Facelift
For both men and women, age is by far the biggest combatant standing in the way of achieving your dream face and body. As time goes by, the skin and connective tissue must deal with years and years of environmental factors such as gravity, weather, pollution, and even just the rigors that come with aging itself – thinning of the skin, loss of facial fat, and more. As we age one of the worst issues is that we lose vital proteins such as collagen and elastin, leaving our tissue without its natural defenses nor its ability to regenerate itself. To help combat these issues, the team of expert surgeons at Goals Plastic Surgery has perfected their technique for one of the most popular facial surgery procedures around, the facelift!
What is a Facelift?
The facelift, sometimes known as a rhytidectomy, is a surgical procedure to improve signs of aging in the face by lifting and tightening the skin, sub-dermal fascia and muscles beneath the surface. A facelift helps to eliminate and improve:
- Overly relaxed or sagging skin.
- Deep folds and lines along the mouth and nose.
- Unintended facial volume loss, known to cause deep lines, folds, and facial depressions, especially along the jawline.
- Loose skin and excess fat in the neck area, causing the presence of a double chin or “turkey neck”.
The goal of the procedure is to take years of the face, and create aesthetically pleasing, tight facial contours.
Are You a Good Candidate for a Facelift?
The ideal candidate for a facelift is a man or woman who is looking to correct the visible signs of aging, and improve their facial contours. The ideal candidate is someone who is:
- Looking to improve sunken facial features such as wrinkles, fine lines, and loose, sagging skin.
- In good overall mental and physical health – without any medical conditions that may hamper their ability to heal from surgery.
- Someone who has realistic expectations for their results, as well as a positive mind and outlook on procedure.
- A nonsmoker.
The Procedure
A facelift can be performed in two different ways – a mini lift and a full facelift. The procedure takes approximately 2 to 4 hours to complete. Your surgeon will make incisions around the ear in the natural skin folds and within the hairline, to ensure minimal scarring. Excess skin is trimmed and pulled, while certain muscle, and soft tissues are repositioned, filling facial depressions and restoring your facial profile.
This procedure is highly customized to the patient’s specific needs, very rarely are two facelifts alike. The skin, and underlying muscle tissue is tightened; any excess skin is trimmed, and the incisions are sutured. Depending on your specific needs, a facelift might be combined with other procedures as well – including an eye lift, neck lift, and even liposuction.
Recovery & Aftercare
Once the procedure is completed, the area will be bandaged up in order to minimize swelling and possible bruising – however, these issues are very common. In some cases, patients may require additional drainage to be performed in order to remove excess blood or fluids. Some important things to know include:
- You will be in some pain – and pain medication will help you to mitigate these symptoms.
- Avoid strenuous activities or exercise for the first few weeks.
- Rest is vital, get as much as possible.
- Goals will provide you special compression clothing and accessories to help your healing.
- It’s important to eat, drink, and sleep as much as possible to improve healing.
- Most patients can resume normal daily activities with two weeks of surgery.
- Symptoms like bruising, swelling, redness and more are normal.
- It will take approximately 2-3 months in order for your face to feel normal and for your results to be finalized.
- You can expect a tighter, more contoured face soon after surgery!
For more information on your Facelift procedure, be sure to contact Goals Plastic Surgery today.
