Pennsylvania residents who want younger looking skin will be pleased to know there are many ways to remove wrinkles other than traditional surgery. Patients looking for a face lift in Philadelphia might want to consider alternate therapies instead.

Facial Resurfacing

One set of treatments doctors offer as an alternative to a face lift is skin resurfacing. The most common technique is called fractional resurfacing and uses a low-powered laser. The laser beam removes pinpoints of tissue from beneath the skin. The procedure triggers the body's natural healing mechanisms to revitalize and smooth the skin's surface. Patients experience immediate tightening of the skin and downtime is short with many patients returning to work on Monday after a weekend of redness.

Another process is called plasma resurfacing. Instead of using a laser to treat the skin, the doctor uses plasma energy. The procedure is similar, deliberately ablating tiny amounts of tissue to cause the body to initiate a healing response.

Both procedures are less invasive, less dangerous and less expensive than a traditional face lift. They show faster results and patients have much shorter recovery times.

Photo Rejuvenation

Another way to stimulate the body's natural youth-producing processes is by using pulses of light. Like resurfacing, photo rejuvenation stimulates the body into producing collagen. The collagen provides a foundation under the skin so the skin won't sag. Photo rejuvenation is especially suited for wrinkles and other skin damage caused by UV exposure.

Photo rejuvenation is slightly less effective at erasing fine lines than resurfacing techniques, but it has additional benefits those treatments don't have. It erases the redness from rosacea and is effective at treating a variety of skin discolorations such as birthmarks. Depending on the type of cosmetic conditions you are dealing with, your doctor may decide this is the best procedure for you. The treatment is nearly painless and patients report little if any post-treatment discomfort.

Fillers and Botox

Two kinds of injections are available as face lift alternatives. These types of injections may be used together since each therapy treats different kinds of wrinkles. Dermal fillers such as Radiesse fill the hollows under the skin that form wrinkles. These hollows form as the body's ability to produce new tissue slows down. The skin has less support, so sags and forms wrinkles. Dermal fillers provide the foundation your skin needs to be smooth and youthful looking.

Botox works differently than fillers. Muscles that remain flexed, even when we are otherwise relaxed, cause some wrinkles. These lines typically appear between the eyebrows. Botox relaxes the muscles to give the patient's face a more relaxed, rested appearance.

Cosmetic surgeons find fewer patients want a traditional face lift. Philadelphia residents have many other technologies which are ideal for early signs of aging and don't have the potential side effects or lengthy recovery time of surgery.