The terminology at the front desk has morphed in recent years. A few years ago, a new patient would typically ask, “What makes me younger by Friday?” Today, she is saying, “I want to talk about longevity,” or “I am interested in my health span,” or “How can I preserve collagen,” rather than, “How can you fix my fine lines?” One recent patient stated, “Dr. Agullo, please future-proof my skin.” There is really no better three-word way to describe the longevity movement.

Dr. Frank Agullo could not be more thrilled about the shift. “Anti-aging was a lost bet from the beginning. Anti-aging, by definition, promised to roll back time and as you can imagine, time does not always wish to be rolled back. Longevity asks a better question: how do we help skin maintain health and function for the long haul? This is a bet that can and will be won.”

From Correction to Preservation

This transition stems from a fundamental change in medicine, as doctors increasingly prioritize not just how long patients live, but how healthily they live those years (i.e., their health span). This same thinking is now being applied to skin care, as patients now reallocate their money and focus away from undoing the damage of the past and toward protecting skin against the damage of the future.

“Aging starts at the cellular level. It is mitochondrial function, the level of inflammation in the skin, metabolic health, cellular repair mechanisms,” Agullo said. “What you see on the surface is just a report card on all of those things. This is why skin care truly begins much earlier in life than a wrinkle cream. It needs to work on a cellular level and needs to be treated in a more profound way than topical anti-wrinkle ingredients.”

With collagen levels starting to drop in the mid-20s and women losing an estimated 25 to 30 percent of their collagen in the first five years post-menopause, preservation will always beat rescue hands down.

The Foundation Comes Free

“Before I recommend one single ingredient or topical product,” Agullo said, “we start with the fundamentals. We want our patients to wear a daily sunscreen (the El Paso sun, in particular, means this is the one step that cannot be skipped), consume enough protein, include strength training in their weekly schedule, get real, sustained sleep and work to maintain a steady, relatively flat blood sugar line, thus limiting the glycation of collagen. Patients sometimes try to bypass the basics to leapfrog ahead to the new gadgets. This is something I tell every patient that I meet with in the MedSpa: An infusion or a device simply cannot fix five hours of sleep. Nothing can make up for not applying a sunscreen on a daily basis. The fundamentals are the treatment itself. Everything else is an amplifier that helps maximize your results when it is added to this consistent, daily and disciplined foundation.”

The Shelf: Why We Carry Alastin and SkinCeuticals

When you walk into the MedSpa at Southwest Plastic Surgery, you will notice two distinct skincare lines lining our shelf: Alastin and SkinCeuticals. That was a choice and an important one. Both Alastin and SkinCeuticals are known for their high quality and their evidence-based approach to skincare development. Every one of their formulations undergoes extensive testing and both brands publicly share their published scientific data, focusing on ingredients that are proven to support skin function, repair and protection. Here is the skin longevity routine our team builds around those two brands, from morning to night.

“Longevity rewards consistency,” Agullo notes. “A shelf stacked with 30 different products from numerous brands suggests a hobby, not a treatment plan. The six products used consistently each day are a strategy designed for long-term benefits.”

Treatments That Build Collagen, Not Just Polish Skin

“You absolutely must first defend the collagen you have before building more,” says Agullo. The treatments at our MedSpa actively encourage new collagen formation. Procedures like microneedling and radiofrequency microneedling involve controlled micro-injuries that encourage the skin’s natural repair response and stimulate the production of fresh collagen over the next several months. Different types of laser treatments are used to address accumulated sun damage, improving skin tone, texture and radiance. Injectable biostimulators such as Sculptra work internally by prompting the body to produce more collagen. In this longevity approach, these treatments are used earlier, applied lightly and scheduled regularly for maintenance, rather than waiting until damage occurs and attempting more aggressive, restorative treatments. This is analogous to servicing your car regularly to keep it running well versus rebuilding the engine after it has seized up due to neglect. And when a patient’s concerns are related to structure or the actual pulling down and loss of volume of tissue rather than the quality of the skin, the MedSpa team is honest about referring those conversations to the surgical side of Southwest Plastic Surgery. Dr. Agullo completed his plastic surgery fellowship training at the Mayo Clinic, is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery and has been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for 13 consecutive years. When patients consult the MedSpa, they will be directed to the right tool for their needs, not the nearest one in the tool kit.

Start Before You Think You Need To

The unspoken message of the skin longevity revolution is that timing is critical. The best candidates for skin preservation today are the ones who may not yet think they need any interventions. If your current skin plan involves simply waiting to see what happens, consider reaching out. We would be happy to assess your skin’s actual condition, develop a tailored routine to protect it and outline a schedule for any treatments that fit into your overall strategy. #StayBeautiful

Dr. Frank Agullo shares his editorial opinion on the anti-aging movement at drworldwide.com, while his comprehensive patient protocol is available at agulloplasticsurgery.com.

Ready to Talk?

Visit agulloplasticsurgery.com to book your consultation, text 1-866-814-0038 or call (915) 590-7900. @RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook.