What is a Facelift?

Many of us think of our facial area as extending from the chin to the top of the forehead. But, the fact of the matter is that a facelift doesn’t affect the forehead, the brow or the eyes. In effect, a facelift is a surgical procedure which lifts and re-contours the cheeks, the jowls and the neck.

A facelift is normally performed as an outpatient procedure either with general anesthesia or a local anesthetic coupled with sedation. Even though the popular belief about a facelift involves the perception of a skin operation where the skin is removed and pulled tight, modern day facelifts use a procedure that’s quite different. Facelift procedures today involve the removing excess fat, tightening the muscles under the skin and permitting the skin to re-drape over the new contour without pulling the skin too tight.

Patients who undergo this procedure receive attractive benefits like smoother cheeks, elimination of the jowls and youthfully contoured skin in the neck area.

Results

To a certain extent, the results achieved through a facelift can be permanent. This largely depends on when the facelift is done and how much of a change is accomplished. For example, most baby boomers that are presently having facelifts have the procedure at a younger age. For them, the results achieved through a facelift may not last as long, since a smaller amount of work is done during surgery and less of a change has been accomplished. On the other hand, older patients with considerable amounts of sagging can have amazing and much more dramatic results from a face lift. Moreover, it’s extremely unlikely that they will undergo a second facelift as their initial procedure was done later in life.