THE REVOLIFT™ METHOD

Dr Usman Qureshi (aka Dr Q) describes his new approach to achieving a youthful look

Over the past two decades, our understanding of the ageing face has come a long way. We have moved away from “filling” lines and wrinkles to correcting the source of the problems. We now appreciate that ageing involves changes in skin, muscle and bone resulting in the squaring of the face with the formation of folds and jowls.

When people opt for cosmetic procedures, they believe they want to correct the lines and folds, but subconsciously they want to go back in time and look like their previous self. While young people want an enhanced or sculpted look, people over the age of 40 or 50 want to look like they did 10 to 20 years ago. This is my opinion, anyway, based on anecdotal evidence. When people seek out a procedure, they are basically seeking out a look and quite often the result they have in mind is not possible with that procedure alone. If someone has very poor skin quality with laxity, wrinkles and hollowness, dermal fillers or skin resurfacing alone won’t deliver the finished article, resulting in patient dissatisfaction and a mismatch between patient expectation and reality.

If we are to deliver patient expectations, we need to address all aspects of facial ageing to complete the look. We need to address skin quality, loss of volume and sagginess. I call this the ReVoLIFT™ approach. This is a method that I have devised to help patients understand ageing and be confident in the procedures suggested by the medical practitioner.

REVOLIFT™ METHOD

This approach focuses on three separate aspects of the ageing face to correct and return it to its younger state.

RESURFACE

To achieve a youthful look, you need youthful-looking skin. The degradation of collagen and elastin among other agents results in dehydrated skin with wrinkles, poor texture, blemishes and imperfections. The first part of the ReVoLIFT method involves resurfacing the skin. This can be done using chemical peels, microneedling radiofrequency, such as Morpheus8, and laser. Skin boosters also play an important role in this. I have found hyaluronic acid, polynucleotides, and exosomes to improve skin integrity immensely. Cosmeceuticals are also a great way of improving and maintaining skin quality and these should be incorporated into the treatment plan.

VOLUMISE

We know that volume loss results in a sunken and gaunt appearance, as well as sagging of the face. Dermal fillers are great at plumping and increasing skin thickness, which gives it a hydrated appearance while “lifting” the skin to some extent. Adding structural volume does improve sagginess, as the skin “anchors” to higher structures. Hyaluronic acid fillers are the most wellused for this purpose. However, other fillers such as calcium hydroxyapatite, poly L lactic acid and polycaprolactone can be used to volumise skin too producing great results.

LIFT

This is the third component of the method which involves lifting or re-positioning the skin to its former, younger state. The single most common reason that patients over 40 come to me is to lift the nasolabial folds, marionette lines and jowls. They look in the mirror and pull their face up at the cheekbone and say that, if I could just do that for them, they would be happy. While skin resurfacing and volumising are equally important in producing a youthful appearance, the tools used there cannot sufficiently correct facial ptosis. For this, we need a mechanical rather than a chemical approach. Of course, there is the option of a mini or even a deep plane facelift but staying with a non-surgical or minimally invasive approach, I find that permanent threads and, in some cases, polydioxanone (PDO) threads are needed to physically “lift” and “anchor” the skin to its younger position. PDO threads are effective in mild ptosis, but in the case of moderate to severe sagging, permanent threads such as Spring Threads produce a remarkable lift.

CONCLUSION

These days, advanced practitioners are moving away from treating individual lines and areas and concentrating on a full-face approach. This allows more harmonious and natural results, rather than exaggerating one specific area of the face giving a ‘done’ appearance. The modern patient wants to look great without the tell-tale signs of having a procedure done. I believe this can only be achieved by combining a full-face approach with a full-causation approach. The ReVoLIFT™ method addresses the three main phenotypical aspects of an ageing face. It is true that not every patient will require all three aspects addressed or even corrected to the same level. However, these aspects should be considered when looking to restore beauty to its previous state. Skin resurfacing gives a healthy-looking and vibrant appearance, volumising corrects hollows and improves skin integrity, while lifting helps to reposition the skin to its correct anatomical place. I believe that true facial harmony is achieved once all three aspects are accounted for.

DR USMAN QURESHI

Dr Usman Qureshi (aka Dr Q) is a cosmetic doctor and founder of Luxe Skin by Doctor Q in Glasgow. He focuses on non-surgical and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures for the face and body.