Besides patient misconceptions about what a facelift really is, patients are also unaware that there are different types of facelift procedures today. As part of a basic concept of ‘matching the solution to the problem’, a facelift procedure should match the degree of anatomic facial aging, age of the patient, what recovery a patient wants to go through, and how much they want to pay for what type of result. All of these considerations go into the decision as to what type of facelift should be done.
Today, facelift operations go by a lot of different names that are primarily marketing in origin. Essentially, facelifts may be dividied into two types, limited and full facelifts. The most popular and marketed facelift today is the limited facelift. It goes by a lot of different names such as short scar facelift, lifestyle lift, MAC lift, quicklift and numerous others, but in the end they are all really the same operation from a patient’s perspective. A limited or ‘mini-facelift’ is a scaled-down modification of a full facelift where the incision (scar) is restricted to in front of the ear only and the amount of skin raised up and ultimately trimmed off is confined to in front of the ear and down into the jowl area only. In many cases, liposuction of the neck is done with the limited facelift. This produces a nice change in the jowl and upper neck area that needs only a very short recovery. (less than a week) It can often be performed under twilight anesthesis as an outpatient procedure. It is best used in two types of patients, younger patients who have early signs of aging with only small amount of neck and jowl issues and the older patient (who really needs a full facelift for the best result) who does not want to go through a full facelift or, for medical reasons can not go through a full facelift…and is willing to accept as a trade-off a result that is less than that of a full facelift. In other words, someone who is willing to accept some modest facial improvement with limited downtime, costs, and risks of complications. When done with other procedures, such as blepharoplasty and chemical or laser skin peels, the results from a limited facelift are even better.
A full facelift still remains as the gold standard to which any lower facial procedure must be judged, whether that be a limited facelift, threadlift, or a non-surgical ‘liquid’ facelift. The best results in the patient with more advanced facial aging will always come from a full facelift. A full facelift is where the incisions (scars) run in front of and behind the ears for a more extensive lifting of the neck area. Once can not expect a limited facelift to produce the same result as a full facelift. Full facelifts, while sounding more ominous and extensive, do not require a significantly prolonged recovery. They add a few days to the social recovery aspect (up to 10 days to look socially good) but do not require weeks of recovery as many patients think.
Both full and limited facelifts are effective operations that have less recovery and discomfort than most patients think. Which facelift type is best for any patient is based on a thorough discussion with a plastic surgeon to balance the issues of how much solution is needed for the magnitude of the problem.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana