A facelift, also known as a rhytidectomy, is a cosmetic procedure aimed to remove signs of aging in your face to create a younger look. This procedure can reduce sagging skin and smooth cheeks and jawline skin folds.
During a facelift, the skin flap on both face sides is pulled back, tissues under the skin are altered, and excess skin is removed. A neck lift is often performed as part of a facelift to reduce fat and sagging skin on your neck for a youthful, proportioned look for the face and neck.
Why do you lose your youthful look?
A variety of factors during your life contribute to the loss of your youthful contours such as thinning of your skin, loss of facial fat, the effect of gravity, sun damage, smoking, stress, and genetic factors.
What could a facelift do?
As you get older the look and shape of your face change. The skin becomes looser and fat deposits under the skin decrease in some areas of the face while increasing in others.
A rhytidectomy can get rid of these age-related changes such as:
- Sagging skin of the cheeks.
- Excess skin appeared on the lower jawline.
- Skin folds from the nose sides to the mouth corner.
When the procedure includes a neck lift, sagging skin and excess fat in the neck are removed.
What couldn’t a facelift do?
A facelift deals with your look but does not deal with the quality of your skin. It won’t correct fine wrinkles, sun exposure damage, creases found around the nose and the upper lip, or uneventful skin color.
This procedure is considered a cosmetic restorative surgery that could regain your youthful look but cannot fundamentally change your appearance
While results obtained from this procedure are long-lasting, it could not stop the aging process.
Other procedures might be performed in combination with a facelift
Many procedures could be performed in conjugation with a rhytidectomy and ensure the best results such as:
- Brow lift and eyelid surgery to rejuvenate eyes.
- Liquid facelift using injectable dermal fillers or fat transfer to replace the lost fatty volume.
- Jawline rejuvenation.
- Skin treatment procedures to improve the quality and texture of the skin such as chemical peel and laser skin resurfacing.
- Rhinoplasty, which is performed to change the nose’s shape and size.
Who are the candidates for facelifts?
Whoever is healthy, a non-smoker, and has realistic expectations regarding facelift results is considered a candidate for this elective surgical procedure.
However, some factors make you the best candidate for this surgery, when you are between the 40s to 60s and have signs of facial aging, but still have some skin elasticity.
What are the different types of facelift techniques?
A facelift is an invasive rejuvenation treatment with many different kinds depending on which areas of the face are targeted. Types of invasive facelift procedures include:
Traditional rhytidectomy
Traditional rhytidectomy is recommended for those who need optimal improvement of moderate to severe facial aging.
This procedure involves a series of incisions around the ears, along the hairline, and below the chin through which the surgeon separates the skin from the underlying tissues and tightens the muscles and other supporting tissues of the face and neck. The surgeon also removes excess fat in the neck and jowls if needed. Finally, the surgeon re-positions your skin over the face in a natural way and removes the excess skin if found.
SMAS rhytidectomy
A SMAS is an abbreviation for (superficial musculoaponeurotic system) which is the muscular layer of the face, during a SMAS facelift, the lower two-thirds of the face is targeted.
In this procedure, the surgeon tightens the muscle and borders excess skin and/or fat in the cheeks, the lower face, and the neck in case of a full SMAS rhytidectomy procedure.
Deep plane rhytidectomy
In this type of lift surgery, the surgeon lifts the SMAS (the muscular layer of the face), fat as well as skin as a single unit. The deep plane lifts generally target multiple areas of the face at the same time.
Both deep plane and SMAS lifts target deeper tissues and muscles. Although more invasive, results obtained from both techniques are more durable than traditional facelifts.
Mid-facelift
This procedure targets the cheek area of the face, where the surgeon repositions the fat and tightens the skin in the cheek area.
This type of lift is sometimes known as a cheek lift since it targets the skin from the upper mouth to the eye area, while the jawline or forehead are not targeted, in addition to the removal of aging signs and the youthful-looking appearance you gain from this procedure, cheek lift makes the under-eye area appear less sunken.
Mini-facelift
As its name implies, it is a minor procedure convenient for younger people who have early signs of facial sagging. This procedure targets the lower face and neck area. But unlike SMAS lifts, It’s a quicker and less invasive procedure.
Cutaneous (skin) rhytidectomy
This technique targets only excess and loose skin and the remaining skin is re-positioned to lift drooping cheeks and jowls. But this technique does not target excess fats or underlying muscles.
Cutaneous lifts improve the profile and tighten the look of the jawline, the neck, and the lower face.
Non Invasive facelifts procedures
As we mentioned earlier, a rhytidectomy is an invasive surgical rejuvenation treatment for your face and/ or neck. There are other minimally invasive options to lift your face, although nonsurgical, performed in the office, relatively painless, with no risks, and no incisions, these treatments cannot achieve the same results obtained by invasive lifts. These options include:
Botulinum toxin injections
These injections aim to relax tense muscles that cause wrinkles, and the results obtained last only for three months at a maximum.
Chemical peels
Removing the top layers of the skin can help decrease large pores, minimize wrinkles and reveal newer, firmer skin.
Laser skin resurfacing
Beams of laser light target certain areas of the face can help in the following;
- Removing the outer, older layers of the skin.
- Stimulating collagen growth.
Microneedling
Thin, tiny needles make small wounds in the face to stimulate collagen and elastin production in the skin.
You might need multiple treatments to achieve your targets and full results would take about three to six months to be noticed.
