive a Scar Less Facelift in your late 30s to mid-40s, you most likely can postpone a standard more invasive facelift until you are in your sixties. The longevity of a Scar Less Facelift is over 10 years and it can be repeated. A Scar Less Facelift is quick, painless, and presents minimal downtime so if you do it before you think you need it, it will last you longer and prevent you from having more invasive and expensive procedures in the future.