Should you consider the mini facelift procedure? Maybe you’ve noticed that as the years slip by, the skin that tightly covered your cheeks, jowls, and neck has loosened up a bit and sags. “Time marches on,” this old cliche is very true. Unfortunately, as we grow older, our face reveals our age as the skin becomes less elastic, leading to loose sagging skin around the jaw and neck. For some people, this means they always seem to be frowning as the corners of their mouths have been turned down because of the skin’s loss of elasticity. Other signs of aging include furrowed foreheads and fine lines around the eyes, often called crow’s feet.
While this is a natural yet unavoidable part of the aging process, it is possible that with the help of a skilled cosmetic plastic surgeon, you can take as many as 10 to 15 years off your appearance without having to undergo a traditional facelift. Therefore, patients often call on board-certified plastic surgeons to help them with innovative procedures that produce natural-looking facelifts.
Good Candidates for Mini Facelifts
Are your jowls and neck beginning to sag? It’s so that you are likely an excellent candidate to have a facelift. Another quality that good candidates must possess is a strong and well-defined bone structure. Perhaps the most important quality for a patient who wants to have a facelift is that their expectations are realistic, and they want to have the procedure for themselves. They understand that all the procedure will do is rejuvenate the way they look but that a facelift cannot change who they are as a person.
Individuals who are fortunate to live close to board-certified facial plastic surgeons have the option of a mini facelift procedure. This procedure is done in the plastic surgeon’s office and improves the appearance of the jowls, cheeks, and neck without general anesthesia. Instead, patients who undergo this procedure receive local anesthesia and twilight sedation. The mini facelift has become a relatively standard cosmetic procedure that is adopted by plastic surgeons worldwide.
Patients often request natural-looking facelift procedures as they want it to provide a final result that is more natural-looking than the pulled back results frequently occurring with a traditional facelift.
No Need for General Anesthesia
Patients who choose to have these less extensive procedures done receive local anesthesia and oral sedation. This allows patients to have a far less risky surgical experience than if they were subject to general anesthesia. Using innovative facelift techniques, a cosmetic surgeon can apply a uniform tension to the whole face. By doing this, the areas around the lips and eyes look natural and not pulled back. These techniques also prevent the bunching of the skin around the hairline, which is a common result of a typical facelift.
Using tiny incisions, the plastic surgeon is able to tighten the muscles beneath the skin, excise excess fat, and reposition the patient’s skin. The procedure only takes 90 minutes, and with the surgeon is done, patients have a younger-looking face. Since the incisions are so small, the little scarring that occurs from the procedure disappears quickly, leaving only a natural look. Most patients can go back to their regular routines about one week following the procedure.
How Mini Facelifts Produce Excellent Results
A mini facelift is a procedure for patients who want to achieve a youthful appearance. Some plastic surgeons use similar techniques for achieving results for male patients but sometimes modify the procedure by making very small incisions at different places on the face and neck of male patients. Then, the skin is redraped so that it highlights the angular structure of the necks, jaws, and chins that men have. Finally, sutures are placed under a man’s skin so that the most favorable result for a man is accomplished.
The results of new innovative facelift procedures last a long time, and recovery from the surgery is faster, less traumatic, and less painful than for patients who undergo a traditional facelift.
Recovery and Long-Term Effects
A mini facelift can rejuvenate a person’s appearance by removing up to 10 years from their looks. However, it is crucial that a patient has realistic expectations and realize that a cosmetic surgical procedure can improve one’s appearance but will not change a personality. Therefore, patients interested in a mini facelift should proceed only if they are doing it for themselves and not because they have been asked. In addition, how long before symptoms of aging return will vary by patient.
Patients of plastic surgeons who perform routine traditional facelifts are in a population of patients that can expect a 4 to 5 percent revision rate. Therefore, for many people, less drastic and more natural-looking facelifts can be safer procedures that provide better results than traditional facelift plastic surgery.
This procedure performed by professional board-certified plastic surgeons will receive the same careful planning and commitment to quality that the surgeon gives to all patients, including those undergoing traditional surgical procedures. A professional plastic surgeon and their team will place the highest priority on providing every patient with the highest quality of care while carefully guarding their privacy.
If you would like to find out more about excellent alternatives to a traditional facelift and see if you are a good candidate, do what countless patients each year do and contact an experienced cosmetic surgeon for a free consultation.