FACELIFTS – MATCHING THE OPERATION TO ONE’S AGE
A facelift, medically known as a rhytidectomy, is a powerful cosmetic operation that can dramatically improve sagging jowls and necks. Despite the popularity today of many non-surgical facial rejuvenation methods, more facelifts are done today than ever before. Yet there remains two basic misunderstandings about the facelift procedure. First, the facelift only improves the neck and jowl area, not the entire face. Quite frankly, a facelift would be better named a necklift but the old name is still widely used. Second, a facelift is not done the same on everyone. It is a versatile procedure that is adapted to the needs of each patient’s aging face. It is this approach that has created the number of facelift options that are available today.
Traditionally, a full facelift dramatically improves the entire neck (loose skin in the middle of the neck, a.k.a., neck waddle) and jowl and involves incisions in front of as well as behind the ear to create that effect. The full facelift is typically used in someone a little older (50s and 60s), who has never had any surgery before. Today, patients do not want to wait that long before looking better, so facelift procedures are done at a younger age, usually in the 40s age range. But the same full facelift is not needed at this age because the face is not as aged. As a result, smaller or limited facelift approaches have become popular. They go by many names, Lifestyle Lifts, Mini-Facelifts, S- Lift, Q-Lifts, etc, but they are basically the same procedure. A smaller version of a full facelift is done with only an incision in front of the ear used. This creates a lift of the jowls primarily with some limited improvement in the neck. The recovery is very quick with only a small amount of swelling or bruising. One can literally have an ‘unoperated look’ within a week. For the younger facial aging patient, this is a great procedure because it is an ‘operation that matches the problem.’ These smaller facelifts done over time may eventually avoid the need for a full facelift when one is older.
Dr Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana