The skin begins to wrinkle and sag as a result of age, sun exposure and genetics. Children and young adults have smooth, round faces due to evenly distributed fatty tissues in facial contours. Over time, the skin sags and folds around the chin, jawline and neck become prominent. Not only does a face lift improve facial appearance but also has a dramatic effect on the neck, enhancing its contour and profile.
During normal aging or even with weight loss, the face will change resulting in excess skin laxity, "jowling", wrinkling and even elongation of the facial skeleton itself compelling patients to seek correction. A face lift can help to restore youthfulness to your face and neck - smoothing the contours and wrinkles that aging will cause. A face lift can be done alone, or in conjunction with other procedures such as a forehead lift, eyelid surgery, or nose reshaping. A face lift usually takes several hours-or somewhat longer if you're having more than one procedure done. Incisions usually begin above the hairline at the temples, extend in a natural line in front of the ear (or just inside the cartilage at the front of the ear), and continue behind the earlobe to the lower scalp. In general, the surgeon separates the skin from the fat and muscle below. Fat may be trimmed or suctioned from around the neck and chin to improve the contour. The surgeon then tightens the underlying muscle and membrane, pulls the skin back, and removes the excess. Stitches secure the layers of tissue and close the incisions.
A face lift will last about 10 years, however, this depends upon various factors such as technique, facial type, quality of skin, sun exposure and, yes, smoking. Despite the fact that the process of aging cannot be stopped, one can expect that they will tend to always look better after a face lift - at any age - than if they never had the procedure at all.
For an endoscopic mid face lift, appropriate for patients in their mid-30's to 40's with mid face aging but without much "jowling" (sagging over jawline), the surgeon in most cases, makes hidden incisions in the temporal hair and inside the mouth.
