Facelift

Male facelifts are done essentially the same as in woman.  Men are often concerned primarily with the neck and in these patients we do a procedure where all of the incisions are in the neck.  We call it a direct neck and satisfaction in male patients with this more limited procedure is extremely high.

The SMAS facelift became the standard in the 1980’s and 1990’s improving the operation by using the platysma muscle to tighten the jawline and neck.  Prior to this the minilift using the skin to carry the tension produced a tight pulled look that did not last well. The SMAS can also be tightened by using a purse string suture (Quicklift and MACS lift).  We perform only modified Deep Plane Facelifts.  This operation includes the SMAS but also incorporates the cheek area to eliminate the sling effect that often results from a SMAS facelift.  All of the fancy named facelifts are one of these four types: Minilift, SMAS lift, Purse String lift or Deep Plane Facelift.

One of the best ways to visualize a facelift is to think of making a bed.  If we take the top layer of a messy bed, we have to pull it very tight to get the bed to look smooth and it quickly loosens up, this would be the equivalent of a minilift.  If we peel back all of the layers, then gently and smoothly lay them back there is no tension and the bed stays smooth as in a Deep Plane Facelift.  Minilifts look great with minimal healing and then sag quickly.  Deep Plane lifts require a little more healing but hold up for many years.

For more information, click here to view videos on Deep Plane and SMAS Facelift.