Innovative facelift fills and tightens

New Haven, Conn. (WTNH) - A New Haven plastic surgeon has perfected a facelift procedure that doesn't just lift sagging skin, but also fills and plumps.

Before Janice Zito visited Dr. Julian Henley, she was not happy with the way she was aging.

"It really bothered me, it bothered me so much," she said.

To help people like Janice, Dr. Henley created the BioMatrix lift.

"In a single procedure we can do the lifting and the repositioning, as well as the filling, which is now a long lasting fill because it's your own tissue rather than an injectable material that is absorbed," he explained.

Dr. Henley can tighten and fill using a form of collagen.

"This is a source of collagen and it's fairly thin membrane and the beauty of it is that this matrix has no cells, just has collagen in it but it retains growth factors and that stimulates your own body to deposit new cells," he said.

After soaking it in a saline solution, it becomes soft and pliant.

"The material when its fully wet, ends up filling those hallows under the eyes, it's put under the skin and under the muscle," Dr. Henley said.

Following the procedure, Janice was back on her feet in no time.

"You know, it hurts. But after a day or two I was up and around, going out actually, even though I wasn't supposed to," Janice said.

It is an outpatient procedure and full recovery is about three weeks.