Face Lift Overview

For some people, their face looks older than they feel. If this is you, a face lift can take years off how you look and rejuvenate your appearance to an amazing degree.

As we age, the skin and other tissue of the face can start to sag. Wrinkles, lines, and furrows may develop. A face lift is surgery to remove wrinkles and reduce sagging skin on the middle and lower part of the face. The procedure can also removes jowls around the jaw and make the jaw line look firmer. A separate facial plastic surgery called a brow lift is done to correct furrows on the forehead. Another type of facial surgery called a neck lift removes excess skin and fat under the chin and can reduce a double chin. The three procedures can be combined to completely rejuvenate and refresh the face. In addition, other cosmetic procedures such as blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) can be done at the same time as a face lift.

Face Lift Surgery Techniques

There are several different surgical techniques that can be used in a face lift. Some can reduce or remove wrinkles and excess skin on most of the face from the eyes down while others are used to target more limited areas. Basically, almost all types of face lift involve making an incision at the sides of the face and lifting and rearranging the skin of the face and sometimes the muscles and other tissues as well. The skin is then pulled slightly upward or to the sides and the excess skin is removed. The incisions are then closed. Depending on what your needs are, the incisions can be placed slightly differently and the amount of skin and other tissue removed may vary.

In a classic face lift, the incisions are in front of the ears and curve around behind the ear. Scars are hidden in the natural skin folds in front of the ear. In some procedures, the incisions are made behind the hairline of the temples and the scars will be hidden by hair.

Most face lifts are done as ambulatory surgery. This means that you come in the morning of your surgery and go home a few hours later. Many are performed either in freestanding surgical clinics or in a special surgical suite in the plastic surgeon's office. A face lift can be combined with cosmetic surgical procedures to the body, such as liposuction or breast augmentation.

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