Facelifts in Indianapolis – Understanding What A Facelift is
It is quite frequent for me to have a patient come in that wants to improve their signs of facial aging, usually the jowls and neck, but doesn’t want a facelift. Or, quite the reverse, they have lines around their mouth and along the nasolabial folds, and thinks that a facelift will improve that area. Without question, I think the concept of a facelift for most patients is an operation that is not well understood, particularly in appreciating what a facelift can and cannot do to help reverse that aged facial appearance.
First and foremost, a facelift is not well named. What it really ought to be a called is a necklift or neck-jowl lift. Quite frankly, a facelift does nothing for much of the face above the chin and jowl line. It is a powerful operation when it comes to improving the droopy neck and eliminating jowling, but it does nothing for the middle and upper two-thirds of the face. Even the medical name of a facelift, a rhytidectomy, is far from helpful as the term rhytid- refers to wrinkle and -ectomy to removal….so wrinkle removal hardly provides a good concept of what the operation does. When most patients think of a facelift, they see a patient after surgery encased in a complete head wrap, eyes bruised and swollen, and many weeks of recovery. As I point out to patients, what you are seeing is someone who has had a facelift and numerous other procedures done at the same time, usually eyes and forehead procedures. This is much more of a total facial rejuvenation approach which can include many procedures. Quite the contrary, an isolated facelift causes no swelling and bruising much above the jowl line.
While aging of the face occurs throughout the face, certain facial areas will age worse than others. For many, the neck and jowls is what bothers them the most. A facelift, then, is the operation of choice and is far ‘simpler’ than what they had envisioned. Usually only a week is needed for ‘social’ recovery and the bruising is limited to the neck area. Most patients tell them they have little or no pain after an isolated facelift. When others areas of the aged face bother the patient, such as the eyes and forehead, then a combination of these procedures with a facelift is just what the doctor ordered…..and the patient needs.
Dr Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana