Changes in surgical techniques in the last quarter century

Question:

Twenty-five years ago, when my mother was 50, she had a facelift. She was pleased with the results and she did look younger after the surgery However, while I never would have told her this, I think she did look a bit “pulled” and unnatural too. She also had a lot of post-operative pain and swelling that lasted for several weeks. What kind of changes have there been in surgical techniques over the past quarter century? I’m the age my mother was when she had her facelift. Should I expect better results and an easier recovery if I decide to have a facelift?

Answer:

A full facelift procedure is a relatively invasive procedure. When it is performed correctly, the areas of skin and tissue dissection involved in a facelift can be pretty large. The most current thought is that lifting only the skin in a facelift gives an unnatural appearance to the face and a short lasting facelift result. Newer facelift and neck lift techniques involve lifting all layers of the face and neck, including the deeper muscle and fat layers to provide a more natural and long lasting appearance to the face. The over tightened face from your mothers facelift procedure is no longer a result that you can expect. What we have learned over the years is that a well performed facelift not only involves tightening of the excess skin and soft tissue of the face and neck, but, also adding volume to the face where fat and muscle have gotten thinner over the years. A beautiful face is often times a full face, and not simply a tightened face that you mother got with her facelift. Fat injections to the face have significantly improved the results of facelifts. There is a bit more swelling with the addition of fat injections to the face however, it is not significantly painful and the welling subsides in a couple of weeks.

Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld