This is one of the most sophisticated and finely tuned cosmetic procedures available today. A refreshed, rejuvenated look without looking ‘over-tightened’ or weird – this is the goal of the modern facelift. Your facial identity is preserved – you just look fresher, rested, healthier, and happy without looking ‘operated’ on. You just look great, but a facelift or surgery is the last thing people might suspect.
The blending of an artistic approach with solidly based surgical rejuvenation techniques is the secret. Smoothing of the neck skin with the elimination of any puffy fat or loose skin yields more of a ‘right angle” to the neck. When not over-tightened, this creates a youthful look in a very unconscious sort of way. Restoring of a clean jawline, without any sagginess, jowls or lower face heaviness creates a healthy, fresher look both from the sides and the front as long as the skin doesn’t look ‘over-pulled’! Elimination of the deep lines and grooves around the mouth make one look happier, fresher, and less ‘angry’ or scowling, provided not over-tightened or over-lifted. Combining these changes and done well, it should be hard to tell that anything was done with an overall look that is just ‘better’.
Lesser techniques are not necessarily significantly less expensive and are often very dissatisfying, even short-term. The underlying muscles are the foundation and support for the look of proper smoothness to the skin of the lower face and neck. If these muscles are not restored and refined, the skin is being asked to ‘hold’ everything up. Leaving the muscle tightening steps out actually creates an over-tightened look – strike one. Strike two – this is biologically unsustainable – the skin will very soon redevelop all of its droopiness. With the muscles properly tightened along the sides of the face, and fat removed from under the chin with the neck muscles also tightened, the skin can be artistically re-draped in a gentle, lifted way. And the stage is set for long-lasting effects – 10 years or more is not unusual – as a result.
General anesthesia is not needed for a lower face and neck lift. Using special sedation and local anesthetic techniques designed specifically for this operation, most patients sleep (as in falling asleep, not ‘knocked out’) during their facelift. No general anesthesia means it’s safer overall, with an easier, quicker recovery and less potential for complications. This also has indirect impacts, such as less bruising, less swelling, less down-time and better overall results. The financial savings realized are also quite substantial – reducing the typical costs by as much as 50%!
It’s better to have a facelift done in your late 40’s or 50’s than when you’re older. This one might have surprised you! Years ago, and perhaps even still for those performing the old-fashioned, over-tightened 5 hour surgery, facelifts were sort of withheld as a ‘last resort’ kind of procedure. This might make sense for a long, complicated surgery with the need to hide out for a prolonged, intense 3-4 weeks of recovery. But with modern, sophisticated techniques this is a now a 2 hour surgery using local anesthetic; it’s a walk-in/walk-out procedure with a 1-2 week presentability recovery. The ‘need’ to wait is over. Think about it – younger skin generally heals faster, more reliably, and holds up longer. Plus, shouldn’t you get to actually enjoy your look for many years? Unfortunately, as we age we also tend to develop conditions and require medications that might interfere with, or complicate surgical procedures. Overall, having a lower face and neck lift is more successful and less noticeable when it is less of a ‘drastic change’. So if the indications are there, a lower face and neck lift is better done sooner, rather than later. This is why we call it the “Look Fabulous Now” Lift!
Dr. Lyle Back is originally from New York City, receiving his medical and surgical training at Rutgers Medical School, Cooper Hospital – University Medical Center, and Ohio State. He is Board Certified in General Surgery (ABS) and Plastic Surgery (ABPS). He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS), and a longstanding member of the premier American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). He served as a Professor of Plastic Surgery at Temple University and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and performed reconstructive surgery with “Operation Smile” in Vietnam. He specializes in the full range of the most modern and state of the art facial cosmetic surgery procedures and non-surgical cosmetic enhancement techniques available today.
