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Should I get a lower or full face lift?
I'm 61 (62 in April) and am considering a lower face lift. I don't mind the lines around
my eyes, but I have never liked my neck even when I was younger; there's no definition
to my chin I look up. I'm trying to add pictures so you'll see what I'm up against.
Thank you for your question!
You submitted some photos and stated that you are 62 years old and you want to make
decision on whether you get a lower facelift or a full facelift. Well, I appreciated the
photos you submitted. I would share with you my perspective.
I have been practicing oculofacial cosmetic plastic surgery for 20 years and I do a lot
of facelift and I am certainly I have a lot experience in this area. A few years ago,
there has been quite a confusion on what the term facelift means. So let's start first
by clarifying. The reason why I refer to years ago, there was time where a lot of people
were marketing short scar, small incision facelifts and claiming it were the same as
full facelifts. The term facelift has been beaten-up in so many ways that I think that
two doctors would have a hard time defining what a facelift is. So I would share with
you when we see a patient in consultation what a facelift is and what full facelift
versus a lower facelift.
When a patient comes to us and they're concerned about their jawline, the jowls, the neck and
sagging cheeks, then we talk about a facelift as being defined as a procedure where the
incision begins above the ear into the temples and goes down to the inside of the ear, behind
the ear and would stop. That's the facelift part. When I talk about a face and neck lift
means that there's an incision that goes into the hairline to address the definition of
the neck. Even though if a facelift will improve neck definition because of the vertical elevation.
When people talk about a lower facelift, usually that means that the incision is slightly about
the ear and just goes behind the ear up to a point so basically the jawline is improved
but the sagging cheek is that not much improved. What I do in my consultations is that I educate
my patients by showing them the directions that the face can be lifted and where the
incisions has to be placed strategically in order to access the anatomy correctly to effectively
get the result.
That being said, in my practice, if you were to come and say you wanted improvement in
your face and you are concerned about the sagging cheek, jowling, loss of definition
in the jawline and hanging skin under the neck, my recommendation would be the face
and neck lift. That would involve and incision about the ear to the temple, inside the ear,
behind the ear and into the hairline so that the whole skin as well as the muscle as the
muscle under the skin referred to as the SMAS and the platysma. SMAS stands for the superficial
muscular aponeurotic system. It I s a term that is being asked in tightening the muscle.
The choice of the procedure is going to vary based on the surgeon and the anatomy of the
patient but there are other methods such as SMAS placation, deep plane facelift, plastysmal
plasty for tightening the neck, these are all different techniques. But I would probably
suggest that you are best served with face and neck lift.
When people reach a certain age and the genetics has so much volume descent and this sis something
I mention in my book "The Fine Art of Looking Younger". Facial aging is a combination of
volume loss and descent. So when someone reaches a certain age and *** can be variable. We
youngest patient for a facelift was 37 but that of course was a small scar limited facelift
any my oldest was around 87. You can imagine that there's wide spectrum of people and a
lot of it is about genetics and the environmental factors such as stresses on your skin.
So , I think that for you , a proper lift will give your more of the results that would
make you happier with your appearance. In making your decision, you also have choices
when it comes to anesthesia. When we do face lifting in our practice, we do it under local
anesthesia with LITE IV sedation. We found out that the related issues when it comes
to recovery are significantly diminished by doing it this way. Our patients recovery faster,
they have wonderful long-term benefit and shorter term recovery. So those are the things
that you have to mindful off.
I think that covers that covers the question of the type of method you would need. The
next step would be that you meet with qualified experienced cosmetic surgeons and learn about
the different options that you have. You have many different doctors who have different
specialties who do this work and certainly you're going to find different opinions. So
I think that you make a decision based on, in my perspective, my recommendation would
be when they're looking for a doctor is someone who has a lot of experience, who has an aesthetic
style that matches yours and you can tell that by looking at before and after pictures.
For example in our practice, our patients look very natural. What I believe in is maintaining
the character and look that a person is recognized, the way they look five to ten years ago. In
other areas in Long Island Manhattan, very often they like a more pulled and tight look.
Well, that's their aesthetic. There's that and the anesthesia as I mentioned for and
then make the decision with doctor you're comfortable with. I hope that was helpful
and thank you for your question!