Facelift (Rhytidectomy)
At New Look New Life, We Believe in Facial Rejuvenation Techniques That Make the “Stretched” or “Surprised” Look of Facelifts in the Past Obsolete
Aging changes our bodies in many ways, but our faces wear its most obvious signs. The steady loss of skin elasticity and fat, the shrinking of facial bones, and the wear and tear of sun exposure and life experience all contribute to what we think of when we think of an aging face. Deep lines crease either side of the mouth, the jaw line slackens and becomes jowly, the neck develops loose folds and fat deposits, resulting in what is commonly called “turkey neck.”
At New Look New Life Surgical Arts, we strongly believe that cosmetic surgery is an enormously powerful tool in revealing people’s inherent beauty. Our commitment to this philosophy has led us to integrate medical developments in facial rejuvenation techniques, which have made the “stretched” or “surprised” look of facelifts in the past obsolete.
Facelifts, technically called rhytidectomies (literally, “removal of wrinkles”), counteract signs of aging essentially by helping your face to defy gravity. Facelifts tighten muscle, removing jowly fat and trimming excess skin, giving your face and neck a fresher, more youthful look. But over the past decade, leading cosmetic surgeons and clinical researchers have discovered a natural ingredient that turns out to have transformative properties in facial rejuvenation: fat.
Fat adds naturalistic facial contouring in facelift operations, adding youthful facial volume rather than simply “shrinking” the aging face by pulling back its skin. Such innovative techniques have transformed facelifts from surgeries that remove signs of age to those that can actually restore the appearance of youth.
Fat is also a much more regenerative substance than previously recognized. Grafted and/or injected into the skin, it can truly breathe new life into facial tissue, making it look fresher, rosier, and thicker. Pore size is reduced. Skin damage and wrinkles caused by the sun—virtually impossible to correct entirely with surgery or Botox—can be healed. Scarring is minimized or disappears.
At New Look New Life Surgical Arts, we believe firmly in innovation that promises more natural and long-lasting results, but our top priorities are medical efficacy and safety. Fat contouring techniques have, over the past decade, been refined to the extent that they have met our standards. We are delighted and confident in offering these services to our patients.
What Will a Facelift Do For Me?
Facelifts are most effective for patients who want to correct:
* Mid-face sagging
* Deep creases under the eyes
* Deep creases between the nose and mouth (nasolabial folds)
* Jowls due to loss of muscle tone
* Sagging areas of fat
* Loose skin and fat under the chin and jaw
* Gaunt, wizened facial appearance
The best candidates for rhytidectomy:
* Are men or women whose faces have begun to sag, but whose skin still has some elasticity
* Are generally healthy
* Do not smoke
* Are considering a facelift for personal reasons, not because someone is pressuring them to do so
Facelifts can produce a dramatic improvement in appearance, but it is important to remember that they do not stop the aging process. Furthermore, facelifts will not rejuvenate the brow, eyelids, nose, and some of the midface. Patients who want to improve these areas may consider combining a facelift with a brow lift or eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty).
It is also important to bear in mind that our commitment is to reveal the best you. During consultations, Dr. Karlinksy discourages patients from pursuing a uniform standard of beauty or attractiveness, supporting them instead to consider the right goals—those that will help “correct” those features that detract from patients’ sense of attractiveness and that focus on enhancing those that they feel good about. She wants you to feel good about yourself when you look in the mirror.
How is a Rhytidectomy Performed?
Facelifts are typically outpatient procedures and may be performed in an office-based facility, surgery center, or hospital. Patients may have a choice of IV sedation or general anesthesia. The procedure takes about two hours.
Facelift surgical techniques vary depending on the patient’s facial structure and the extent of correction desired. The three most common are:
* Traditional Facelift: The “full” facelift for rejuvenating the face, jowls and neck, including fat sculpting, lifting and repositioning of muscle and deeper tissues, and skin trimming and redraping. The incision begins at the temples and travels down to the front of the ear, around the earlobe, and behind the ear to the lower scalp at the hairline. Sometimes, another incision is made under the chin. Dr. Karlinksy takes special care to make precise incisions, avoiding unsightly scarring.
* Limited Incision Facelift: For rejuvenation around the eyes and mouth—including nasolabial folds and other deep creases—short incisions are made at the temples and around the ear, and possibly in the lower eyelids and/or under the upper lip as well.
* Neck Lift: A neck lift concentrates on jowls, loose skin on the neck, and fat under the chin. The incision is made around the ear lobe and behind the ear to the lower scalp.
In all three methods, incisions are closed with stitches or tissue glue. Scars are hidden in the hairline and natural contours of the face.
Please click here, to view before and after images of our facelift procedures.
