Why Did My Facelift Make My Wrinkles Worse?

Question:

I had a facelift 2 months ago. The contour of my chin and neck looks better, as well as my lower cheeks, but the surgery did nothing for my wrinkles. In fact, I feel like they’re worse and like I actually have more wrinkles after surgery. Why would this happen?

Answer:

If your neck and jowls have improved after your facelift, I am not certain why your skin appears to be more wrinkled following your facelift surgery. When I discuss facial rejuvenation with patients I always emphasize several different components aging of the face. Facelift surgery will address excess skin of the face. However, this is only one componant of the reasons a face will looked aged. Quality of the skin of the face is equally important as quantity of skin of the face in facial rejuvenation. The quality of the skin will not be corrected with facelift surgery and it is likely that the wrinkles of your face are due to the quality of your skin and not the quantity of your facial skin. In order to correct for skin quality, you will need either simple treatments such as, microdermabrasion and light chemical peels, but for deeper wrinkles you will require deeper chemical peels or Fraxel laser treatments.

Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld