As you age, changes occur in your face that cannot be concealed with cosmetics or reversed with peels or other resurfacing or rejuvenation procedures. A facelift, or Rhytidectomy, the technical term, can help improve many signs of aging.

With aging, you will notice a deepening of the folds running from the edge of your nose to the sides of your mouth, a loss of fullness in your cheeks, an increase in fullness in your lower face, the development of jowls, and loose skin and deposits of fat under your chin and neck.

Facelift surgery can address some or all of these developments, depending on your individual needs, requirements, and goals for surgery.

If your neck needs rejuvenation, relaxed soft tissue is tightened and repositioned. Muscles that have lost tone are re-suspended, and any excess fat is removed. A light bandage is applied following the completion of surgery and removed the next day.

The surgery is performed in an accredited ambulatory surgery center either under general anesthesia or with intravenous sedation. Following surgery, you will have swelling and some bruising. Your pain is usually easily controlled with oral pain medication. Time intervals for returning to normal activities and work vary, but most patients are back in seven to ten days. However, it takes several months to see your final results as complete healing must first occur.

Since not all areas of the face necessarily need attention with a facelift, I will address your specific goals and concerns during your consultation and tailor the surgery specifically to your needs. There is no “one size fits all” for this procedure and no quick fix. Procedures that promise no or limited recovery times do not last, and the results are not comparable with those obtained with a facelift. Trust your face to an experienced, board certified plastic surgeon.