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Top New York Facial Plastic Surgeon Reveals Difference Between Surgical and Liquid Face Lifts

Dr. Philip Miller

May 22, 2020

Once upon a time, you didn’t have many options after the signs of facial aging started to appear, other than smearing your face with ineffective cold cream or wearing a chin strap to try to lift up your jowls. Nowadays, though, there are so many choices offered in New York City for reversing signs of aging and rejuvenating your skin that you may be overwhelmed and uncertain of what choice to make.

Dr Miller of Gotham Plastic Surgery New York demonstrates the ponytail microlift with his patient.

You might even feel paralyzed by the number of options available to you — stuck in the “paradox of choice” that we sometimes experience in our abundant world. At Dr. Phillip J. Miller’s Facial Plastic Surgery practice, we want to make sifting through your abundance of choices easy for you. Here are a few questions that can help you decide whether you’re ready for a surgical facelift, or if another option better suits your needs and lifestyle.

Do you want immediate results for your face?

You’ve made up your mind to turn back the clock, but you don’t want to spend weeks to months in recovery from a surgical facelift. A liquid facelift is by far your best option if you want to leave our office looking anywhere from 5-10 years younger, with no recovery time at all. Dr. Miller developed his own variation on a liquid facelift — dubbed the Miller Lift — in which he resculpts and re-contours your face to look more youthful, using only injectable therapies.

Facelift, neck lift, dermabrasion and earlobe repair to enhance the appearance of a female patient by Dr. Miller.

Facelift, neck lift, dermabrasion and earlobe repair to enhance the appearance of a female patient by Dr. Miller.

Dr. Miller may choose from a variety of dermal fillers to find ones with the right consistency, longevity, and composition to reverse the signs of aging on your face. You can use a liquid facelift to:

  • Restore volume to your midface, which lifts up a slightly sagging lower face
  • Build up your cheekbones for greater elegance and more lift, too
  • Fill in hollows under your eyes or on your temples
  • Smooth out and un-do deep creases around your nose and mouth
  • Re-contour your jawline and chin to be sharper and more youthful
  • Smooth out fine lines and wrinkles, including perioral lines
  • Rejuvenate and plump up your lips

Philip Miller, MD, may recommend combining hyaluronic-acid (HA)-based fillers (e.g., Juvéderm® and Restylane®) with collagen stimulators (e.g., Radiesse® and Sculptra®) to give you the best of both worlds. The HA fillers immediately add volume, lift, and add smoothness to your face so that you look visibly younger in less than an hour. The collagen stimulators work over the long-term, in the deeper layers of your dermis, to create more collagen that rebuilds and strengthens your skin from the inside out. Together, they provide a powerhouse of anti-aging benefits.

 

Your treatment could also include Botox® as part of your liquid rejuvenation. Botox smooths out wrinkles:

  • On your forehead
  • Between your brows
  • At the top of your nose
  • Around your eye corners
Facelift results in New York by Dr. Philip Miller

*Patient results may vary

However, Botox’s benefits don’t stop there. Dr. Miller can also use Botox to relax tensed muscles around your jawline, neck, and mouth to create cosmetic improvements such as:

  • Softer, more feminine jawline
  • Liquid neck lift
  • Nonsurgical lip flip

 

The final component in a Miller Lift is Kybella® — an injectable treatment that melts away unwanted facial fat. Dr. Miller uses Kybella to eliminate double chins and jowls, and tighten the skin along your jawline.

The downside of a liquid facelift is that some of your immediate and dramatic benefits are temporary. You will need periodic touch-ups of both the dermal fillers and Botox (though not of Kybella!), which can range from every 3-4 months for Botox, to up to 24 months for some fillers. We are able to schedule your maintenance checkups and send you reminders so that you always look great, but if you’d rather trade the time savings of a liquid facelift for the ultimately lower cost of more long-term anti-aging solutions, then keep reading.

Are you willing to wait (just a bit) for your facelift? There is an in-between option. non-surgical skin tightening procedure in new york

Non-surgical skin-tightening treatments can dramatically rejuvenate your look over time without incisions or scars. They work by stimulating collagen in the deep layers of your skin, which thickens and strengthens your skin, literally turning back time. Although you may notice a difference in the texture and firmness of your skin directly after your first treatment, your skin gets tighter and more youthful-looking over the next several months as your body produces new collagen and elastin. Dr. Miller offers:

  • Ultherapy® — Ultrasound energy heats the collagen layers of your skin to tighten and firm your neck, jawline, face, and brow
  • Neck-Tite™ — Neck-Tite uses radiofrequency (RF) energy to melt and vacuum away excess fat around your chin and neck to firm and tighten your skin, permanently removing a “turkey neck”

You can combine both Ultherapy and Neck-Tite with elements of a liquid facelift for a more dramatic and instant effect.

Do you want to wow them with the best possible results?

facelift patient in new york

Despite the advantages of anti-aging technologies, if you want the most dramatic, long-lasting rejuvenation possible,nothing can rival a beautifully performed surgical facelift. Dr. Miller performs a deep-plane lift that not only repositions and lifts up your skin, but also the underlying superficial muscular aponeurotic system (SMAS) layer for superior, longer-lasting, and more natural-looking results. Using mini liposuction, he removes any excess fat from your lower face and chin, which causes jowls and drooping. Choose from:

  • Full facelift — entire lower face and neck area tighten, lifted, and recontoured
  • Mini lift — Only lower face and jowls lifted and tightened
  • Micro lift— this slight, skin-only lift mimics the rejuvenating effects and lift of wearing your hair in a tight ponytail

Depending on your needs, Dr. Miller also performs a neck lift, in which he tightens and lifts the neck’s platysma muscle. In most cases, he recommends fat grafting, which removes unwanted fat from an area where you don’t want it (such as your tummy or legs) and injects it into your cheeks, where it integrates with your tissues to create long-lasting volume. You might also benefit from a:

browlift patient results in new york, ny

You won’t see your full results for 2-3 months and may be slightly uncomfortable or a little self-conscious as your facelift heals. You’ll also have slight scars behind your ears. However, Dr. Miller always makes sure to hide the scars in the creases of your skin.  You can also later get laser treatments to minimize their appearance.

 

Your facelift lasts for at least 10 years. That means, even if you don’t do another thing to your face — other than using medical-grade skincare and getting regular chemical peels — you’ll look younger than your peers for a decade or more. So, although the initial investment is larger, you save money and time in the long run. To learn more about facelift, visit medlineplus.gov

Dr. Philip Miller – New York’s Top Facial Plastic Surgeon

Move from considering to choosing by calling our office for a consultation today at 646-791-3025. You can also book an appointment with the online contact form.

Next, read New York’s Top Facial Plastic Surgeon Reveals The Most Popular Face Slimming Procedures.

Dr. Philip Miller

Focusing exclusively on the face for more than two decades, double-board certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Philip Miller blends art and science with innovation and skill to provide thousands of patients with impeccable results. He is known for pioneering the NatraLook methodology for rhinoplasty, facelifts, neck lifts, and other cosmetic procedures for the face.

Settle for Nothing But the Best Facial Plastic Surgery

Facial Plastic Surgery

Dr. Philip Miller and his team of New York's top rated facial plastic surgery experts provide custom cosmetic treatment plans that include a combination of minimally-invasive techniques and advanced procedures, to help each patient achieve the Aesthetic Confidence® they desire. Our unique NatraFace™ approach to facial rejuvenation includes the following effective procedures:

Eyelid Plastic Surgery

Dr. Miller provides patients with Manhattan's #1 customized care and treatment for smooth, supple skin that brightens the eyes and revitalizes the face. With our NatraFace™ approach, we utilize a combination of effective aesthetic techniques tailored to suit each patient’s needs. We offer:

Rhinoplasty (Nose Jobs)

Dr. Miller and his staff of NYC's best aesthetic specialists offer the NatraNose® process, which is a comprehensive range of minimally-invasive and advanced techniques to achieve natural-looking rhinoplasty results, improve nasal function, and meet the patient’s aesthetic goals. Dr. Miller specializes in nose jobs, nose reductions, non-surgical nose jobs, and more: Adjust the links in these sections as follows:

Skin Care Treatments

Widely acclaimed for our broad range of flawless skincare solutions, Philip J. Miller, MD, FACS and his team of aesthetic specialists offer customized skincare treatment plans to achieve healthy, natural-looking results. As part of our NatraLook™ process, the following procedures may be performed individually or in combination with more advanced surgical treatments for optimal rejuvenation.

Male Plastic Surgery

Philip J. Miller, MD, FACS, is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon with over 20 years of experience working with male and female patients. He specializes in facial plastic surgery and is recognized as an expert in facial rejuvenation procedures. Utilizing the most advanced surgical techniques, Dr. Miller can maintain or enhance masculine features while producing the most natural-looking results.

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Aesthetic Confidence®

The Plastic Surgery Podcast with Dr. Philip Miller

Tune into The Plastic Surgery Podcast, hosted by facial plastic surgeon Dr. Philip Miller. Dr. Miller is here to answer your questions, de-mystify plastic surgery, and help you feel more knowledgeable and empowered about any procedure performed at our center.

  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 44: My First Time

    8 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 43: Top 10 Reasons Not To Get A Rhinoplasty ( Plastic Surgery)

    20 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 42 : Osteomas & Lipomas

    11 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 41: All Ears Considered!

    8 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 40: Infrared Light Therapy

    6 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 39: Beauty, the Plateau

    6 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 38: Botox and Dermal Fillers

    3 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 37: Cost of Rhinoplasty

    1 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 36: Different Types of Nasal Surgeries

    3 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 35: Do You Have to Break the Nose for Rhinoplasty?

    2 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 34: Do You Have to Stay Overnight After Having a Rhinoplasty?

    2 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 33: Don't Have a Rhinoplasty!

    2 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 32: Endonasal or External

    1 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 31: Are You a Candidate?

    2 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 30: In The Office

    17 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 29: Can My Nose be Made Smaller?

    4 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 28: Can't Breath Through Nose

    3 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 27: Chin Implants - Mentoplasty

    2 min
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    Episode 26: Columellar Struts

    23 sec
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 25: Common Terms

    5 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 24: Connection Between Facial Resurfacing and Tattooing

    5 min
  • Apple Podcast Icon Podcast Icon

    Episode 23: The Sooner, The Better?

    4 min
View all Episodes

Plastic Surgery w/ Dr. Miller

If you’re thinking about getting a lift, nip, or tuck, this app is for you. It’s the most comprehensive pocket encyclopedia of plastic surgery terms, before and after photos, and visualization tools to help you really know what to expect from a procedure, including seeing potential results on your own photo. This app is only available on the App Store for iOS devices.

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