Non-surgical facelifts: A guide

Non-Surgical Facelift Results

What is a non-surgical facelift?


Skin can sag and wrinkle as you age, and non-surgical facelifts aim to make the face look lifted, defined and smoother in appearance. It’s not just time passing which can cause visible signs of aging on your face. Aging can happen in spurts, and traumatic events can make your face age faster.

You might take a look in the mirror after losing a loved one, going through a divorce or battling a severe illness to see some changes that you do not want as a reminder of distressing times. You might not feel like putting your body through surgery after recent events such as these, so the non-invasive options often a gentler approach for a new start.

Another common reason for a sudden increase in signs of aging is due to crash dieting. A non-surgical facelift can address the aging effects of weight loss so that you can fully enjoy your new and healthier body.

There has been a real boom in non-surgical procedures in recent years. Due to the little downtime needed, they are very popular with celebrities who need to be discreet and cannot take time away from the public eye to recover.

There are many other reasons why patients prefer to opt for a non-surgical facelift. Some patients have work or family commitments where they can’t take the time off for surgery and the subsequent recovery period. There are also patients who prefer non-invasive treatments and so actively look for those options. Sometimes a patient chooses a non-surgical facelift to keep the signs of aging at bay until they feel ready for surgery.

Non-surgical facelift fillers

The aging process can result in losing volume under the eyes, around the mouth and in the cheeks, lips and temples. Problems such as jowls and a skeletal appearance around the eye area can make people wish they could turn back the clock!

Non-surgical fillers can be injected into these areas, plumping up the skin and therefore removing any shadows previously created by loss of volume. Fillers can be injected:

  • Along the jawline to provide more definition
  • Into the lines that connect the corners of your mouth to our nose
  • Along the marionette lines which run from the corners of your mouth down to your chin
  • Into the cheek area

The fillers will immediately provide a more youthful, fresh appearance. Injections are also an option for wrinkle smoothing for a more younger appearance.

At Karidis we use a semi permanent volumising filler called Juvéderm® VOLUMA an advanced, cohesive, 3D hyaluronic acid matrix dermal gel, manufactured by Allergan.

Non-surgical facelifts without needles

If you want to avoid the use of needles, there are still options available to you for a non-surgical facelift:

  • A chemical peel will improve the quality of your skin, tightening it for a more youthful appearance, such as the Cosmedix Peel
  • A treatment that uses radiofrequency energy or ultrasound energy to tighten the skin, such as Ultherapy

What is Ultherapy?

Ultherapy certainly offers some stunning results – when you see the Karidis before and after photos it can be hard to believe that there has been no surgery involved! Ultherapy can lift the skin to treat mild sagging on the face, neck and décolletage.

This non-surgical facelift uses ultrasound energy to heat deep tissue deep beneath the surface of the skin. The heating causes the tissues to remodel, forming new collagen and elastin, shrinking and firming – effectively reversing some signs of ageing. The skin and deeper muscle layers are firmly tightened.

How does Ultherapy work?

The practitioner can see the tissue underneath the surface of the skin using ultrasound imaging so that they can target focused ultrasound beams on the areas to be treated using a handset. The tissue is then rapidly heated. Ultherapy is the only FDA-cleared procedure to ‘lift’ skin on hard-to-treat areas using ultrasound.

How painful is Ultherapy?

The experience varies from patient to patient, but you need to expect some mild to moderate pain during the 60-90 minute treatment. Any pain is minimised by administering painkillers. At our London clinic we also administer gas and air if needed to help with any moments where it becomes more difficult. Once the treatment has finished there is happily no pain, recovery or downtime.

It is worth noting that patients keep returning for treatment after treatment as they are so delighted with the results – so the discomfort felt when having it done is worth it!

The face looks instantly tighter and it will just keep on looking better as the months go by. In fact, the best results are around six to eight months after the treatment. So if you have a big event that you can plan in advance for, this is really beneficial.


How long do the effects of a non-surgical facelift last?

How long the results last for depends on the type of non-surgical facelift treatment you choose. Whereas a surgical facelift typically lasts 10 years, non-surgical treatments will need to be done regularly to maintain the results. Non-surgical facelifts are a temporary fix.

With fillers it depends on where they have been injected.If there is a lot of movement in that area of the face, the fillers will disappear more quickly. You will be able to tell when you need a top-up.

More fillers are needed as you age and past a certain point a surgical facelift is well worth considering.

The Ultherapy treatment will only need re-doing in a year to eighteen months after initial treatment.

If any of these non-surgical facelift options are of interest to you, call 0203 553 9126 to arrange a free consultation with one of our nurses.

Please enquire about our Ultherapy April Offer by emailing us on