Navigating The Fountain Of Youth

A facelift is a surgical procedure that addresses loose skin in the upper neck and lower portion of the face. The procedure tightens underlying muscles and reduces the appearance of wrinkles.

What To Expect

Many men and women notice signs of aging in their facial appearance, such as loose skin, wrinkles, or jowls. A facelift can turn back the clock and help patients achieve a youthful appearance reflecting their active, engaged spirit.

Surgically lifting drooping contours in the lower two-thirds of the face, a facelift can also tighten underlying muscles and tissue for a more refined, defined neckline and jawline. Patients who opt for a facelift are typically interested in comprehensively revitalizing their facial aesthetics with results that will last for a long time.

Your facial skeleton shrinks as you age, and the ligaments that support facial skin stretch. Due to extra fat or muscle loss in the neck region, you may eventually develop facial jowls or a double chin (platysmal banding). Sometimes, you may have noticeable fine lines and wrinkles that create an aged or worn appearance.

Candidates for a facelift typically have explored non-surgical treatments such as dermal fillers and injectables but have decided they are ready for more significant and longer-lasting improvements to their facial aesthetics. A facelift lifts sagging skin in the lower two-thirds of the facial structure, tightening and firming lax muscles and tissue overlying the skeletal frame for a more refined, defined neckline and jawline while minimizing and reversing the development of fine lines and wrinkles.

This procedure uses specific dermal filler formulas to minimize the appearance of moderate wrinkles and folds for a refreshed youthful facial appearance.

A facelift should only be performed by a board-certified plastic surgeon with demonstrated proficiency in cosmetic plastic surgery.

Procedure

A surgical facelift is the most efficient and long-lasting method of treating jowls, drooping skin, and wrinkles in the lower face. A surgeon skilled in facelift procedure in Orange County can deliver remarkably natural results so that friends and family don’t know you had surgery. An experienced facelift surgeon offers several options to help patients achieve their aesthetic goals.

This customized facelift technique produces remarkably long-lasting results by targeting the deeper facial and neck tissues for complete rejuvenation. The Lifelong Lift(tm) can smooth pronounced facial lines, tighten sagging muscles, and reduce the appearance of jowls to preserve the outcome for years longer than traditional techniques.

The incisions required to perform a facelift are designed to be inconspicuous and well-concealed, with one of the most important considerations being the placement and closure of these incisions.

The lower two-thirds of the face and neck, with mild to moderate skin laxity, make an excellent candidate for a facelift. The goal is to eliminate sagging of the skin and fat and to reduce the appearance of the jowls and the cheeks, giving the face a more defined and youthful contour. Today’s advanced surgical tools and techniques allow for a more refined, natural-looking facelift result.

A liquid facelift is a non-surgical substitute for a facelift that employs dermal fillers to fight early indications of aging and replace lost volume. This approach is ideal for individuals with mild to moderate skin laxity, and it can provide excellent long-term results that are natural-looking, softer, and more youthful than a facelift alone.

Recovery

Facelift surgery rejuvenates the sagging skin of the neck, jawline, and jowls that occurs naturally as we age. It lowers wrinkles, crow’s feet, and other fine lines, restores youthful contours to the jaw and cheek area, and even provides more fullness to the temples and ears. It can also be combined with eyelid lifts to rejuvenate the aging eyes or fat transfer to replace lost facial fat. Combined, these procedures can provide dramatic yet natural-looking results that improve facial definition and boost self-confidence.

A qualified cosmetic surgeon can help determine if a facelift is the best treatment option for your unique needs and goals. They can assess your facial features, underlying anatomy, and structure to create an individualized treatment plan to help you achieve the desired results. An excellent cosmetic surgeon will also be able to provide you with realistic expectations, including what you can expect during the recovery process.

The incisions needed to perform a facelift are carefully concealed in the hairline and natural skin creases around and behind the ears, so once they heal, they should be virtually invisible. Some bruising and swelling may occur during recovery, but this will fade. Patients can usually return to non-strenuous work within two weeks after their procedure.

Depending on your preferences and the extent of facial aging, you may wish to maintain your facelift results by undergoing periodic touch-up treatments. These can help extend the life of your facelift results and keep you looking your best for years. You may prolong the time you look your best by following a good diet, exercising regularly, quitting smoking, and using a consistent skincare routine.

A good facelift can make you appear younger by as much as ten years, but it cannot stop the natural aging process or stop you from accumulating new lines and wrinkles in the future. Nonetheless, a skilled cosmetic surgeon can provide results that match your facial features and look natural. These results should last for several years before needing to be enhanced again.

Results

Facial muscles can weaken with age and genetics, adipose tissue can shrink, and the underlying soft tissue’s ligaments can stretch. The result can be loose skin that develops wrinkles and a drooping appearance, including jowls and a loss of the horizontal neckline. Facelift surgery can correct these cosmetic concerns, restoring a youthful and energetic appearance.

A standard or traditional facelift, a superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS), can address moderate to advanced facial skin and neck aging. Through incisions that hide in the natural folds of the face, a cosmetic surgeon can reposition the deeper tissue layers to tighten and smooth skin, eliminate jowls, and restore a natural-looking neck contour and jawline.

Sometimes, a surgeon may recommend a less invasive facelift procedure, such as a mini-facelift or a RadiaLift. Combining these minimally invasive procedures with additional surgical and non-surgical therapies can result in total facial rejuvenation by addressing particular facial areas showing early indications of aging.

For more extensive facial laxity, the deep plane facelift may be recommended. Rather than lifting and re-draping the skin, this surgical option repositions the muscle, fat, and other tissue layers to provide dramatic results lasting 10-15 years.

After a facelift, it is essential to remember that the aging process will continue. Still, your results should be natural and long-lasting if you maintain a healthy weight, practice good skincare, and avoid significant changes in body shape. Visiting a cosmetic surgeon regularly for preventive maintenance treatments is also a good idea.

In addition to facelifts, there are various other skin rejuvenation techniques, such as facial fat transfer and eyelid surgery. Using liposuction to harvest excess fat cells from the body, these fat deposits can be injected into the facial areas that show signs of volume loss to enhance skin tone and reduce lines and wrinkles. It can play a significant role in lessening the appearance of wrinkles around the mouth, such as the “marionette” lines that extend from the corner of the lips to the nose.