You’ve probably heard the radio ads or seen the TV commercials for the Lifestyle Lift. I’ve seen them myself – ads promising a revolutionary one hour procedure that is done under local anesthesia and gets you back to work as soon as the next day. You know the old adage, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. Well, from the ads I’ve seen it sounds really good, but some of the claims are simply not true. In fact, a lot of things surrounding what you may have heard about the lifestyle lift are not what they seem.
Let’s begin with the name itself. To my knowledge there has never been a paper describing the Lifestyle Lift published in any plastic surgery journal. I am not aware of any technique that is called a Lifestyle Lift. As best as I can tell, a Lifestyle Lift is some kind of variation on a mini-facelift. In fact, one of the medical directors for Lifestyle Lift recently explained in a trade magazine that the technique used by Lifestyle Lift is largely left to the surgeon operating that day. So, it seems to me that there really isn’t a special or “revolutionary” procedure called a Lifestyle Lift. If you sign up for a Lifestyle Lift it doesn’t seem like there is a procedure or technique called a Lifestyle Lift to have. And if that’s the case, what are they selling when you go for a consultation at Lifestyle Lift?
What they are selling is some kind of facial rejuvenation procedure that is likely to include a variation of a mini-facelift. Figuratively, what they are selling is what every patient wants to hear: short operative time, local anesthesia, quick return to work, and a cheap price. The advertising is very catchy and draws a lot of interest and attention. But the reality is often not as nice as the advertising might make it sound. The procedure takes longer than an hour. Actually, that’s just fine because if I’m the patient I want my doctor doing the best job possible and not trying to meet a promised one hour deadline. And the procedure in nearly all cases requires some amount of sedation along with local anesthesia. In most cases patients take sedation pills and pain pills before the procedure begins. The problem with that (other than not really being completely under local anesthesia) is when the sedation and pain medicine wears off, you’re stuck with only local anesthesia if the procedure is still ongoing. And if the pills you took to start the procedure are not enough, you’re out of luck as well. If you had an anesthesiologist keeping you comfortable (which is generally NOT the case with Lifestyle Lift) everything could be adjusted all the time to keep you completely comfortable and safe.
I always talk about looking out for bargains that end up being more that you bargained for. This one appears to end up that way all too often. The web is riddled with bad reviews from patients that have had surgery by Lifestyle Lift doctors. Of course, not all reviews have been bad, but when there are so many less than happy reviews (and many that are shockingly angry) you should take notice. You wouldn’t buy a one size fits all wardrobe of clothing, especially if there were a lot of bad reviews out there, no matter how cheap the price might be. Give your face, and your health, the same consideration. Because the truth is, one size never fits all.
