Facelift (Rhytidectomy)

Ever wonder why your eyes look tired and wrinkles are starting to show in your face? In time, gravity, sun exposure, and the stresses of daily life take their toll on our faces and necks. Deep creases appear beside the mouth, the jaw line slackens and becomes jowly, and the neck develops loose folds and fat deposits. Facelifts counteract these signs of aging by tightening muscle, removing or repositioning fat, and trimming excess skin, giving your face a fresher, and natural youthful look. After surgery, some patients look 10-15 years younger.

Facelifts, technically known as rhytidectomies (literally, “removal of wrinkles”), rejuvenate the mid- to lower face and neck. Facelifts are most effective for patients who want to correct:

• Midface sagging
• Deep creases under the eyes
• Deep creases between the nose and mouth (nasolabial folds)
• Jowls due to loss of muscle tone
• Sagging areas of fat and loss of youthful cheek volume.
• Loose skin and fat under the chin and jaw

Our Facelift technique can produce a dramatic yet natural improvement in appearance for patients with the problems mentioned above. However, facelifts do not stop the aging process; in time, signs of aging will gradually appear once again.

Further, facelifts will not rejuvenate the brow, eyelids, nose, and some of the midface. Patients who want to improve these areas may consider combining a facelift with a brow lift or eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty).

The best candidates for rhytidectomy:

• Wish to improve one or more of the signs of aging indicated above
• Are men or women whose faces have begun to sag, but whose skin still has some elasticity
• Are generally healthy
• Do not smoke
• Have realistic expectations
• Are considering a facelift for personal reasons, not because someone else is pressuring them to do so

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Facelift Procedure – Techniques

Facelifts are typically inpatient or outpatient procedures and may be performed in a surgery center or hospital. Patients may have a choice of IV sedation or general anesthesia. Qualified seasoned anesthesia providers perform anesthesia. The procedure ranges from three to five hours depending on the areas that need to be addressed. Your doctor might recommend an overnight stay in the hospital.

The way a facelift is performed varies depending on the surgeon, the patient’s facial structure, and the extent of correction desired. The three most common incision techniques are:

• Traditional facelift: The “full” facelift for rejuvenating the face, jowls and neck, including fat sculpting, lifting and repositioning of muscle and deeper tissues, and skin trimming and redraping. The incision begins at the temples and travels down to the front of the ear, around the earlobe, and behind the ear to the lower scalp at the hairline. Sometimes, another incision is made under the chin.
• Limited-incision facelift (The suspension or MACS facelift): For limited rejuvenation around the eyes and mouth, including nasolabial folds and other deep creases and the jowls. Short incisions are made at the temples along the hairline and the contours of the front of the ear, and possibly in the lower eyelids and/or under the neck as well. This technique is very useful for patients with jowls, loss of cheek volume, and neck laxity. The recovery is quicker and the changes are remarkable.
• Neck lift: A neck lift concentrates on jowls, loose skin on the neck, and fat under the chin. The incision is made around the ear lobe and behind the ear to the lower scalp.

In all three methods, incisions are closed with stitches. Scars are hidden in the hairline and natural contours of the face.

Recovery from Facelift

At first, you may experience swelling, numbness, bruising, and a feeling of tightness or tension in the face and neck. Your face may look uneven or distorted, and your facial muscles may feel stiff. Most of these usually resolve within 3-6 weeks, and sensation typically returns to normal within a few months. Scars become less red, raised, lumpy or itchy in time.

Many patients return to work by the second to third week. Camouflage cosmetics can be used to minimize the appearance of bruising.

Results and Risks of Facelift

Depending on the technique used results of a facelift do not last forever. You may want to have another procedure in seven or ten years. But in another sense, the effects are permanent; years later, your face will continue to look better than if you had never had a facelift.

Possible complications of facelift include: bleeding, infection, bruising, uneven swelling or discoloration, allergic reaction to the anesthesia, skin blistering (usually only seen in smokers), and temporary or permanent loss of sensation in the face. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of a facelift with you before your surgery.

Our Promise

Honesty, attention to detail and relentless effort to fulfill your desires.

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