Facelifts
Facelift is a term that is used broadly and often inaccurately. Strictly speaking, the procedure can be broken down into Browlift, Facelift and Necklift.
A Facelift is designed to lighten the jowl and move the cheek tissues back to their more youthful position. A Browlift is designed to raise the eyebrows back to a more youthful position. A Necklift concentrates on the loose folds beneath the chin.
In most patients, a better correction, and therefore a better cosmetic result, is achieved by bringing the face back into balance. This usually entails some correction of all three portions of the face, but that said, different parts of the face tend to age at different rates. The brow usually descends first and so a Browlift might be undertaken in the 30s, whereas face and neck lifts are usually the province of an over 40 age group.
Other terms are Full Facelift, which is simultaneous correction of brow, face and neck, and Lower Facelift which combines correction of the lower part of the jowl and laxity of the neck. Other common procedures such as eyelid surgery, fat grafting, laser resurfacing and rhinoplasty (nose reshaping) can sometimes be undertaken in the same operation.
Treatment can also be very specific. A youngish patient concerned only with a mild fatty bulge below the chin might achieve a necklift with liposuction alone. A Mini Facelift involves only a limited incision, usually in front or above the ears and sometimes below the eyelids, enabling the skin and deeper tissues of the cheek to be freed and moved upwards and backwards to lighten the jowl line. These are procedures typically suited to women in their 30s.
Typically a Necklift is performed in conjunction with a Facelift. In most cases lifting the neck means freeing the skin from the deeper tissues and moving it back and if this is done without lifting the face, an unnatural bulge of skin can arise in front of the ear. On the other hand a Facelift can be performed without having to consider the neck.
Some patients ask about the possibility of having procedures on other parts of their bodies simultaneously. This is quite common. If the facial surgery is minor, it is quite possible to have, for example, liposuction and breast augmentation at the same time. Recovery is not delayed because all the areas involved tend to heal at about the same rate. However if the facial treatment is already multi-faceted, the surgeon will probably suggest that other procedures wait. Duration of surgery for a face and neck lift is already about three hours.
After the procedure there will be bruising and swelling, which will delay a return to work and full activity. Patients should plan for a two-week period during which they do not have to be seen in public. By week three, most people have recovered well and are looking good, although still somewhat swollen. People vary greatly in how swollen they become and so it is difficult to predict exactly when return to public life is possible. Three weeks is generally a safe margin, but there are many who look good long before this and occasionally a longer period of recovery is necessary. Bruising can be limited by giving up smoking, which is likely to delay healing, and avoiding aspirin or arthritis pills for at least two weeks prior to surgery.
Most people can return to walking within 10 days. More physically demanding sports may take two to three weeks, depending upon the individual recovery time.
Online Articles...