The Ultimate Unification: Why I Combine Facelift Surgery with TRL Laser Resurfacing

By Dr. J. Walter Dutton

You have high standards for everything else in your life. Your wardrobe, your home, your schedule. It makes perfect sense that you have high standards for your face, too.

When you decide it’s time to invest in plastic surgery, the goal is to look undeniably, radiantly refreshed. You want the result to be seamless.

As a board-certified plastic surgeon, I view facial rejuvenation through a lens of total harmony. I have found that the most distinguished, remarkable results often come from a powerful strategic pairing, like combining facelift surgery with TRL laser resurfacing. It's a holistic approach to aging that ensures your results are not just noticeable, but deeply cohesive. By addressing both the underlying architecture and the surface quality of your skin simultaneously, I can create a level of refinement that neither procedure can achieve in isolation.

Structural Integrity Meets Surface Refinement

I consider this to be one of the best combinations for comprehensive facial rejuvenation available. It's a two-fold process. First, there's the descent of soft tissue: skin laxity, the loosening of ligaments, and the shifting of volume. Second, there is the degradation of the skin itself: the accumulation of sun damage, fine lines, and uneven texture.

When I perform a surgical facelift, I'm working with the structure of your face. I lift the deeper layers of tissue, address sagging skin, and focus on removing excess skin to restore the youthful contours of the neck and jaw. It creates a beautiful shape. But a scalpel doesn't alter the fabric of the skin. I can reposition it, but surgery alone isn't going to iron out the wrinkles etched into it.

This is where laser skin resurfacing becomes essential. While the surgical procedure addresses the gravity, the laser addresses the quality. The Contour TRL (Tunable Resurfacing Laser) allows me to precisely vaporize the outer layer of damaged skin. This erases the history of environmental exposure, ensuring that your skin texture is as youthful as your new profile.

The Power of Contour TRL: Deep Resurfacing

Not all lasers do the same thing. I choose the Contour TRL because it gives me absolute control. Using a computer-guided scanner, I can control the depth of the laser beam with micron-level precision.

While some treatments only polish the surface, Contour TRL can perform deep resurfacing. This is critical when I'm treating deep wrinkles, stubborn acne scars, and textural issues that lighter treatments don't have any effect on. By removing these damaged layers, the laser triggers a massive biological response to stimulate collagen production and boost elastin production.

This new collagen growth tightens the skin, reduces fine lines, and improves overall skin tone. After a short while, you'll see a dramatic improvement in skin quality that complements the structural lift I’ve achieved surgically.

The Concurrent Approach

I understand that for most patients, time is a luxury. The prospect of scheduling two procedures with separate downtimes (one for surgical healing and another for laser skin resurfacing) is rarely ideal.

That's why I highly recommend intelligent aesthetic planning. Many patients find that the combined approach is the ultimate time-saver. By performing skin resurfacing at the exact same time as your facelift, I can consolidate the healing processes.

Rather than navigating a recovery for surgery and then weeks of mild redness or peeling from a laser months later, you heal once. The body repairs the treated areas simultaneously. This makes it to where you're really able to manage your downtime to allow you to emerge with a more youthful appearance in a single, efficient recovery period.

The Importance of Aesthetic Cohesion

The hallmark of my work is believability. Natural-looking results are defined by consistency.

Imagine a beautifully contoured, lifted jawline paired with skin that still bears the signs of aging—like skin pigmentation or deep static lines around the mouth. This creates a subtle visual disconnect. The eye may not detect surgery, but it detects a lack of harmony.

When I unify the facelift with Contour TRL, I eliminate this discrepancy. I ensure that the youthful glow of your skin matches the youthfulness of the lift, creating a balanced appearance. This is why patients choose this combination: it delivers a balanced rejuvenation where the entire face looks polished and cohesive.

A Comprehensive Revelation

You shouldn't have to choose between a defined profile and a luminous complexion. True youthful radiance requires both, so why not save yourself time, energy, and an entire extra recovery period by combining your facelift with Contour TRL?

This combination represents the ultimate unification of surgical precision and advanced technology, delivering long-lasting, optimal results. If you're looking for a treatment plan that's comprehensive, elegant, and efficient, schedule your consultation with me at Charlotte Plastic Surgery, and let’s curate a combined treatment plan that gives you exactly what you want without all the headache.