A facelift can give your face a second youth
Facial ageing progresses at different speeds for each person, depending on family predisposition and lifestyle.
It affects all facial components: skin, subcutaneous fat, and deeper musculature. There is, however, an effective way to counter these effects: a facelift (rhytidectomy). Here’s how it works.
What happens to the face as it ages
Facial skin laxity appears most noticeably along the nasolabial fold—the oblique crease between the nose and the cheek. Ageing also affects the lines beside the mouth and the forehead.
Over time the face loses its youthful oval shape as the skin and underlying fat descend toward the sides of the mouth, widening the lower third of the face at the expense of the middle third. The eyelids often relax too, forming under-eye bags; the neck skin also loses tone, leading to a double chin and two vertical bands from chin to the base of the neck.
Subcutaneous fat in the upper face (temples and cheekbones) changes with age, progressively diminishing and giving the temple region a hollowed look.
Gravity causes fat in the central and lower face to accumulate lower down, at the sides of or beneath the chin. Facial muscles also change, losing tone and sagging downward, which further aggravates tissue descent.
As a result, overall facial appearance changes: cheekbone bones become more evident as overlying soft tissues thin; the bony contours around the eyes, temples, forehead, and jaw stand out. Forehead skin lengthens, brows descend toward the upper eyelid and eye. The midface loses volume as tissues slide downward and accumulate in the lower face, making it wider. This shift can lend the face—and even the mouth—a more serious, stern, or pouting expression.
The youthful expression fades—subtly but progressively year after year—and the face takes on a look different from before. Skin also becomes thinner and more fragile.
These changes may appear earlier in people with significant weight loss or genetic predisposition.
The ideal procedure to address these issues is a facelift. Here’s what it involves.
What facelift surgery (rhytidectomy) involves
Facelift techniques have advanced significantly in recent years, becoming more precise and reliable.
Modern facelifts do not simply tighten the skin—which would look unnatural and fade quickly—but also address the deeper anatomical layers such as fat, fascia, and muscles that have slowly shifted over time, and with them the overlying skin.
Contemporary techniques deliver more natural and longer-lasting results than older approaches. Incision type and extent vary by case. Typically, it is concealed within the temple hairline, then runs just in front of the ear masked within a natural crease, curves around the earlobe, and continues behind the ear to finish within the hair of the retroauricular area.
Through this access, the SMAS (Superficial Musculoaponeurotic System) is tightened to restore tone to lax muscles. Excess fat—especially under the chin—is removed to refine the neck contour.
The skin is redraped with a natural, gentle tension—without over-pulling—and only the surplus skin is removed. The result is a firmer, more youthful look.
An endoscopic brow/forehead lift is the most modern, precise, and minimally traumatic option for the upper face. Thin instruments with a micro-camera transmit images to an external monitor, allowing detailed visualization of the areas to correct.
Complications such as hematomas or delayed healing behind the ears are rare in experienced hands. Any temporary sensory or motor changes usually resolve.
Is a full facelift always necessary?
While a full facelift is sometimes appropriate, in many cases a mini or “sector” lift targeting a specific area is sufficient.
You can opt for a targeted lift to improve:
- Lower face, neck, and chin
- Midface (cheeks)
- Upper face: a brow/forehead lift that elevates drooping brows, improves eyelids, and softens frown lines; it can be performed via traditional or endoscopic (minimally invasive) techniques.
What precautions should you take before facelift surgery?
Stop aspirin and avoid smoking for 7 days before surgery and for 2 weeks after to help avoid delayed healing.
Can a facelift be combined with other facial procedures?
Both full and mini facelifts can be combined with:
FAQ
Do you have questions about facelift surgery?
Read this first.
A facelift can significantly rejuvenate facial appearance by correcting age-related skin laxity.
Consider the example of identical twins: one has a facelift, the other does not. The improvement is immediate and the difference remains evident even 5–10 years later: the operated twin continues to age from a more youthful baseline, while the other continues to age without that benefit.
Modern facelifts are more effective because they correct laxity at the SMAS layer beneath the skin. Repositioning is performed on that plane; the skin isn’t over-tightened and redrapes naturally.
Facelifts are often combined with blepharoplasty to address under-eye bags, dark circles, and eyelid skin laxity. Submental fat can be removed to refine the neck.
Volume can be restored with Coleman-style structural fat grafting to the temples and cheeks, replacing age-related loss in the upper face that creates a hollow or gaunt look.
In select cases, correcting a receding chin with mentoplasty may also be indicated.
Wait about 4 weeks before sun exposure so scars can heal and swelling can subside.
Beyond the first few days of expected postoperative swelling, daily expressions and activities are fine. Your surgeon will personalize rest and recovery based on the extent of corrections.
No—the goal is a natural result by restoring tone in the deeper layers that have relaxed over time. The skin then lies smoothly over the re-supported tissues without an over-tightened look.
