COSMETIC TOWN JOURNAL



Facelift Facts You Need To Know

Posted June 12, 2019
Facelift facts patients should know before having surgery

As a person ages, the desire to keep a youthful look is common among patients. Some patients turn to non-surgical methods such as Botox or fillers to reduce or eliminate fine lines and wrinkles as well as rejuvenate the appearance of the face. Other patients turn to the surgical facial method known as a facelift to address signs of aging on the face. A facelift is designed to reverse the signs of aging by tightening the areas of the face that are droopy or have wrinkles and fine lines. In addition, excess skin can be removed to restore a youthful contour and create a tighter look to the face and neck. Before making the final decision to undergo a facelift, take a look below at some facelift facts you need to know.

Facelift Facts for Patients

  • Contrary to popular belief, a facelift does not treat the entire face.  In general, a facelift targets the lower half of the face and neck that has been impacted by the aging process. Patients that want to address issues with the forehead, eyes and eyebrows can have those procedures combined with/done at the same time as a facelift.
  • A facelift will not remove all of the age spots and wrinkles on the face of a patient. It is not a single cosmetic surgery solution for all of the signs of aging on the face. It will improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles but additional treatments, such as facial fillers, might be necessary to reduce or eliminate the appearance of lines on the face.
  • Sagging on the face is not caused by aging facial muscles. The fibro fatty layer of tissue between the skin and facial muscles will start to slide downward as a person ages which causes a deepening of the lines around the mouth as well as jowls and a loss of volume in the cheeks, In addition, the skin starts to thin as a person ages and this causes a loss of elasticity in the skin as a person gets older. In general, this is the cause of sagging in the neck area.
  • In the past, a facelift was generally viewed as a “female procedure” as the public generally thought of a facelift as a way for female patients to try and slow the aging process. However, more men are turning to facelifts to have a fresher appearance and enjoy facial rejuvenation. Men often turn to a facelift to look younger at work and to be more competitive in the workplace.
  • The final results of a facelift will have a person looking younger and refreshed as opposed to a face that is pulled so tight that it is obvious that a facelift has been performed. Besides helping patients gain a more youthful and refreshed appearance, the final results should provide a softer and more contoured look. If patients look like they are constantly surprised, or they have been out in the wind, the fact that a facelift has been performed is more obvious to others.
  • The vertical lines that appear around the lips as a person ages are not treated by a facelift. These lines can be treated and reduced using non-surgical methods such as Botox, a chemical peel or fillers.
  • For many years, a facelift only treated the skin of a patient by removing excess skin and lifting the remaining skin into a higher position. This was the case from the early 1900s until the late 1960s/early 1970s. Facelifts evolved after that and started to address the need to restructure the underlying muscles along with the facial tissue. The need to restructure the underlying muscles was developed because these muscles also change as a person gets older. Without addressing both excess skin and the underlying muscles, the patient will not enjoy results that are natural in appearance and more youthful looking.
  • A facelift will improve the look of the jaw and neckline but, as mentioned above, it will not improve the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and a facelift will not add volume to the areas of the face that have lost volume due to the aging process. There are multiple options for patients to use to address these other issues with the face. Botox will treat wrinkles and fine lines around the eyes and on the forehead. Fillers or fat transfer will add volume to the areas on the face that need some enhancing or a general addition of volume to replace what has been lost over the years. When it comes to issues on the surface of the skin such as texture, the size of the pores, age spots, blemishes and the pigment of the skin, cosmetic surgeons can perform laser skin resurfacing, chemical peels or microneedling to eliminate these skin issues and give the patient a more youthful appearance.

Ask the Cosmetic Surgeon for Facelift Photos

Before the final decision is made to have a facelift, patients should ask their board-certified doctor of choice for “before and after” photos of their actual patients. These photos will give a person a much clearer idea of the results provided by the cosmetic surgeon. In addition, patients can look at the photos and give the doctor a better idea of the type of final results they hope to achieve by having a facelift.

MA

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