This time of year, the phones at plastic surgeon Jon Turk’s Upper East Side office are ringing off the hook as men and women across the United States call looking for “refreshment” before the holidays. But unlike years past, they’re not calling to schedule a pre-surgery appointment or consultation. The calls are for Turk’s new, non-invasive, no-surgery facelift procedure.
Instead of spending $50,000 on a lower “ponytail” facelift like Karen Millen did, or up to $250,000 on a full facelift like several male stars have, people are opting for a softer, less expensive and not permanent procedure.
The benefits are instantaneous, there is no down time (compared to several weeks’ recovery with surgery), and Turk’s technique doesn’t break the bank.
“It’s great — we can now mimic the traditional facelift without surgery,” Turk said. “It’s a way of manipulating the facial muscles and skin to create a lift of the upper face and a smoothing of the lower face and neck. This is particularly good for someone who is too young for a traditional facelift but notices their face is falling. For someone in their late 30s or 40s we can literally stop the aging of the face in its tracks as this procedure also keeps the aging skin from getting lax.”
The procedure starts with Botox, but unlike traditional Botox which freezes muscles, properly placed, the shots can actually lift muscles.
“I primarily focus on the mouth, jawline and neck,” Turk said. “It’s a series of Botox injections along the jawline into the neck and injections that (turn your frown upside down), uplift the mouth by being able to utilize Botox to give instructions of muscle and face.”
The next step are surgical threads which Turk implants along the cheeks and jawline, not only giving an immediate lift, but when the threads dissolve in six to 12 months they create collagen.
“Facelifts will pull skin back but not tighten the skin,” Turk said. “With the collagen production, it also tightens the skin and gives it a more youthful, less crepe-y appearance.”
The third step is several treatments with the Morpheus treatment which is described by the New Orleans Plastic Surgery Center as: “radiofrequency energy is emitted into the underlying skin while microneedling happens on the surface, combining the effects of the two technologies. Morpheus stimulates collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid in the middle and lower layers of the skin — proteins and compounds that help keep the skin on the surface looking young and fresh.”
And, thanks to Lidocaine, the entire procedure is pain free and takes about an hour.
In June I managed to score an appointment with Turk and the result was instantaneous and magical. I even posted an hour after the procedure on Instagram and went out that evening with no one at the dinner table any wiser — except all the comments of “you look amazing!” “How are you not aging?” or “OK, what’s going on. Did you sell your soul to the devil?”
“It’s great for people who don’t want to go under anesthesia or have surgery,” Turk said.
And while Turk does still do surgery, he predicts they will be fewer in the future.
“We’re in an era where there is so much innovation and new technology that I think we will be moving away from and seeing fewer and fewer surgical procedures in the next 20 years.”
Paula Froelich is the on-air entertainment correspondent for NewsNation.
