Facelift Surgery

How To Determine the Appropriate Facelift Procedure For You?

Today more women and men are considering a facelift surgery or mini face lift to help restore their face to a more youthful appearance. No longer do you have to worry about having a “plastic” or pulled look that was one of the concerns of the facelifts of old times. Having performed so many facelift surgeries, Dr Hodgkinson’s facelift patients tell us that their family and friends say they look like themselves, just more youthful, refreshed and more vibrant!

Facelift surgery restores a more pleasing contour to your face and neck. A mini-facelift can be done alone, or in conjunction with other procedures such as a forehead lift, eyelid surgery, or nose reshaping. Ask Dr. Darryl Hodgkinson and the specialists at The Cosmetic & Restorative Surgery Clinic about the facelift procedure that is right for you, they are the leaders for facelift surgery Sydney.

Are you a Facelift Surgery Candidate?

If your face and neck have started to sag, you may be a good candidate. Dr. Hodgkinson can assess your skin’s elasticity, your complexion and help you determine the appropriate procedure for you. Remember, facelift surgery has been successfully performed on patients as young as 40 years old and as old as 80 years old.

Your general health will be assessed prior to any anticipated surgery. You should bring your medical records with you at your consultation.

Facelift Quick Facts:

• A facelift surgically elevates sagging tissues and re-adjusts the contours of an aging face caused by fat accumulation or fat degeneration.
• The main contributors to the appearance of an aging face are lax facial tissues of the neck, and jowls and brow
• Sagging tissues causing loss of jaw and neck definition is corrected by re-suspension of the platysma muscle and tightening and anchoring the SMAS (subcutaneous muscular aponeurotic system).
• All scars are hidden as much as possible within the hairline and in front of and behind the ear as well as under the chin.
• The most common age for facelifts in women is 45-60 and for men it is 50-60.
• Skin aging with wrinkles and loss of elasticity and collagen is dealt with by resurfacing during or after a facelift.

The benefits of a Facelift

A facelift procedure aims to improve the appearance of sagging or loose skin, wrinkles, and deep creases. The tightening and removal of excess facial skin creates a youthful and rejuvenated look via a very common cosmetic surgical procedure.

The primary benefits of a facelift include;

• Reduced sagging of affected and treated areas, by a mild to moderate amount
• The lessening of deep creases under the eyes, if an eyelid operation or browlift is also performed
• Reduced folds and creases in other areas of the face and neck
• Greater definition of the jawline
• Less sagging in the neck

You should be in good health with normal exercise tolerance and blood pressure to be the ideal candidate for the operative procedure.

Combinations with Other Procedures

It is quite common to combine a facelift with another procedure to achieve or enhance certain results. A facelift will focus on the lower two-thirds of the face, however, if the forehead or eyes also require attention, you may wish to consider one of the following options;

• A Blepharoplasty, or eyelid lift, which targets ageing around the eye on both or either of the upper or lower eyelid.
• A Browlift which will tighten the skin on the forehead raising the brow to create a more youthful look
• A Neck lift, which is a very common procedure to combine with almost all facelifts.
• Facial Fat Grafting which restores volume by using your own fat to fill contours lost with ageing and sometimes we add cheek or chin implants.

Eyelid surgery and brow-lifts are considered complementary to each other. Drooping brows can cause a fold of loose skin to hang beyond the lid margin. If gravity has been the cause of fullness in the upper lid, however, then a brow-lift surgery may be more appropriate. Eyelid surgery often has longer lasting results when done in conjunction with a brow lift.

Blepharoplasty will not necessarily remove all crow’s feet or wrinkles from around the eyes, in which case injectable fillers may be required. It is important when undergoing these procedures, to not remove too much skin and fat from the upper and lower eyelids as it can cause a gaunt hollow look. If the brow is lifted too much, the patient can end up with a more startled looking appearance. Dr Hodgkinson experience ensures you will not have those problems.

Facelift Options in Sydney
(Facelift, S-Lift and Mini Lift)

(Facelift)

The full facelift is a comprehensive procedure that addresses the entire face and neck. The areas of focus of course, will depend on the individual’s condition and desired outcome.

The facelift operation elevates and re-drapes the facial skin and underlying musculature to eliminate laxity and sagging. The operation can be designed to correct problems in the neck, under the jaw and/or chin and in the cheeks.

Mid – Facelift

The midface lift (addresses sagging in the cheek or middle third of the face) tends to be popular in the younger facelift patient whereas the older patients tend to require a full facelift to address ageing in the lower two thirds of the face.

Mini – Facelift

Mini-facelift is a poor term but is used to describe a moderate tightening of the cheeks and jowls and neck usually with a smaller incision and no incision under the chin. Best usually at about 40-50 year of age.

“S”Lift

“S”Lift, just tightens the cheeks, nothing is improved in the neck. There are very few patients who just require an “S”lift without some improvement to the neck”. “MACS” lift is similar, a combination of a Mini and S lift.

Facelift Misconceptions

Facelifting has come a long way from the old style of operation that gave patients a ‘pulled’ or a ‘stretched’ look, which created a stigma or aversion to the procedure among the general public and still does.

Correctly performed facelifts by an experienced surgeon offer longer-lasting rejuvenation, restoring a more natural appearance without the stigma of an operation. It is critical, however, that the procedure is carefully individualised for each patient. Dr. Hodgkinson uses photographs of patients from their early 30s as a guide for achieving the most realistic and suitable result possible. This can also vary depending on the age of the patient as to which style of the procedure will be performed.

Dr. Hodgkinson, aims to achieve a more natural looking aesthetic, that is not overdone and works naturally with the contours of your face. The primary goal is to restore the tissues to where they were previously, which is why the use of past photographs during consultations is very important.

Procedures to be Wary Of

Some practitioners offer a different range of facelift procedures which could include the use of threading, a technique which lifts the structure of the face with sutures under the skin. The results are transitory and rarely satisfy Caucasian patients.

The “silhouette” lift is a newer thread lift procedure which includes the use of absorbable sutures. These absorbable sutures are said to cause fewer problems than the permanent varieties; however, the results from this procedure still don’t last more than a year to 18 months, limiting its cost-effectiveness.

Dr. Hodgkinson’s Procedure of Choice

After being trained by the leaders of the ‘New Age facelift’ in Newport Beach, California in the SMAS technique, Dr. Hodgkinson has expanded on his skills with the help of the French plastic surgeon Dr. Alain Fogli’s ‘Lore’s fascial lifting’ method. This procedure results in a more dramatic neck and jaw rejuvenation, making the neck appear longer and more defined. Dr Hodgkinson has written several papers and presented several chapters in the textbooks of his technique.

Facelift Potential Complications

The major complication to avoid postoperatively is a haematoma or having blood collect under the skin flaps of the face. We offset this risk with a specialised clinical nurse who stabilises the blood pressure of all facelift patients to reduce anxiety or discomfort. This nurse can detect if hematoma has formed, in which case it can be quickly averted without any negative effect on the results of the facelift surgery.

Along with this, there is the risk of bruising and swelling in all patients which are quite normal and will vary from patient to patient based on the extent of the surgery. These bruises and swelling can also be minimised by early ice application and bandaging, with most patients returning to work after about two weeks.

Some patients may also feel depressed during the postoperative period; however, confidence will be restored with time as your rejuvenated and more youthful appearance settles in.

What is Involved With the Procedure?

When many people think of facelift surgery, they tend to think about processes that were used in the earlier days of the surgery, in which wrinkled skin was stretched to create a smoother surface. These days however, there are more advanced modern techniques which are used to reshape the layers of connective tissue under the skin, which don’t involve similar stretching techniques.

While the process for this procedure will vary between patients based on their needs and how their tissue will be manipulated, trimmed, folded and then fixed in place, the aim of the procedure is uniformly to achieve a natural, youthful appearance usually with discreet incisions to minimise scarring. For a facelift operation, patients will be placed under general anaesthetic and twighlight anaesthesia.