Lower Facelift

A lower facelift is used to rejuvenate the lower third of our face with a tightening of the underlying structures, which slack with aging and form fleshy necks and jowls. Excess skin is trimmed and facial creases are eliminated. We are basically getting a lift of the lower part of our face that will make us look better.

You should know that when most people think of facelifts they are actually considering lower facelifts. The aim of the surgery is to eliminate jowls, take care of deep wrinkles, raise your mouth’s corners and getting rid of lax skin noticed in the jawline and neck. The full facelift is actually a combination of a lower facelift, a mid facelift and a brow lift (also known as forehead lift). In most cases the doctor will tell you that you do not need a full facelift as only some parts of your face are showing elements that need to be fixed. A lower facelift is performed in the event that only the lower part of your face requires improvements. The usual lower facelift patient will have good health and good enough elastic skin although aging signs appear in the lower part of the face. You should know that this is exactly the area of our face that will start showing aging signs first. Although there are people that will first show forehead wrinkles, the majority will show aging spots in the lower part of their faces. We need to emphasize on the fact that what you might believe about your face might be wrong. You will have to discuss with a specialist plastic surgeon in order to properly understand everything that needs to be done so that your face will look as good as possible.

In most cases the lower facelift will see one small incision starting at the front of your ear and ending behind it. There is also the possibility of using the newer endoscopic lower facelift technique. This second method will use an endoscope that has special tools attached to it. Some incisions are made and the endoscope is put in through them. When performing neck lifts and lower facelifts in the same session, an extra incision has to be done under your chin. The surgeon will separate tissue from skin and remove all the extra fat noticed. Then there is a tightening of the facial muscles and they are also moved so that the right position is obtained. There is a need to do this in most lower facelift procedures because aging will also cause our muscles to shift away from proper placement. All the incisions will be closed with the use of sutures.

In the past all facelifts were done by simply tightening your skin. Muscle laxity was ignored and the result was a look that was not really natural. Nowadays facelift techniques are better than ever and we are faced with a careful tightening of your face’s underlying structures. When undergoing a lower facelift procedure you will not only get removal of excess skin. All the structures underlying your neck and jawline will be tightened. In some cases a facial liposuction is also performed and in the majority of cases a lower facelift will be able to restore a smooth look that is a lot younger than before. We say majority and not all the time because there might be a possibility to have to undergo other procedures as well or another procedure in order to get the best possible results. The good news is that there are many possible lower facelift techniques. Based on your own anatomy and aging patterns, the plastic surgeon will choose the one technique that will produce the best possible results.