A facelift is a surgical procedure to repair sagging, drooping, and wrinkled skin of the face and neck.
Alternative Names
Rhytidectomy; Facialplasty; Cosmetic surgery of the face
Description
A facelift can be done alone or with nose reshaping, a forehead lift, or eyelid surgery.
While you are sleepy (sedated) and pain-free (local anesthesia), or deep asleep and pain-free (general anesthesia), the plastic surgeon will make surgical cuts that begin above the hairline at the temples, extend behind the earlobe, and to the lower scalp. Often, this is one cut. An incision may be made beneath your chin.
Many different techniques exist. The outcomes for each one are similar.
During a facelift, the surgeon may:
- Remove and "lift" some of the fat and muscle underneath the skin (called the SMAS layer; this is the main lifting part of the facelift)
- Remove or move loose skin
- Tighten muscles
- Perform liposuction of the neck and jowls
- Use stitches (sutures) to close the cuts