Facelift surgery involves the lifting or resuspension of our face in order to present a greatly rejuvenated appearance.
The unavoidable effects of gravity; exposure to the sun; issues of stress and perhaps nutrition and the loss of elasticity in the skin all influence our ageing process. Our face may show signs of this ageing by the number of crease marks from our nose to our mouth, the folds and fat deposits around our neck and the slackening of our jaw line. But, successful facelift surgery can help us to fight against these signs and give us a long-lasting, refreshed and more youthful look.
Facelift surgery is often combined with a neck lift at the same time. It is also quite usual for other procedures to be carried out simultaneously, such as eyelid lifting or even nose surgery.
As a surgical procedure, you must take every step to ensure that your treatment is carried out by experienced practitioners in a suitable environment so a degree of research is necessary. When you have chosen the clinic that you consider offers you the best value for money and quality of care, you will have a pre-surgery consultation. This might be with your surgeon or it could be with a nurse who will be responsible for your progress through the system.
At this consultation, explain in detail what you hope to achieve with the surgery and listen to what are considered the best particular options for you. You must make sure that the facelift surgery is explained to you in great detail, together with the after effects and post-surgical treatment necessary.
A facelift is performed using a general anesthetic, which entails an overnight stay in the clinic or hospital. The procedure, which will last about three hours or so, will comprise of retracting and tightening the skin so that you have a smoother and better defined contour to your face, your jaw line and your neck.
The surgeon might employ traditional surgery, making incisions in the area of the temple (hidden by the hair line), round the earlobe and, if necessary, under the chin. Under these incisions, it is possible to remodel the skin and smooth it out. It is becoming increasingly common for facelift surgery to be carried out using modern MACS Surgery (minimal-access cranial suspension) or keyhole surgery. These two methods not only leave smaller scars but also, because they are less invasive, enable recovery times to be shortened.
After the surgery you will need to rest and you can expect some swelling and localized soreness for a few weeks. Generally available painkillers can be taken if required. You will normally have your follow-up appointment after about two weeks, and you should be starting to show real signs of progress by then.
Face lift surgery has a very low overall complication rate. There are very slight possibilities of nerve injury, hair loss around the scar line, excessive scarring, poor wound healing and general problems associated with surgery but normally facelift surgery is a successful method of ‘winding back the clock’ – refreshing your face and neck and removing that heavy, tired look that you used to dread seeing in the mirror. Even better is the realization that the effects of facelift surgery normally last for up to ten, wonderful years.
If you live in Britain you can anticipate an average cost of £5,000 for facelift surgery. In the USA face and neck lifts combined are likely to cost around about $8,000.
Facelift Surgery
Our faces betray the fact that we are getting older more than any other part of our body. The face inevitably tells us, as well as others, that ageing is happening.
Facelift Surgery
