HOW DO I KNOW WHEN I’M READY FOR A FACELIFT?
Facial aging happens to all of us and when it does, in a relatively short period of time, our faces start to look different than how we see ourselves. Put differently, we feel as young and vibrant as we always have yet our faces start to show our true age. The tissue in your face weakens and looses its elasticity: you start to developing fine lines, wrinkles, folds and sagging. Visible signs of aging can make you appear older than you really are and certainly older than you feel. It bothers us. It makes us self aware when it comes to photos or even close interpersonal and even professional situations.
While injectables and other non-invasive procedures can help to reverse early signs of aging, to truly remedy more advanced signs and restore a youthful appearance to the face is the main reason people come to see Dr. Mather for help. “My patients often express to method they no longer recognize the face in the mirror, or that they feel younger than they look.”
What everyone wants is to simply look as young as they feel and what this means is to erase the recent changes affecting our faces and to restore them back to a period before aging started to make them look different. When it is addressed, the biggest impact is emotional. Feeling comfortable in your own skin is essential for overall happiness. This is what gives Dr. Mather’s work so much meaning.
A facelift will treat the undesirable effects of the ageing process from the corner of the eyes down to the jawline. Designed specifically for each patient, Dr. Mather prides himself on age-reversing procedures individualized to treat the underlying foundation and restoring tissues to their original position, leaving a natural rejuvenated result without a stretched or unnatural appearance. The goal of a facelift is to not change who you are, but to simply take you back to a more youthful version of yourself.
THE FACIAL AGING CHANGES
The most simple way to summarize the aging changes is as you age your face goes from an upside down triangle to a rectangle. What happens is the muscles in the face starts to elongate resulting in drooping and descent. This leaves the face looking different than it did during youth and this is why we look different to ourselves and to others when it occurs. The face changes from a youthful triangular shape with the greatest fullness in the cheek bones to an aged rectangular shape with the weight of the face held in the jowls and marionette lines. This change in shape is the core problem and addressing it is the most important and impactful way to solve the problem.
The key to understanding the solution, which is a facelift, is to understand the problem:
- The upper face starts to sag around the outer eyes. Leaving the eyes looking heavy and crowded in the corner.
- The midface starts to go deflate and sag. This leaves the check deflated, as the cheek fat pad no longer sits on the cheek bone, instead is pushed down toward the nose, which make the nasal fold heavier.
- As the cheeks sag, jowls are formed. This is often the most noticed change that makes the face look different with age. Jowls along the jawline, leaves the jawline looking square and heavy instead of oval and lean. This is from the cheeks falling and hanging over the jawline.
- Sagging and heaviness in the neck. The neck is attached to the cheeks. Most people don’t know this. When the face sags, the neck sags too. The upper support of the neck is the cheek so these change in tandem. Further, under the chin, fat accumulates and the neck gets heavy. This fat is a combination of some above the muscle and a lot below the muscle. The fat below the muscle is not accessible to liposuction or any non-surgical approaches.
DR. MATHER’S APPROACH TO FACELIFTS
As we get older, gravitational drooping of the facial tissue and muscle along with the loss of volume creates wrinkles over once-smooth skin, and skin that used to be tight now hangs and sags with the loss of contour makes us look tired, stressed and simply older.
There are some common misconceptions surrounding facelift procedures. Among them is the idea that a facelift is done by stretching the skin tight to remove lines and wrinkles. While it is unfortunately common to see people who have had such procedures, they are nothing more than the result of antiquated surgical techniques. This type of “skin-stretching” facelift surgery uniformly yield results that are unnatural and sometimes identity-changing.
When done properly, a facelift is actually a repositioning and tightening of the muscles beneath the skin. Dr. Mather approaches each and every facial surgery he performs by lifting the underlying facial muscles back into their original position, a youthful appearance is restored without distorting or stretching the outer skin. This leaves the patient looking younger, more refreshed and completely natural.
TYPES OF FACELIFTS
MINI FACELIFT
A mini facelift is designed for younger facelift patients, typically in their forties, who only need a small amount of tightening of the face, normally along the jaw line. Fine lines and wrinkles, fullness and drooping of loose skin of the cheeks and loss of the definition of the jawline is often one of the first signs of facial aging. A mini facelift tightens these problem spots with less surgery than a full facelift for a rejuvenated result with a shortened downtime.
TRADITIONAL FACELIFT
Facial aging is the result of gravitational drooping of the facial muscles and loss of volume and thickness of the soft tissues and skin of the face. These changes create folds, contours and shadows in the face that make us look tired, stressed and simply older. The heart shape face of youth becomes more rectangular with jowls widening the appearance of the jawline which loses the definition. Facelift surgery improves these signs of aging by lifting sagging facial tissue, tightening jowls, dropped cheeks, and the deep creases of marionette lines to restore a more refreshed and youthful facial appearance, often turning the clock back by 10 years or more.
DEEP PLANE FACELIFT ADVANTAGE
There’s a reason that a facelift is one of the most sought-after esthetic surgery procedures undertaken by patients in Dr. Mather’s office. Dr. Mather facelifts utilize a more contemporary deep plane technique, to provide his patients with a more natural result – never done. Some traditional facelift approaches rely on pulling the skin alone to achieve the desired smoothness – while underlying tissue layers were left untouched. Unfortunately, this also had the ‘pulled’ or ‘distorted’ look that was quite easy to identify – the surface of the face often appeared overly smooth and plastic, and features are sometimes distorted, resulting in a “done” look that made it readily apparent that the individual had undergone the procedure.
These skin-only facelifts are a thing of the past in Dr. Mather’s office. Using a contemporary deep plane release, Dr. Mather is able to more comprehensively and naturally rejuvenate the face by maintaining the skin and underlying tissue in alignment with each other and by detaching and repositioning the entire system as a single unit putting no such strain on the skin or muscle, instead simply adjusting the positioning of the facial tissue for a more permanent effect (the deep plane facelift procedure has the most long lasting result of any facelifting techniques), and provides a more natural looking result.
Dr. Mather’s facelift utilizes the deep plane advantage for facial rejuvenation through a minimal access short-scar approach know as a “pony-tail” incision, with half the incision size normally seen in front of the ear, while not distorting the sideburns and hairline like more traditional facelifts. The outcome allows you to wear their hair back in a ponytail without anyone seeing the scars, so that people will notice your rejuvenated appearance without the evidence of surgery.
The results of a deep plane lift are more natural, allowing younger patients to prevent the effects of aging early on, rather than waiting to correct serious flaws after they have occurred. This facelift can still be performed on an older patient who is seeking more dramatic results that can offer a refreshed and rejuvenated natural appearance, rather than the tight, “pulled” look. Dr. Mather’s patients tell him that their family members and friends tell them how great they look, but never figure out they had surgery. They think they look healthy, lost weight, look vibrant, or changed their haircut or skin care regimen. They want to know their secrets, but the truth is their secret is a Dr. Mather deep plane facelift. With his custom tailored approach, the days of looking “pulled” and “done” are over.
THE BENEFITS OF A FACELIFT
REDUCE WRINKLES
Fine lines and wrinkles in the cheeks, around the mouth, and in the neck will be significantly reduced with facelift surgery. Dr. Mather tightens the underlying facial muscles along with the skin to produce a smooth, youthful appearance. With a deep plane facelift Dr. Mather can tighten the underlying muscles and remove any excess skin for a firmer, more youthful facial appearance.
MINIMALLY INVASIVE
Dr. Mather’s deep plane facelift uses a minimal incision technique, which leads to an easier, quicker recovery. Dr. Mather uses smaller incisions and places them in the natural creases around the ears which also leads to invisible scaring.
REDUCED DOWNTIME
Many patients prefer a mini facelift due to reduced recovery times compared to a traditional facelift. With a deep plane facelift bruising and swelling typically subside at a quicker rate, with patients returning to work in less than 2 weeks following their procedure. Some patients return to work even sooner.
REGAIN CONFIDENCE
Men and women who choose to enhance their appearance with a facelift often experience an incredible boost in confidence. They no longer have to hide their wrinkle-inducing facial expressions or use expensive creams or injections to try to turn back the hands of time. Facelift surgery gives them a lasting rejuvenated appearance they are proud to show off.
How does a facelift work?
A facelift is achieved by removing excess saggy skin and tissue and tightening the underlying muscle structure to create a more youthful look – when performed correctly, it looks very natural.
What are the benefits of a facelift?
A facelift can shave years off of your appearance, as well as leave you looking refreshed and more youthful. A facelift can reduce the signs of aging by tightening and lifting the facial skin, smoothing deep lines and wrinkles, removing excess skin, and restoring the underlying muscle structure. When performed with a contemporary deep plane facelift, the results appear fresh and natural, and like you, rather than pulled or tight.
Will a facelift make my face look pulled or unnatural?
In the hands of Dr. Mather, who uses the contemporary deep plane facelift surgical technique, the results will not appear pulled or strange – you will look like you – just years younger!
Can you achieve the same results with a non-surgical facelift?
No. While you can minimize the visible effects of aging with non-surgical treatments, only a surgical facelift can resolve excessively sagging facial skin, drooping jowls, a double chin, or deeply-etched lines and wrinkles.
Am I a candidate for a facelift?
Patients of a variety of ages can benefit from a deep plane facelift. Younger patients who see the early signs of sagging and jowls can look years younger, while older patients can restore jawline definition and smooth jowls and creases with a deep plane facelift.
Can I combine a facelift with other procedures?
Yes! A facelift is an excellent procedure to combine with an eyelid lift (blepharoplasty), a neck lift, chin augmentation, laser skin resurfacing, fat transfer grafting, to restore volume. Dr. Mather can discuss with you a full array of facial rejuvenation procedures, both surgical and non-surgical to achieve the revitalized and refreshed look that you are looking to achieve.
What happens the first days after my facelift?
Aftercare is minimal with elastic dressings and a drain removed the day after your face lift surgery. With a full neck and facelift, patients are typically able to resume social activities after a period of about two weeks with most returning to work as early as two to three weeks following.
How long will I need to recover from my facelift?
It generally takes two to three weeks for patients to recover from a facelift. A minimally invasive deep plane facelift is a short scar facelift which reduces your downtime – sometimes only requiring a week to ten days. Facial swelling continues to subside for several months after undergoing facelift surgery. The maximum improvement will be visible around six months following surgery, but you will look younger, more well-rested, and rejuvenated within a few weeks.
