One day it happens: you look in the mirror and the face you see suddenly doesn’t resemble the one that used to look at you. Most often, these changes are gradual; they start with subtle lines around the eyes and forehead or maybe creases between the nose and corners of the lips.
While the aging process can be difficult to accept, it does happen to everyone — and when you really think about it, it is a good thing. However, even this positive attitude isn’t enough to stop wishing that these aging changes would subside.
Fortunately, there are many cosmetic treatments (both surgical and non-surgical) that can help minimize, postpone, or even temporarily erase the unwanted changes to your facial skin and tissues.
The gold standard of these treatments is the facelift. So, is this treatment right for you?
Let’s take a look at the benefits of facelift to see how you can benefit from this plastic surgery procedure.
- Fewer Lines and Creases
Most patients experience lines and wrinkles as their first signs of aging. These appear all across the face, and while they start small, they can become deeper, turning into noticeable creases.
Facelift surgery tightens the underlying tissues, which helps to minimize lines and wrinkles.
- Tighter-Looking Skin
Just like a facelift tightens the underlying tissues, it also tightens the skin. This allows for tighter, smoother, and more youthful skin and contours.
Most patients feel as though their skin looks at least 10 years younger after a facelift.
- Lifted Features
Some reasons for wanting a facelift include sagging features, such as the cheeks. With time, gravity starts to win and gradually pulls everything down. When this happens, cheeks do not appear as lifted and full and jowls begin to hang off the jawline due to the sagging of the tissues above.
A facelift tightens and repositions tissues back to their natural and youthful elevation.
- Natural Movement
While early facelift techniques developed a bad rap for looking less than natural (i.e., the wind-tunneled look), modern facelift techniques maintain a natural look and feel. Better yet, these results do not only look great. After a facelift, your newly tightened features will move and stretch very naturally.
This means that no one will know that you had a facelift — unless you tell them yourself!
- Increased Confidence
We all want to look and feel our best. For many aging individuals, this means wanting to look like we did in our youths, when we were full of energy and vitality. Sadly, our skin and tissues age faster than our souls do, and it is not uncommon to feel like our outward appearance doesn’t match the joie de vivre that we have on the inside.
Fortunately, facelift surgery can adjust that and help balance the way you look on the outside with the way you feel inside.
Want to Learn More About Facelift Surgery?
How is a facelift performed?
A facelift requires incisions to be made. Usually these incisions start at the temples (behind the hairline) and continue down and around the ear. While these may seem as though they would be noticeable (and nobody wants visible scars on their face), they are actually hidden within the natural creases.
Through these incisions, the skin and underlying tissues are lifted, tightened, and secured. If necessary, excess skin can be trimmed.
Are facelift results permanent?
Facelift results are long lasting; however, they cannot stop or postpone the natural aging process. That being said, most patients see visible results for 10 to 15 years and are thrilled with the results that they achieve. Patients look younger, fresher, and more awake.
Are there non-surgical alternatives to facelift surgery?
Modern advancements have allowed for many non-surgical facial rejuvenation treatments. While these all target different aspects of facial rejuvenation (such as skin tone, wrinkles, or laxity), none offer the lifting capability of a facelift.
Does a facelift address my entire face?
While it may seem like the name facelift should address all areas of the face, it actually only addresses the bottom two-thirds of the face, from the top of the cheeks to the jawline. Usually, a facelift is always combined with a neck lift to address the neck and bottom of the jawline (and minimize the appearance of jowls). In some cases, patients also choose to combine this surgery with blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) or brow lift surgery to address the upper third of the face.
Is a facelift right for me?
The only way to know for sure if a facelift is right for you is to make a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon in Ladera Ranch, California, or wherever you are located.
