Plastic Surgeon in New York
Serving Manhattan, New York City (NYC), and greater New York
Face-lift Surgery
A face lift is one of the most common and rewarding procedures that you may undergo. Recently the popularity of this surgery has vastly risen, and more of the recipients of this procedure are actually men. In fact, the words “face lift” have come to mean almost the same thing as plastic surgery itself.
A face lift procedure rejuvenates and beautifies you. It basically lifts up your wrinkled and sagging skin. It rehabilitates you because it makes you feel better about yourself. This, in turn, helps you to lead a more productive life. In our society’s youth-oriented culture, these are all very important considerations.
Americans not only live longer, but we are healthier during our later years as well. With the recent physical fitness craze, our senior citizens are no longer couch potatoes, but enjoy an outgoing and active lifestyle. When you start to feel better, you want to look better as well. You do so by making yourself look younger and more attractive.
Scientists don’t really know what causes aging, although they are vigorously trying to study the problem. As you age, the structural supports in your skin (the protein known as collagen) gradually get replaced by a weaker network of elastic fibers which cause your skin to sag and stretch out. Cigarette smoking and prolonged sun exposure will exacerbate your aging process.
Other factors affecting your skin elasticity include your diet, exercise level, and general health, but the major factor is probably your heredity. In other words, If your parents aged well, you probably will as well. If you are not so lucky with your heredity or other factors, you may be a prime candidate for face lift surgery, even if you are only in your thirties or forties.
Because of these reasons, many more young people are electing to have face lifts and eyelid surgery at a younger age. Early signs of aging kick in, and they want get rid of them. There are even rare cases in which a face lift may benefit you even if you are only in your thirties. This is especially true if you have pronounced folds running from beside your nose to the corners of your mouth.
So if you look in a mirror and think you could use a face lift, you are probably right, regardless of your age
However, getting a face lift at an earlier age will not prevent you from future aging, and it won’t slow your aging process down. It will, however, eradicate your noticeable aging signs, and it will certainly postpone your need for another lift until later (if you plan on having more than one).
“How long does a face lift last?” is the question asked by more prospective face lift patients than any other question. The answer is, "As long as you do." Here is the explanation of this answer.
The medical term for a face lift operation is rhytidectomy, which is Greek for, “wrinkle excision.” But this isn't really what happens. Your surgeon really gets rid of your extra sagging skin and when your remaining skin is pulled taut; your wrinkles are stretched out and disappear.
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Over the following years your skin will start to give way and stretch and sag again (although it will never be as obvious as it would have been if you didn’t have a face lift). The benefits of your face lift procedure last as long as you do, but your aging process continues as before. However, you will always be better off having your face lift surgery because some of your aging effects will have been permanently erased! Your face lift surgery doesn’t accelerate your aging process, and you don’t ever need to have another face lift performed. Most face lift patients only have one face lift done.
What Dr. Bellin’s potential patients really want to know when they ask how long a face lift lasts, is, ”How long will it be until I look like I did prior to my face lift procedure?”. Or, “How long will my improvement remain before I succumb to the aging process again?”
No one knows a definite answer. However, it usually takes seven to ten years to begin to notice definitive signs of aging, but everyone ages at different rates.
You may always choose to undergo a second face lift later, and even a third one after that. And, while your surgeon cannot take off as much sagging skin in your second operation, the improvement you get from it seems to last longer than your results from your first face lift. Your skin now weakens at a slower rate, because your skin now has elasticity in it.
Although you may have three face lifts, which are generally considered safe and beneficial, a fourth operation is rarely recommended. This is because by this time so much of your skin may be removed that you end up with a drawn, mask-like appearance. You may even be unable to show emotion on your face because your remaining skin has been pulled so tight by this time that you can’t really move your facial skin to show expression. Four face lift surgeries are simply too much of a good thing.
This problem will never occur from your first or second face lift procedure, so don’t worry—be happy and smile!
Your face lift can achieve more results than simply making you look younger. You will also look better rested, fitter, fresher, healthier, and more awake. The face lift procedure does have some limitations, so don't ask for the impossible. Be sure to discuss your expectations thoroughly with your surgeon before your face lift surgery, or you may be disappointed regardless of how successful it really is.
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Some Problems Your Face Lift Can Help
Nasolabial Fold
The fold of skin that runs from beside your nose to the corner of your mouth is known as your nasolabial fold. If your nasolabial fold is too obvious, it can be a source of embarrassment for you and make you feel unattractive. If it is greatly exaggerated, it can continue past your mouth, making you look "down" and surly. This problem may occur in younger adults as well. The upward and backward pull from your face lift should help to reduce it enormously. Although your nasolabial fold may not be eliminated, it should at least be reduced to an almost normal size.
Crow's-feet Wrinkles
Crow's-feet wrinkles that gather beside your eyes and the ugly little fat cushions that bunch around your cheekbones, should also be helped by the upward traction of your face lift. The pull will probably raise everything around your cheekbones, making them seem higher and accentuating their beauty as well.
“Marionette Lines”
"Marionette lines" are so named because they look like the cuts on a puppet’s face which allow its jaw to move.
Hanging Jowls
Hanging jowls are an unsightly jaw or chin folds which remind you of your aging process. They usually extend from below and behind the corners of your mouth to the edges of your jaw. Your face lift procedure should almost completely remove them.
Turkey-gobbler Look
Excess skin that hangs below your chin and neck is an unsightly condition referred to as the turkey-gobbler look. It is unflattering and ugly. Your surgeon can make it disappear by performing your face lift surgery procedure. Your neck muscles may need some of your surgeon’s attention as well.
Acne Scars
Finally, your face lift can even help with your acne scars, because it stretches out your depressions just like it does with wrinkles, and renders them much less noticeable.
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In conjunction with your face lift, you may choose to have your eyelid surgery performed as well to save time and reduce your surgical costs. There are several minor corrections that can be done during your face lift , including:
- chin implants,
- removal of your frown or lip lines, and
- others.
Most, if not all, of these surgeries can be performed either in your surgeon's office or in your hospital. These surgeries are typically performed using local anesthesia and intravenous tranquilizers that both relax you and cause a loss of memory regarding your surgery. General anesthesia is hardly necessary and adds additional risk and expense to your surgery.
Conventional Face Lift
Although there are many ways to perform a face lift, the most common involves making a rather shallow but lengthy incision that only goes down to your superficial level of fat. The incision starts on your scalp, above your ear and well inside your hairline. Then it goes down (right in front of your ear), and eventually curves underneath your earlobe and up in back of your ear. From there it travels straight across (toward the back of your head), and stays just in your hairline until it stops.
Your surgeon now lifts your skin away from your underlying fat. The area involved in this procedure extends from near your nasolabial fold to your jowl, and then your neck’s middle. Your surplus neck fat may now be cut away. All of your bleeding points are carefully stopped.
With your temples, face, and neck skin disconnected, your face is ready to be "lifted". Your surgeon draws your skin upward and backward until he pulls up the correct amount of skin. This traction stretches out most of your facial wrinkles and flattens out your nasolabial fold. It also smoothes away your drooping jowls and removes any protruding skin from your neck.
Once your skin has been pulled taut, your excess skin is trimmed off at your incision line, and your remaining skin is reattached. Sometimes small suction drains are positioned underneath your distressed skin to help with possible oozing. With your procedure completed, your surgeon meticulously sutures all of your incisions and wraps your face and head in a bulky mass of bandages.
Your scars are usually thin and hardly noticeable. At first they may appear to be a little red, however. The redness should gradually fade away until your scars become barely visible. Some patients do develop thick scars, but these can be repaired later.
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Three Face Lift Variations
Three variations of the conventional lift deserve some mention.
Variation One
One uses the conventional face lift incision, but instead of just lifting under your skin, the face lift is carried out under your muscle. Proponents claim that this method lasts longer but this has yet to be proven. Besides, there is an ever-present danger of sustaining motor nerve damage, and for this reason alone many surgeons prefer using another method.
Variation Two
The second variation joins the two scalp incisions entirely across your scalp just behind your forehead hair. This variation allows your lift to get rid of any wrinkles that you have on your forehead. Some people believe this to be a tremendous plus, but others do not. You should avoid having this variation performed for several reasons. First of all, this variation involves cutting some of the muscles that control your facial expression.
Also, this surgery will raise your hairline and may even change how your eyebrows look, causing you to have a look of surprise constantly on your face. Despite these drawbacks, some patients (and surgeons) think that elimination of forehead wrinkles or raising drooping brows is worth this risk.
Variation Three
The third variation is simply a gimmick. Part of your incision is made inside your ear instead of being made entirely in front of it. This supposedly allows your scar to be partially hidden. Unfortunately, the sharp piece of cartilage in front of the opening to your ear will probably be distorted. During your face lift it will be covered with facial skin, and this additional thickness normally leads to a strange and blunted appearance which can be seen from across the room. Since your scar from the conventional face lift method (in front of your ear) is barely visible anyway, this trade off hardly seems worth it.
Post Face-lift Expectations
The cost of your face lift alone should be around $7,500 to $10,000. If your eyelid surgery is included in the procedure (as it often is) then are looking at around $10,000 to $14,000 total for both procedures. The recuperation period for all your discoloration and swelling to go away is usually from three to six weeks, but you will feel fine the day after your surgery and be able perform most of your normal activities.
Your dressing and drains (if present) are typically removed 24 hours after your surgery is finished, and your sutures are removed about seven days after that. If you had eyelid surgery, however, your eyelid sutures are usually removed a little bit earlier, about three days after your surgery.
While postoperative pain is unusual, you may experience a little ache behind your ears, and you may develop a tightening underneath your neck which goes away eventually. Most patients don't need any pain medication.
You may also have some numbness, because your face lift procedure necessitates cutting the tiny nerves which bring feeling to your skin. While most of your facial sensation should return quickly, it may, on rare occasions, take a few months, especially in the area around your ears.
You should be able to wash your hair and face and apply makeup during your first week of recuperation. Your makeup (even for men) will be a real blessing to have, because you are bound to suffer from some swelling and discoloration. You may have a little or a lot—there is no way to predict how much discoloration and swelling you will have.
It usually takes approximately three weeks for your face to become presentable in public. In some cases, tiny bumps under your skin may last for a while. However, by five weeks your facial appearance should be excellent, and after a few months the last of your swelling should be gone. Camouflaging with makeup after one to three weeks is probable.
You should note that your face-lift procedure may leave some permanent effects if you are male. As part of your beard-bearing facial skin is pulled behind your ears, you will now have to shave in this spot. This may be troublesome or inconvenient, but is not a health concern. The space between where your sideburns grow and your ears will be gone, and your sideburns become narrower.
Face lift complications are rare. You never hear of infection and nerve damage is impossible when the conventional procedure is performed by a competent surgeon. You may suffer from small amount of skin loss behind your ears, but these normally heal fast, and are considered only a minor problem. The most inconvenient complication is postoperative bleeding (hematoma), which happens to about one out of every one-hundred patients who have the face lift procedure. This will happen regardless of how skilled your plastic surgeon is.
While it is never life-threatening, if your hematoma is large it must be fixed with a return to the operating table or your facial skin can be damaged.
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Deep Muscle and Superficial Musculoaponeurotic System (SMAS) Lifts
These procedures are done by many knowledgeable surgeons. They involve going into deeper layers of your facial skin, usually down below your muscle. In one, the surgeon goes down to bone. In Dr. Bellin’s opinion, however, the problem with aging in your face is one of skin elasticity, not weak muscles. In a study performed years ago, the conventional face lift operation was done on one side of the face and the muscle-pull operation was done on the other. The results were that no one could tell the difference between the two. A major problem with the deep operation, however, is that it really only pulls your midface, not your entire face evenly. Therefore you can often see a "pulled" effect, especially from the corner of your mouth toward your ear, making for a very unnatural-looking face. In addition, the risk of nerve damage from this method is increased significantly because your surgery is done below your muscle. Therefore, in Dr. Bellin’s opinion, the conventional face lift technique is far superior and safer.
The Temporal Lift
This "compromise" lift improves only your outer brow area, some types of crow's feet, and the skin and fat on your cheekbones. Your incision is kept entirely behind your temple hairline, allowing a limited amount of your skin to be removed. Therefore, the benefits to you are obviously fewer than those from a full face lift. Swelling and discoloration do not occur, however, and complications are not usually expected.
The Eyebrow Lift
This lift is done by making an incision directly above your eyebrow and cutting out some of your forehead tissue to raise your eyebrow up. However, this procedure leaves a highly noticeable scar, so it is not normally recommended. Since face-lift surgery can lift your forehead, it would be a better choice as a way to raise your eyebrows.
Removal of Neck Fat (Double Chin)
As part of your aging process, you tend to accumulate fat in the upper portion of your neck, known as a double chin. This destroys the youthful contour line between your jaw and neck. Unfortunately, your face-lift procedure does not always fix this. Your surgeon may have to make an additional small incision under your chin to remove your neck fat. Later, he or she will elevate your skin (through the normal lift incision) with a specially lighted device which retracts and removes your fat from below your jaw. This creates a beautiful neck and jaw line, and your youthful contour is successfully restored.
If you are considering face-lift surgery in Manhattan, New York City (NYC), or greater New York, contact CosMedica. Our highly experienced plastic surgeon, Dr. Howard Bellin will give you a free consultation at CosMedica, The Plastic Surgery Center of New York.
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