The four anatomic areas helped by a facelift are:
Many people refer to a facelift as a “necklift” or “lower facelift.” There are so many terms which get confusing- short scar facelift, mini facelift, necklift, full facelift. The terms are not consistent, so discuss in detail with your surgeon what they mean.
A facelift restores a youthful appearance by removing excess skin and contouring fat. The incisions are hidden as much as possible in the hairline and natural creases in front of and behind the ear. There is a second layer below the skin, called the SMAS. This facial layer is the key to tightening the underlying tissue for a long lasting effect.
The necklift is a separate incision under the chin. Through this incision fullness under the chin and /or muscle banding can be addressed. No skin is removed.
Be aware, however, a facelift does not stop the natural aging process. It is normal for tissue to relax again over time. Facial volume loss continues. The goal is to get you to a better baseline.
As you age, your face is stressed by gravity, sun, use, and stress. Wrinkles form, and skin loses its elasticity. When assessing your face, there are three components to facial aging:
During a facelift we can address all of these. The actual facelift surgery tightens the skin. To address volume, I perform facial fat transfer, which is vital to correcting aging in the glabella, cheek, temple, mouth, and chin areas. Skin quality is addressed in two ways: the fat transfer has stem cells, which have been shown to reverse aging in the skin, and the skin resurfacing with a TCA chemical peel remove fines wrinkles, pigmentation, and freshens the skin of the face and neck.
Sometimes additional procedures will be needed to meet your appearance goals, so your face appears in sync and ages together. As a facelift surgery addresses the cheek, jawline, and neck, it is frequently combined with:
Cosmetic facelift surgery lasts around four hours. Recovery takes from 1-2 weeks, depending on the amount of swelling and bruising. I recommend an herbal regimen to assist with this healing. When doing multiple procedures, an overnight stay may be recommended and is available at the Menlo Park surgical facility.
To find out if you are a good candidate for a facelift or other facial cosmetic surgery, contact my practice to schedule a consultation.
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The neck is a broad area. In general, when you do a true facelift, you are doing the cheek, jawline, and neck.
The necklift actually involves a separate incision under the chin. No skin is removed at the incision under the chin. This incision is used to address fullness from fat or drooping glands under the playtsma muscle. This incision is also used to corset the muscles back together.
When someone has fullness under the chin, liposuction (or Kybella or Coolsculpt) can be a good way to help contour it. But there are limitations to this, as some of the fat is deep to the platysma muscle (so cannot be liposuctioned), some of the fullness may be due to drooping submandibular gland, and it requires the skin to contract. As you age your skin’s abililty to contract can be an issue. If this happens you will need to do a necklift or facelift to correct it.
When choosing a surgeon for a facelift, the most important decision (other than the surgeon being a safe, board certified plastic surgeon), is to look at the before and after pictures. Do you like their aesthetic? A facelift can reverse the signs of aging to return you to a younger version of you, or a facelift can dramatically alter the way you look. This difference is dependent on the technique of the surgeon. I favor a natural aesthetic, the return to a younger version of you, so my patients do not look “operated on.” Beware of the gimmicks. Procedures promising no downtime and long lasting results usually are not accurate. Also, I believe in units of the face. These units age together, and for a natural look, they should be corrected together as a unit. For this reason, I don’t like to operate just on the cheek or just on the neck. The common aging is to age in both areas, so both should be treated. I shy away from mini facelifts, necklifts, and thread lifts, as a full facelift has a longer lasting, seamless result. To achieve smooth, natural facial aging, in addition to a facelift you may require addressing other areas such as the brow and eyelid. I find most of my patient base want this natural look.