- Patients who have undergone a facelift rate themselves as looking an average of 12 years younger after surgery, according to a study in the February issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
His clients rave about how amazingly natural the results came to be after the procedure. The mini facelift reduces the appearance of sagging skin, defines the jaw, and improves the look of wrinkles on the lower half of the face. It has the ability to give clients a younger more youthful appearance.
Facelift recovery time
You should look and feel normal after 2 – 4 weeks. Keep in mind that facelift surgery cannot stop natural aging, so we encourage patients to continue to take care of their skin and make healthy lifestyle choices.
Overall, a mini facelift is considered effective in correcting sagging skin in the lower half of your face. Depending on your overall goals, you may consider additional procedures, such as an eye lift or dermal fillers.
A mini facelift can be thought of as a smaller version of a lower facelift surgical procedure designed for younger patients to catch signs of aging early on. It's definition will vary from surgeon to surgeon.
In general, good candidates for mini facelifts are men and women in their mid to late 40s up to 60s or 70s. There is not a cut-off age, per se, but instead we look at one's overall health, mobility, and treatment goals.
Because a mini facelift is less invasive than a full facelift, most patients report feeling minimal pain and discomfort following their surgery. It is common to experience some slight bruising and swelling.
The results you receive from a mini facelift compared to a full facelift only vary when it lasts. Because both procedures alter tissue and skin on your face, both offer long-term results. In most cases, a mini facelift will last around ten years easily before another lift is needed.
Mini facelift scars are minimal
Traditionally, an incision is made in the hairline near the temples on each side. The incision goes in front of the ear, down the front of and hugging the earlobe area, then back to the lower scalp behind the ears.
Generally, a ponytail lift involves incisions made high up on the face – above the front of the ear or beyond the hairline. The facial cosmetic surgeon then pulls the ligaments below the skin to adjust and reduce sagging.
In most cases, a facelift works best for people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s when signs of aging begin to become prevalent. Deep lines, wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging skin are the result of the aging process and can be best corrected through surgical techniques rather than non-surgical ones.
Although the mini facelift is designed primarily to tighten the lower half of the face and focuses mostly on the jawline and jowls, a slight amount of upper neck tightening can also be achieved. In a traditional facelift, the focus is mostly on lifting and smoothing the neck more dramatically.
While facelift results can be different for every patient, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that, on average, patients felt they looked about 12 years younger after their facelift surgeries.
Some treatments to treat nasolabial folds include: Mini Face Lift: A mini face lift targets the lower portion of the face. Small incisions are made around the ears where the skin and underlying tissues are gently pulled and tightened, reducing the appearance of nasolabial folds.
Think of the aging face as a gradually deflating balloon which becomes gradually more wrinkled as it loses air. When a facelift is performed on a patient with significant facial volume loss, the end result can be a pulled or unnatural looking face.
A mini-facelift is usually performed in an office-based setting. In appropriately chosen patients this procedure is well tolerated using only local anesthesia. Sedation or general anesthesia are other options and would be performed in an outpatient surgical facility.
Pulled-down earlobes may happen at the time of the original procedure, or can develop with time. The most dramatic distortion has been called “the pixie ear.” Natural contour can usually be restored, but this is often difficult. The earlobe is often not distorted, but simply pulled forward — a tip-off to a facelift.
Scars from a mini facelift are typically located in natural creases of the skin or areas that are not prominently noticeable, so they are even less detectable to others.
Dermal fillers can smooth out wrinkles and restore facial fullness that happens with age. Aging leads to sagging skin and wrinkles. While minimally invasive fillers and injections can work for a short time, patients should consider a facelift to reverse the signs of aging and improve self-esteem.
A face-lift is a cosmetic surgical procedure that lifts and tightens sagging skin on the face and neck to create a smoother and more youthful appearance. A miniface-lift is a modified version of the procedure with a smaller incision and less cutting of underlying tissue.
Swelling and inflammation are normal during facelift recovery. Swelling may occur around the mouth, chin, or jawline, depending on the extent of your facelift procedure and where it was performed. Most patients can expect the majority of their swelling to dissipate after 3 – 4 weeks.
Aside from the lift your face will have, and the short recovery time, mini lifts have less risk of both scaring and side effects from general anesthesia. Unlike traditional facelifts, most weekend lifts are done with a combination of mild sedation and local anesthesia.
Don't smoke or drink alcohol for two weeks before your mini facelift and for two weeks afterward. Reduce stress as much as possible by incorporating some relaxation periods into your daily routine – listen to soothing music, do yoga, meditate, take naps – whatever helps you tone down the stress.
You may have some itching or shooting pain as the feeling returns. It may take several months for the numbness to go away. Most people recover in 4 to 6 weeks. But it probably will take 3 to 4 months to see the final result from the surgery.