Facelift

Lift Your Face and Your Spirits

To help reduce the visible signs of aging, many patients undergo a facelift or rhytidectomy.

An ideal facelift candidate usually has deep creases along the nose that extend to the corners of the mouth; loose or sagging skin under the chin, jaw and neck; or suffer from jowling or excess skin along the jawline.

Procedure Overview: Facelift

1. The incision begins in the hairline near the temple just above and in front of the ear, around the lobe, circling the ear and ending the in the hairline behind the ear.

2. Underlying muscle and tissue are repositioned, tightened and excess skin is trimmed.

3. A small incision is made in the chin area and the underlying muscle and tissue are tightened and redraped.

4. Liposuction may be used at this point to eliminate excess fat in the chin area.

5. The incisions are closed with fine sutures and metal clips. A gauze head dressing is then applied to protect the entire area.

Recovery Time: Facelift

Generally, you can go home after a facelift procedure and return to the office the next day to have the gauze head dressing removed. Shampooing your hair can resume at this point.

Next, the sutures and metal clips are removed in stages seven and ten days after the facelift. Although most patients experience little or no pain, medication can be prescribed if you need it.

There will be varying degrees of swelling and bruising from the facelift procedure, but that can be reduced with ice packs and compresses. Strenuous exercise such as aerobics or weightlifting can resume after six weeks.

Frequently Asked Facelift Questions