The word ‘facelift’ for the surgical procedure that is commonly performed to rejuvenate the face and neck is not a very accurate term.

First of all, your face includes everything from the top of your forehead to the bottom of your chin but a ‘facelift’ does nothing for the forehead, brows or eyes; aesthetic treatment of those areas are considered separate procedures. One of the greatest benefits of a ‘facelift’ is in improving the shape and contour of the neck, which is not really a part of your face.

In addition, the direction of pull, at least of the skin on the face, is more of a backwards pull rather than an upwards pull as implied the term ‘lift.’ While the underlying muscles in the face are pulled in an upward direction to treat the jowl area, the skin is pulled more transversely than upward to avoid the creation of unnatural lines and an ‘up-swept’ look.