Facial Plastic Surgery Procedures in Philadelphia

Facelift Cosmetic Surgery

Prospective facelift patients feel their facial appearance does not represent the youth and vitality they feel. In this case, facial rejuvenation will allow the individual to look as good as they feel. What stops so many from having a facelift? Fear is probably the biggest obstacle. Everyone knows a friend or relative who had a facelift and looks weird, operated on or at least certainly not better. A facelift is like hair transplants—if it is obvious that you had one, then you had a bad one.

The ideal facelift patient is in good health and has lower facial jowling and/or excessive skin and fat in the neck. Surprisingly, age is not really a factor. When the above changes are present, surgery can be considered at age 40 or age 70. A facelift will remove excess skin and wrinkles from the face and redefine the jaw line and neck. Once undergoing a facelift, one will look better, though aging will resume following the surgery. Facelifts usually do not need to be redone and create no future obligation to the patient.

Your Surgical Options

There are many ways to perform a facelift. Basically there are two categories, one involves surgery only beneath the skin while the other involves surgery beneath deeper layers of muscle called the SMAS. A skin facelift is generally faster and easier for the surgeon and has a shorter recovery time. However a skin facelift generally has less dramatic results which may be less long lived and may create a more un-natural or "tight" look. A SMAS facelift is more difficult to perform, has a longer recovery time but usually has more dramatic and more durable results. In most surgeon's hands, elevating tissues at a deeper level and carrying the tension not on the skin usually will create a more natural and "non-operated" look. The correct operation depends on the patient's features and wishes and can be decided during a discussion with the surgeon. A facelift is usually done under general anesthesia and takes between three and four hours. In our practice, the anesthesia is performed by a board certified anesthesiologist. Normally patients spend the night in the hospital not because the pain is severe but to make the experience more pleasant than if the patient were to go home and be tended to by their spouse or friends. The following day, all bandages are removed and the patient can shower and even begin to wear make up if they so desire. Normally swelling is at a maximum, about two to three days following surgery and then people begin to recover. Sutures are removed within one to two weeks following surgery and most people can return to work at that time. Complete healing may not occur for two to three months.

Since a facelift is truly a surgical procedure, there is always a risk of bleeding or infection but both are extremely uncommon. Difficulty with healing is especially common if the patient smokes and for this reason, most surgeons will not perform a facelift on anyone who smokes during the few weeks prior to surgery. Many patients following surgery develop temporary numbness in the face which usually resolves over the ensuring several weeks. When the deep layer SMAS facelift is performed, there is a slightly greater risk of injury to the nerve that move the muscles in the face, however this is very uncommon when the procedure is done by an experienced surgeon.

A facelift is an extremely common procedure that if done under the right circumstances—on the right patient for the right reason by the right surgeon at the right time in the patient's life—can lead to extremely gratifying results. If performed properly by an experienced surgeon, a natural, non-operated look should be able to be achieved in the vast majority of patients.

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