‘I wasn’t going to leave a suicide note. People would know why I’d killed myself. One look at my face said it all — I’d made myself look ¬hideously ugly. My face was lopsided, my nose was too skinny, my lips were ¬distorted and my chin was crooked.’

Laura is typical of many patients who are left profoundly depressed by their appearance ¬after facial plastic surgery.

Profound disappointment, deep anxiety and disquieting stress are three post-surgery distresses that just don’t always go away.

Underlying psychological disorders may trigger the desire for change but docs are hard pressed to make certain that every man or woman who makes an appointment for a surgical procedure is running perfectly on all 12 cylinders.

Disappointing results plague over 30% of facial plastic surgery patients and that may be the upshot of unrealistic expectations. If you elect to have a streamlined nose, enhanced bosom or a face lift, the end result just might be too much to witness as you peer at your new self for the first time.

After all, seeing your new look even if the surgeon brilliantly performed his job, can be shocking. Maybe seeing all this newness overloads the senses and self acceptance may or may not occur over time. Self-loathing or self acceptance? Psychological side effects are real.

Disappointment, anxiety and depression are psychological problems that can likely be avoided when you choose a different modality to lift and tone your face. There is a better way.

Facial exercise is a non-surgical alternative that has shown remarkable results throughout the years by millions of satisfied faces.

Lifting sagging facial features without incisions and sutures not only saves your facial features from possible disfigurement – we’ve all seen the over-inflated cheeks, the squinty eyes, the wind tunnel face – on celebrities and even our friends. Facial exercise will keep you looking like you -only younger and your circle of friends and family will easily recognize you.

Considering the current trend of men and women wanting natural results - the results of lifting and toning using facial exercise begins Day One. Just like exercise works wonders for slack and atrophied bodies, the very same principals are applied when using facial exercise to tighten sagging facial features. Resistance, contraction and isometric movements shape and contour droopy cheeks, hooded eyes, double chins and more.

Those sagging and droopy facial features make you look older because the underlying muscles have lost their oomph. Once you begin contracting the muscles oxygenated blood is forced into the facial tissue so that skin and muscles reposition and this helps you look younger.

What makes facial exercise so desirable over surgical procedures? First of all there is no anesthesia of any type, there is no use of drugs that may have detrimental side effect, there is no time away from family, work, friends or obligations, there are no sutures, no surprises, no pain and the risk of complications is eliminated. Facial exercise is easy, the results come quickly and it’s wonderfully affordable.

Invasive surgical procedures and injections that plump and paralyze do not always make one feel and look younger whereas exercise always has a very positive affect targeting and strengthening the underlying facial muscles. By firming and lifting the tiny, hidden muscles, the youthful contour of your face returns, so skin looks younger, healthier and fresher. Isolating with contraction

You can look years younger without painful and costly invasive procedures. The modalities of surgery and injections are not the answers to reversing the effects of aging and stress reflected in our faces. Exercise is natural and is designed to promote a younger, more vibrant facial appearance.

Back to Laura: Laura Pillarella, 41, wanted to "fix herself" and chose plastic surgery. Now after 15 unsatisfactory procedures she has written a book charting her excessive amounts of procedures, titled Chasing Beauty: My Cosmetic ¬Surgery Takeover. Laura is not alone – there are others who have experienced great anguish when seeing their after surgery results.

Patients frequently schedule revision surgeries only to feel less confident in their appearance after the second or third or tenth procedure. Are the doctors to blame for this dissatisfaction or the patient who cannot accept their God-given beauty?

Yes, some people are afflicted with Body Dysmorphic Disorder and most likely they will suffer the silent epidemic of disappointment no matter how many procedures they undergo. But anyone can change their thinking about their options and about the modalities they choose.

Using facial plastic surgery and injections can be disappointing in numerous ways; however, using facial exercise is empowering. Your confidence will soar as you realize the control over aging is in your hands. Turn back the hands of time naturally, self assured and positive that you can look 5, 10 even 15 years younger in just weeks.