While minimally invasive aesthetic applications were experiencing their golden age in the last 15 years, every month; While pharmaceutical companies introduced the next generation in filling materials, technology companies introduced a new and revolutionary device or medical aesthetic physicians introduced a fantastic invention that made aesthetic surgeries unnecessary, plastic surgeons were working behind the scenes to refine centuries of surgical knowledge.
The surgical results that we all remember, those faces stretched like a sheet, those faces with changing expressions, those surgical scars and signs that give people away, were passed through the filter of positive science. Where were the negative results coming from and how could we achieve more painless, more natural, less scarring, more holistic, more permanent and more effective results? Luckily, developing information technology has enabled plastic surgeons all over the world to share their knowledge at an unprecedented level. It is no longer necessary to go to the other side of the world to learn how a surgery is performed or how it can be improved, and going to the other side of the world has become like visiting a neighbor. In this environment, "outcome" studies consisting of long-term data of surgeries were conducted to analyze how permanent and safe a procedure is in the long term. The deep plan surgical anatomy of the face was discovered almost millimeter by millimeter with fresh cadaver studies. In order to prevent nerve injuries, facial maps were drawn and danger zones were revealed in three dimensions. Deep plan facelift surgery took its purest form and we started to achieve more natural results than ever before by transferring the tension in the skin to deep support tissues. With the development of anesthesia and surgical safety protocols, total facial rejuvenation surgeries where the forehead, neck and eye contour can be handled in a single session with the face have become possible. With endoscopic and minimal access approaches, scars in facial rejuvenation surgeries have shortened, options have multiplied, all complications have been addressed one by one, thousands of articles and hundreds of books have been written on treatment and prevention strategies...
And finally, a level has been reached where the faces shaped with facial rejuvenation surgery are not recognized as "operated" at first glance by an eye that is not familiar with this work. There was a change in Ms. Ayşe, but what was it? It was definitely not surgery! Because if it was surgery, her face would have changed a lot, she would have looked like someone else, or her face would have looked younger, her neck older, for example, her eyes would have gotten smaller... Since Ms. Ayşe was afraid to say that she had undergone surgery, since society perceived plastic surgery as "unnatural beauty", she told those who asked that the secret of her beauty was "small touches". This tendency led to a greater demand for small touches, but as I mentioned in my previous article, the goal of rejuvenation was not something that could be achieved with such small touches.
Facial rejuvenation surgeries are on the rise again in the U.S. after 15 years and according to ASAPS data, it entered the top 5 most frequently performed aesthetic surgeries for the first time after a long time. This news is one of the most interesting of 2017 in the field of aesthetic surgery. Because for years, while minimally invasive applications have been on the rise, there has been a perception that surgical applications are standing still, regressing and going out of fashion.
Three different theories are put forward to explain the reasons for this change. The first "Rebound-Rebound" theory says that when people look back with the total time, total money, total swelling-purple time, total effort they spent on minimally invasive procedures for years, they realized that they could not achieve a gain that would be equivalent to the resources spent. Therefore, they started to prefer clearer, more precise, more effective methods. The second "gateway" theory says that minimally invasive aesthetic practices took people through the gate, accustomed them to aesthetic practices, made them put their feet in the water, thus making it easier for them to dive into the water afterwards. Probably both theories have some validity to some extent, but elbow contact with minimally invasive practices is not the only reason for the rise in facial rejuvenation surgeries.
The third theory of "supply increasing demand" says that a service that was previously not on people's agenda and on the list of needs gradually creates its own demand, thanks to the striking results that can be achieved with surgical treatments reaching large masses with the developing and widespread visual media tools.
It is not known which theory is more accurate, but one thing is certain: facial rejuvenation surgeries are back on the scene and do not seem to be going anywhere for a long time.