Q: What Are the Pros and Cons of a Face Lift?
A: Facelift in the right person is all Pro’s!! The cons are worth it!
Facelift is a wonderful procedure to establish a younger loooking person at many ages. The results are excellent and they typically last for 8-20 years depending on the skin quality of the patient. The younger individual will typically start to see jowls and fullness or looseness of the skin of the neck below the chin and increase depression of the nasolabial folds. In the older individual the skin excess and descent of the soft tissue is more extreme all over.
The facelift rejuvinates this area wonderfully by reestablishng the same face that the individual had as a younger individual. Doing the surgery as a young individual is both successful in treating and preventing onset of more extreme ages. A person who is in their forties will look like they are in their 30’s a person who is in their 70’s will look like they are 50-60 yo.. Fillers are frequently used to blunt these effects by filling in the depression between the chin & jowl and by filling in the cheek to create a fuller upper face and blunt the nasolabial folds. The results of the fillers is excellent as well, especially in the younger individual whose skin laxity and excess is less extensive.
Although the sagging changes are blunted and the patients are thrilled with the results following an injection with a filler,( for example, Radiesse, or Restylane among many), the shape of the face is boxier and fuller than if the face is lifted and excess skin resected. Injection of fillers is lest costly up front but repeat injections are needed every 4-12 months. In 2-5 treatments the cost has paid for a facelift. The facelift is a bigger up front cost of time and money but typically makes the individual look terrific and lasts for many years.