Facelift that Reflects
your Inner Glow
Naturally Tailored Facelifts
at MirAge Plastic Surgery
Patients undergoing facelift surgery at our clinic can be assured that the common concern of appearing visibly “worked on” or overly tightened is carefully addressed in our approach. Unlike some celebrities or individuals who may have had exaggerated or unnatural-looking results, our facelift procedures emphasize achieving a natural outcome. At MirAge Plastic Surgery we understand the importance of maintaining a youthful and refreshed appearance. Our facelift procedures, performed by highly skilled and experienced plastic surgeons, are tailored to meet your unique needs and goals. We understand the importance of preserving individual features and expressions, avoiding the “pulled” or artificial appearance. We recognize that each patient is unique, and our surgeons take a personalized approach during consultations. Our facelift procedures are comprehensive, addressing sagging skin, weakened muscles, and excess fat deposits. By combining various techniques such as muscle repositioning, fat grafting, and skin tightening, we aim to achieve optimal and naturally blended results.
Understanding the Aging Process
As age advances, the number of collagen and elastic fibers in the skin decreases, leading to a loss of skin firmness and sagging. Facial fat tends to shift downward and may cause hollowing in certain areas, like the cheeks, while creating bulges in others, such as the jowls. This redistribution can result in an aged appearance. The missing or displaced volume, the weakened muscles, combined with the loss of skin elasticity, results in the formation of prominent folds and wrinkles.
In addition to genetic factors, various external elements significantly impact and expedite the inherent aging process of the skin. These factors encompass environmental conditions, prolonged sun exposure, lifestyle choices including stress, alcohol, and nicotine consumption, insufficient sleep, as well as specific health conditions, and the extended use of certain medications. The cumulative effect of these influences becomes notably apparent on the face and neck.
Consultation
Throughout the consultation process, our surgeons communicate openly with patients, setting realistic expectations and discussing the desired level of improvement. Clear communication helps ensure that patients feel confident about the outcomes and understand that the goal is a refreshed, not overdone, appearance.
The Procedure
Sometimes the procedure is done with sedation and local anesthesia, which numbs only part of your body. In other cases, general anesthesia — which puts you in a sleep-like state — is recommended.
Incisions are strategically made, typically within the hairline and around the ears, ensuring minimal visibility.The choice of incision placement depends on the specific facelift technique employed, whether it’s traditional facelift, mini facelift or neck lift.
A flap of skin on each side of the face is gently elevated, revealing the underlying tissues. This approach allows the surgeon access to the muscles, tenders and fat pads. Unlike older techniques focused solely on skin tightening, modern facelifts involve repositioning the deeper structures, especially the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) layer. In the deep plane facelift technique, the ligaments are released and the fat tissue is repositioned also. Once the underlying structures are adjusted, excess skin is carefully removed. The surgery can be performed on the entire face excluding the forehead and eyelids, or only on the upper part of the face, lower part of the face, or neck. Neck lift surgery can be combined with liposuction. At the end of the surgery, the incision is closed and a pressure bandage is placed on the head, which is removed after 1-2 days. A facelift generally takes 3 to 6 hours.
Incision Placements
Regardless of the type of facelift performed, the surgical scars are mostly hidden within the hairline and behind the ear, leaving only a typically thin, barely noticeable, fine scar in the natural crease in front of the ear. The incisions for the procedure depend on the techniques that will be used and the patient’s preferences. Canthoplasty can be performed also for patients who have issues with droopy or sagging outer corner of the eyes, asymmetry between the eyes, or a tired and aged appearance. In this case the plastic surgeon makes precise incisions at the outer corners of the eyes to reposition and reshape the canthal tendons, which are responsible for supporting the eyelids. By adjusting the tension and angle of these tendons, the surgeon can create a more youthful and aesthetically pleasing eye shape. Canthoplasty is commonly performed in conjunction with blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), to achieve a harmonious and balanced facial appearance.
A traditional face-lift incision starts at your temples in the hairline. It continues down and around the front of the ears. It ends behind the ears in the lower scalp. An incision might be made under the chin to improve the appearance of your neck.
A limited incision is shorter and begins in the hairline just above the ear. It wraps around the front of the ear but doesn’t extend all the way into the lower scalp.
Neck lift incision starts in front of the earlobe. It continues around the ear into the lower scalp. A small incision also is made under the chin.
Exploring Varied Facelift Approaches
It’s crucial to recognize that the names of facelift procedures lack standardized definitions, leading to potential confusion. To navigate the realm of facelifts and neck lift procedures effectively, it’s imperative to grasp the fundamental facial anatomy.
The face comprises skin, fat pads, and muscles, with the superficial muscular aponeurotic system (SMAS) playing a pivotal role beneath the skin. The SMAS essentially functions as a support structure, holding facial components in their proper places. When elasticity diminishes in both the SMAS and the overlying skin, the inevitable signs of aging become more pronounced.
SMAS Facelift
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Traditional Facelift or SMAS lift is one of the most popular and effective facelift procedures. It is a very good procedure for people dealing with moderate to severe signs of aging and can give you back your youthful look. This procedure can help transform your entire face and neck area. It can restore the youthfulness of your cheeks, eliminate wrinkles, and get rid of droopy jowls, marionette lines, and sagging skin. A traditional Facelift is a fairly extensive procedure that can take anywhere from 3 to 4 hours to complete. The incision typically starts at the temple along the hairline, at the back and front of the ear, around the earlobe, and a little back along the hairline. The surgeon will release the skin from SMAS, muscles and fat. The SMAS and deep tissues are pulled up to the normal position. This lifts up your entire face and neck muscles and eliminates all signs of aging. While the procedure is comprehensive and associated with a recovery time, the results are long-lasting.
Mini Facelift
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It is perfect for individuals dealing with mild to moderate signs of aging, mainly in the middle and lower face. It addresses facial wrinkles, droopy jowls, lax skin in the upper neck, and saggy cheeks. The surgery helps you with all these concerns so you can look youthful and refreshed. The surgery involves a small incision that is made in front of each ear and extends behind the earlobe. After that, SMAS is pulled up and lifted, excess skin is removed, and incisions are closed with the help of fine sutures. Smaller incisions and quicker healing time are some of the top benefits of the procedure. The results are definitely less dramatic than a traditional lift and the procedure doesn’t address upper face wrinkling. Many younger women are choosing to have a Mini facelift each decade to slow aging, rather than a fuller traditional facelift at a later age.
Skin-Only Facelift
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As the name suggests, the skin-only facelift is aimed at lifting your surface facial and neck skin. This facelift procedure does not involve facial muscles and SMAS lifting. Skin-Only Facelift surgery gained a lot of popularity in the early 90s. With the advancement of technology, this technique is rarely used today. As the technique revolves around lifting the skin, it ignores the most important aspect of a facelift- SMAS. SMAS sagging and laxity are the main cause of facial aging and Skin-Only Facelift will provide short-term, minimally satisfying results. Your surgeon will create a 2-4 cm incision in front of the ear, tightly pull the skin, and remove excess. On the upside, it is a quick surgery that involves a small scar, minimal downtime and swelling. On the downside, the results are generally only short-term, and the aesthetic improvements are limited.
Temporal or Brow Lift
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Since your temples and brows are within such close proximity to one another, smoothing out wrinkles in one area also inadvertently benefits the other area of the face as well. If your eyebrows are droopy or hang too low, then this could be the right procedure for you. A small incision is made along your hairline and then the skin and underlying muscles are lifted up to stretch out the drooping skin on your eyelids.
Neck Lift
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A neck lift or platysmaplasty generally performed as a part of the full facelift surgery. It can also be done as a separate procedure as well if your neck has significant signs of aging. A neck lift will give you a strong jawline, outline the neck angle, and eliminate excess skin, neckbands, and droopy jowls. It can normally be classified into two types.
Mini Neck Lift
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A mini neck lift or submental platysmaplasty or single incision neck lift might be a good choice for women and men who only have an isolated problem in their neck area. The surgery is ideal for people struggling with a double chin, mild signs of aging, excess fat, and minimal skin sagging. It is less invasive compared to a full neck lift and can be done with the help of a single incision made under the chin. With the help of this incision, the surgeon will pull the platysma muscle and deeper layers and fix them up with sutures. During the process, excess skin will not be removed and skin will redistribute itself.
Full Neck Lift
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The full neck lift is an ideal procedure for individuals who have moderate to advanced signs of aging in the neck area. The incision of the neck lift starts in front of the ear and extends around the earlobe. In some cases, the incision also extends upward and backward along the hairline as well. The surgeon will pull the subcutaneous fat tissue and fix it higher to flatten the neck bands and give your neck a tight, youthful look. Excess skin is then removed and the incisions are closed with the help of absorbable sutures.
Deep Plane Facelift
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The main tenet of the procedure is that it lifts only under the muscle layer, leaving the skin attached to the muscle layers, so it can never look too tight. It also lifts the cheeks by releasing the tethering points of the face in the deep plane so that the addition of fat or filler is unnecessary. The “deep plane” is the term used to describe the anatomic plane that exists between the SMAS-platysma complex (which is muscle and fascia) and the deeper layer of muscles responsible for facial expression. This procedure focuses on the release and movement of muscle and fat layers instead of skin pull and removal. The deep plane facelift technique incorporates the release of the ligaments tethering the deep plane layer to achieve tension-free movement so that no tightness can be created by the facelift procedure. The first ligaments released are the zygomatic ligaments that tether the cheek so that drooping cheeks can be elevated. This restores the cheek shape and volume, recreating the heart-shaped face of youth avoiding the need to add filler, fat, or cheek implants to the face. It also will improve the nasolabial folds (the creases from the nose to the corner of the mouth), and any hollowing and shadowing seen under the lower eyelids by restoring volume that is lost by gravitational descent associated with aging. The release of the masseter and mandibular ligaments that tether the jowl allows them to be lifted, creating a smooth and crisp jawline appearance. The recovery time for a deep plane facelift can be longer compared to a SMAS facelift. The deeper tissue involvement may result in more swelling and bruising, and patients might need more time for a complete recovery.
Facelift Aftercare
You will stay in the clinic one night after the surgery and the next morning the surgeon will remove the drainage from the incision, apply antibiotic ointment, change the bandages and you can be taken back to your apartment. The bandage applies gentle pressure to minimize the swelling and bruising. Expect mild to moderate pain, swelling, bruising, and numbness. Take prescribed pain medication as recommended by the surgeon. Apply cool packs to your face to alleviate pain and reduce swelling.
- Follow-Up Appointments
- Day After Surgery: The surgeon will likely remove the drainage tube, apply antibiotic ointment, and replace bandages.
- Two to Three Days After Surgery: Transition from bandages to an elasticized facial sling may be possible.
- Two Weeks After Surgery: Stitches are typically removed.
- Subsequent Visits: Scheduled to monitor your progress.
- Self-Care at Home (First Three Weeks)
- Wound Care: Adhere to wound care instructions provided by our surgeon.
- Scab Management: Avoid picking at crusting scabs that may develop on the wound.
- Hygiene: Follow instructions on when to start using shampoo and soaps and choose appropriate products.
- Clothing: Wear front-fastening clothes; avoid garments pulled over the head.
- Incision Protection: Refrain from applying excessive pressure or motion around the incisions.
- Makeup: Avoid using makeup during the initial recovery phase.
- Activity: Steer clear of vigorous activities, sports, and excessive sun exposure.
- Hair Care: Avoid coloring, bleaching, or perming hair for at least six weeks.
- Longer-Term Care
- Sun Protection: Avoid direct sun exposure to the incision for the first three weeks and use sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher) thereafter.
- Hair Styling: In the weeks following the procedure, you may strategically style your hair to conceal incision signs.
Why Choose our Facelift Services?
If you are considering a facelift to rejuvenate your appearance and boost your confidence, we invite you to schedule a consultation with our experienced plastic surgeons. Together, we can create a personalized treatment plan to help you achieve your aesthetic goals. Rediscover your youthful radiance at MirAge Plastic Surgery. Contact us today to begin your transformative journey.
