Mastery of comprehensive composite flap SMAS technique
Reversing facial aging often involves repositioning or restoring volume to key areas of the face. A facelift is a procedure used to lift and tighten skin and tissue around our cheeks and jawline. Patients who have had a facelift, even years ago, have an unparalleled rejuvenation of the lower half of their face. A strong jaw-line, tight neck and high cheeks, provide powerful portrayal of youth.
Facelift surgery has evolved significantly over the last 100 years. The greatest advance was to address deeper and stronger connective tissues separately from the overlying skin to achieve the most pronounced results.
Consultations are meant to ensure that a facelift is the right procedure for you. The planned incisions, risks of surgery and post-operative course are reviewed.
The surgery itself takes a few hours and a 24 hour dressing is used to protect the healing skin. Sutures are removed the following week. Most patients are able to return to normal activity between 10-14 days when most bruising and swelling have resolved. Once healing is complete, patients should achieve a natural and long lasting effect that can turn back the hand of time by a full decade. That effect can last throughout a patient’s lifetime.
Facelift surgery is intended to reposition tissue that may have dropped and is sagging below our facial bony structures. With the evolution of minimally invasive surgery, many patients are looking for a great result with minimal down time. Mini-lifts or skin tightening procedures have gained popularity as a result. Mini-lifts are marketed under various names, but they all have the same concept: smaller incisions with less dissection. This is an excellent option for patients with early signs of aging. The amount of repositioning gives a good result without the more extensive surgery.
Non-surgical facelifts, using skin tightening machines, have been around for years. Generally patients are underwhelmed by the results and some come to see us for alternative options. Some before and after photos show that the jawline tends to look worse from tightening the neck and creating more pull of the tissues that leads to more noticeable jowls.
Traditional facelifts are still the workhorse of lower face rejuvenation. There is more healing time but the results are generally more noticeable. During a consultation, we aim to explore all options related to facelift surgery and by having an open dialogue to determine your goals and performing a thorough examination, we can find the surgery that best fits your needs.
Many patients come to see us asking for neck rejuvenation. Often, there are features of aging that are more amendable to having a face and neck lift together and we go though great detail explain why this is a better option. Occasionally, patients can achieve adequate rejuvenation by limiting surgery to a necklift. These patients have excessive laxity of the skin of the neck, too much fat tissue below their chin and banding of the neck muscles without any severe jowling of the jaw-line and dropping of tissue in the cheek area.
A necklift involves incisions that are smaller than in a facelift. The part that is extended in front of the ear is limited and less noticeable. An incision below the chin is the same and imperceptible once healing is completed. This allows access to removing excess fat and tightening the muscles in the neck. Then from the incisions around the earlobe, these muscles can be pulled back and tightened to give the neck a sharp, smooth, youthful appearance.
The procedure is done in our accredited operative facility under IV sedation and takes approximately 3 hours. Sutures are removed in 5-7 day and healing occurs over the next 2 weeks. When fully healed, the neck will look tighter, smother and rejuvenated.