More About Facelift

Types of Facelift

You have seven types of facelifts.

• Lower facelift and lower Neck Lift
• Upper facelift
• Full facelift
• S-lift
• Classic necklift
• Lower face and neck lift
• Suture neck lift

Lower facelift and lower Neck lift: In this facelift, they give importance to the lower third of the face. Along with this, the neck lift takes place so that the results for the neck and the face match.

Upper facelift: During this procedure, the region of the face from the cheek to the jowls remains targeted. This forms the upper half of the face.

Full facelift: When you need to tighten the skin all over the face, you opt for a full facelift. The neck is also touched up to make sure the skin does not show any difference.

S-lift: When a person has sagging skin along the jawline and along the top half of the neck, they go in for the S-lift.

Classic necklift: If a person has sagging skin around the neck, they do the Classic necklift and get a sharp and youthful neck contour.

Lower face and neck lift: One can improve the looks of the lower face and neck by adopting this procedure.

Suture necklift: Contouring of the skin of the neck helps one get a youthful appearance. Collagen strips made from cow tissue finds use to suspend sagging tissue. In time, this remains replaced by human tissue.

Facelift ? Procedure

The steps for the facelift procedure are as follows:

• Anaesthesia
• Incision
• Closing the incision
• Go home and follow up

During the facelift process, the surgeon will make an incision that follows the hairline and goes around the earlobe and ends at the bottom of the hairline. He, then, separates the fat and muscle underneath from the skin and he may suction off this fat to reshape the contours of the face.

He tightens the mass of tissue underneath called the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS). This he does by pulling it back over itself. The definition of the jawline increases when he pulls the SMAS over the jaw over itself. It makes the neck firm.

The doctor will give the patient mild sedatives along with anaesthesia to perform the facelift. The patient will not feel any discomfort at all. The operation takes place on an outpatient basis with local anaesthetic in most cases.

Now, he pulls the skin back over the area and uses a knife or laser to trim the excess skin. You can imagine this as the way one would pull the carpet over the floor and stretch it to make it tight. He uses sutures to close the incision. At times, he may use skin glue. The stitches go under the hairline, so they remain invisible. The normal time taken for this procedure is between two and four hours. The face and neck of the patient remain wrapped in bandages after the surgery.

Symptoms, diagnosis and medical tests needed for Facelift

The best sign that you need a facelift is the appearance of wrinkles. You see the lack of firmness of the skin and the increased number of wrinkles on the face. These occur due to one of the following causes:

• Heredity
• Force of habit
• Pull of gravity
• Improper diet
• Exposure to the elements

When the doctor wants to do a facelift, he will order a series of test to check whether the person is physically prepared for the facelift surgery. This will involve one or more of the following tests:

1. Tests to rule out anaemia
2. Tests to rule out clotting disorder
3. Testing to check for exposure to HIV or Hepatitis C
4. Check for health factors such as diabetes
5. Females of the child bearing age will get a urine pregnancy test

After effects of the facelift

The patient will experience some degree of bruising and pain. You will have swelling all over the face for a while. One may use a cold compress to keep the swelling down. While lying down, the patient must keep the face in an elevated position. The patient must avoid hard work for two to three weeks after the surgery.

Preparations needed for facelift surgery

Two weeks before the scheduled surgery, the patient must stop all medicines that prolong bleeding. This includes analgesics, high dose vitamin E, Motrin, aspirin, herbal medication, and fish oil. In the diet, avoid high salt content in the diet from two days before the day of the surgery. You must stop smoking 15 days before the surgery. Keep avoiding smoking for another 15 days to help the healing process.

You must do the lab testing and an evaluation. Depending on what they find in this report, they will give you medications to take before the surgery. The facial skin must undergo preparation by applying certain substances.

Factors affecting the cost of treatment of Facelift

The things that will affect the cost of the treatment include the following:

• The amount of work involved in restructuring the face.
• The type of facelift that you choose.
• The hospital chosen for treatment.
• The room chosen– simple or deluxe.
• Doctors’ fees - surgeon, anaesthetist, and dietician.
• Nursing fee.
• Medicines.
• Fee for diagnostic tests.
• Operating room as well as ICU charges.
• Follow-up procedures.