A new procedure may offer an alternative for women and men searching for ways to smooth out their wrinkles and fine-tune their face, Local 4's Lila Lazarus reported.

Each year, millions of Americans turn to surgery to help turn back the clock, but a traditional facelift can cost thousands of dollars and the recovery time can last for weeks.

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For people searching for a less extreme solution, doctors are trying a new technique, Local 4 reported.

Mary Jane Mason was looking for a change. She was tired of Botox and wanted a longer-lasting answer to aging, the station reported.

Instead of a facelift, dermatologist Lisa Donofrio will use Mason's own fat to turn back time.

"It makes me look younger and I feel better about myself," Mason said.

The technique is called fat rebalancing.

"The major change in the aging face is loss of volume due to loss of fat," said Donofrio. "But, I believe there are also areas that have excess fat, so the face becomes relatively unbalanced."

Donofrio refers to the facial imbalances as "hills and valleys."

During each surgery, about one tablespoon of fat is used to turn the face's highs and lows into a gently rolling plain.

"That's the appeal to a lot of people, to look natural, to look like they used to look and not to look like they're lifted," said Donofrio.

Doctors say that eight to 12 sessions, along with maintenance visits, can take as much as 10 years off a face, without requiring major surgery.

"And that resets your aging clock so to speak. And then you should always look about 10 years younger than your chronological age," said Donofrio.

For Mason, the procedure allowed her to turn back the clock more gracefully, the station reported.

Doctors say fat rebalancing can be done much earlier in life than a facelift.

The cost for having an entire face rebalanced is reportedly about 30 percent less than a facelift.