Facelift Surgery
A facelift or rhytidectomy is one of the most popular cosmetic procedures in Albany, New York. This surgical procedure can effectively improve signs of aging around the neck and face by lifting and firming sagging tissue. A facelift can restore a more youthful and natural appearance with scars that are hidden from sight.
What Can a Facelift Address?
Over time, your face can lose its youthful contours due to sun damage, loss of fat, skin thinning, gravity, smoking, and heredity. A rhytidectomy is a popular surgical procedure that can address many signs of aging on the neck and face. Depending on the specific facelift procedure you choose with your surgeon, the procedure can address:
- Jowls of the cheeks and jaw
- Fat has fallen lower than it should
- Deep folds between the corner of the mouth and nose (nasolabial folds)
- Sagging and relaxation of the face
- Excess fat and skin of the neck
- Loss of facial volume
A facelift can also be combined with other complementary procedures such as an eyelid lift, brow lift, and neck lift for more dramatic results.
Types of Facelift Surgery
There are several types of facelifts based on your aesthetic goals. Each type of surgery differs in invasiveness and how dramatic the results will be. All types of facelifts, however, are designed to address the lower two-thirds of your face from your cheeks to your jaw. Facelift surgery is often combined with an eyelid lift for total facial rejuvenation.
Full Facelift
The gold standard in facelift surgery is called the full or deep plane face lift. This technique involves lifting and repositioning the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) which is located beneath the skin and but above the facial muscles and nerves. Lifting and tightening these deep tissues of the face, places them in a more youthful position. This technique is often combined with a deep plane neck lift to tighten the neck and remove excess skin. Because these techniques use the deep tissue for support, they have been found to provide longer-lasting results with fewer surgical revisions than other, skin-only, facelift techniques that were popular 15 years ago.
Small incisions are made along the hairline to access and reposition upper fatty tissue and muscles. Incisions are extended downward along natural creases in front of or just within the ear where they are well disguised.
This traditional full facelift technique is effective at addressing more severe skin laxity and sagging with long-lasting results. This procedure also has dramatic results that address signs of aging in the mid-face, including the cheeks, jawline, and nasolabial folds. Fat grafting is often added to a facelift to restrore volume lost through aging or weight loss.
Modified Facelift
Every patient is different and every face is unique. Some facelift patients do not require the full or deep plane facelift to achieve the results they are looking for. A modified facelift allows the surgeon to tailor the facelift to the specific needs of each patient. For the right patient modifications can include a shorter incision, minimal to no SMAS tightening, minimal to no neck work, no neck liposuction, or no fat grafting to the face.
A modified facelift can offer the patient a quicker recovery time with less bruising, less scarring, and shorter incisions. Patients can often be back to social activities within 2 weeks.
Short Scar Facelift
Another technique that is popular in Albany is the short scar or limited scar facelift. Although used in various contexts, a short scar face lift or weekend lift, is a facelift procedure performed using short scars that are often limited to a scar in front of the ear and wrapping just behind the earlobe. This surgery allows a conservative tightening of the skin of the jawline and upper neck and is sometimes combined with liposuction of the neck and fat grafting to the face to restore a more youthful look. Short scar facelifts are primarily performed in younger patients with good skin quality that have only very early signs of facial aging.
Scarring from a Facelift
It’s common to fear visible scarring from a facelift procedure. When performed properly with minimal tension on your skin, your incision lines will be very difficult to notice. Your surgeon will take care to make incisions as small as possible and hide them just in front of your hairline and along natural folds near your ears. This careful placement of your incisions is the most important factor in concealing scars from your facelift.
Facelift Recovery
After your surgery, you will have a bandage over your face that minimizes bruising and swelling. You may also have small surgical tubes to allow excess fluid to drain. Bruising and swelling typically peak about two days after surgery and go away on their own over the next 10-14 days. Depending on the type of lift performed, most people experience mild to moderate discomfort after their procedure. Pain medications are prescribed, however, most patients do well with over-the-counter pain relief. Most people feel comfortable going out and returning to work after about two week.
Your skin will be more susceptible to burning for several weeks after a facelift. Take care to protect your face from the sun by wearing sunscreen and a wide-brimmed hat. This will also help your scars heal inconspicuously. Your final results will be visible after about 3 months when all residual swelling has faded.
Are You a Good Candidate?
The ideal candidate for a facelift procedure is a man or women with neck and facial skin that is beginning to sag and show signs of aging but retains at least some elasticity. Your overall health is an important factor when considering you for a facelift. Good candidates are non-smokers without health conditions that can inhibit proper healing. Because a facelift only addresses the lower two-thirds of the face, you are likely a good candidate if you are bothered by issues such as sagging skin, deep nasolabial folds, jowls, and loose skin around the jawline.
Schedule a Consultation
If you are considering a facelift procedure in Albany, New York, the first step is scheduling a consultation with DeLuca Plastic Surgery. The surgeons of DeLuca Plastic Surgery have spent almost three decades mastering facelift techniques with a level of expertise for consistent minimal scarring and reduced complications. Contact us today to schedule your consultation and discuss your goals for surgery.
By following these post-operative care recommendations, patients of Dr. David Tauber at DeLuca Plastic Surgery often recover quickly, experience less bruising and swelling, and can return to work or social engagements in 2-3 weeks.
Before and After Photos
You will see various photos of facelift procedures. Feel free to browse through the images so that you may have a photographic idea of what to expect from your facelift surgery.
Face and Neck Lift (Rhytidectomy)
A face and neck lift is a surgery that tightens the skin and underlying tissues of the neck and face to reverse the tell-tell signs of facial aging – facial decent and skin laxity.
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