A face lift is clinically referred to as a Rhytidectomy and is performed to reverse the signs and effects of aging on your face. When your face starts to show the results of gravity, sun, and just simply becoming older, a facelift will help to reduce the effects of aging by getting rid of lines and creases in the face.

A facelift can provide you with a younger, fresher looking face. However, it will not give you a completely new face or give you the health and vitality that you had at a younger age.

The facelift procedure involves making incisions in the hairline from just behind the ear into the scalp by the temples. Also, if the neck is being worked on, a small incision will be made just below the chin.

Once the incisions are made, the plastic surgeon will separate the skin from the fat and muscle below. At times, in order to provide you with a shinier tighter face, fat below the skin is trimmed or suctioned away. The surgeon then tightens the muscle and the other tissue beneath the skin, re-drapes, and removes excess skin from the face. Stitches are later used to close the incisions and your hair covers up any scarring that is left after the procedure.

Generally, local anesthetic is sufficient for a facelift procedure. Patients are usually also given a sedative so that they will be drowsy through the procedure. Patients will not feel any pain during the procedure, just the occasional tugging performed by the surgeon. If the plastic surgeon prefers general anesthetic as their choice, then patients will sleep through the procedure. Depending on the results that one wants, a facelift can be performed in combination with facial liposuction, which is commonly known as blepharoplasty.

Facelift candidates are men and women who have begun to notice the effects of aging through the appearance sagging in their face and neck. Facelift patients are usually between their 40s and 60s, but can range either below or above those. Most importantly, patients should have very strong, well-defined bone structure, and have fairly elastic skin.

Before deciding on getting a facelift, you will need to schedule an initial consultation with a plastic surgeon in your area. For the nearest surgeon near you,please select the city of your choice from the top menu bar or the links at the bottom of this page.