Every year thousands of men and women refresh their appearances with facelift treatment. A youthful appearance can make you feel more comfortable with yourself and confident with others. Contact our Dallas office to schedule your facelift consultation with plastic surgeon Paul Pin, MD.
Reasons Why Men and Women Undergo Facelift Surgery
All of us go through our lives with some type of facial feature that characterizes our family. Whether it is a “Smith nose” or a “Jones forehead” we are usually comfortable with it as it gives us a sense of belonging to our family. Unfortunately, as we age, we tend to develop features that remind us of family members and these can be very unflattering. Who really wants to look in the mirror and see Aunt Gertrude’s neck or Uncle Bill’s jowls? Basically, patients begin to consider a facelift when they no longer see themselves the way they desire.
Aging per se is not a motivation for seeking plastic surgery as much as the desire to just not look old. Frequently, our prospective Dallas facelift patients feel their facial appearance does not represent the youth and vitality they feel. Moreover, they may feel others see them as “old,” thereby limiting their career and social opportunities. In this case, facial rejuvenation will allow the individual to look as good as they feel.
If we are all so logical, what stops so many from having a facelift? Fear is probably the biggest obstacle. Everyone knows a friend or relative who had a facelift and looks weird, operated on, or at least certainly not better. A facelift is like a hair transplant – if it is obvious that you had one then you had a bad one.
How to Find a Facelift Surgeon
Alleviating these fears usually occurs by finding the right surgeon for you. The right plastic surgeon should be Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. The surgeon should be experienced in the procedure, be able to show pictures of facelift results, and have patients to talk to who have had facelift surgery. While surgeons may choose to do the surgery in their office, they should have privileges to perform the exact same procedure in a hospital as this means other plastic surgeons have reviewed their work and find them to be safe and competent. Finally, the surgeon should explain the procedure to you personally and be willing to answer your questions and be able to allay your fears.
Who Is a Good Candidate for a Facelift?
The ideal patient for a facelift is in good health and has lower facial jowling and/or excessive skin and fat in their neck. Surprisingly, age is not really a factor. When the above changes are present, surgery can be considered whether at age 40 or age 70. A facelift will remove excess skin and large wrinkles from the face and redefine the jaw line and neck. Once undergoing a facelift, one will always look better, though aging will resume following the surgery. Facelifts do not need to be redone and create no future obligation to the patient. Patients interested in undergoing facelift surgery may also be appropriate candidates for browlift or eyelid surgery.
Facelift Techniques
There are many ways to perform a facelift. Basically, there are two categories. One involves surgery only beneath the skin while the other involves surgery beneath layers of muscle called the SMAS. A skin facelift is generally faster, safer, and easier for the surgeon, and has a shorter recovery time. However, a skin facelift generally has less dramatic results that are less long-lived. A SMAS facelift is more difficult to perform, has a longer recovery time, but usually has more dramatic and more durable results. The correct operation depends on the patient’s features and wishes and can be decided during a discussion with the surgeon.
The Facelift Procedure
A facelift is usually done under general anesthesia and generally takes between three and four hours. In our practice, the anesthesia is performed by a Board Certified anesthesiologist. This is how Dr. Pin performs most other surgery, because he feels this is an inappropriate place to try and save money (by using a nurse anesthetist). Dr. Pin normally has patients spend the night in the hospital, not because the pain is so severe, but rather because the pampering made available by the nurses makes the experience much more pleasant than if the patient were to go home and be tended to by their spouse or friends. The following day, all bandages are removed, and the patient can shower and even begin to wear makeup if they so desire. Normally, swelling is at a maximum about two to three days following surgery, and then people begin to recover. Sutures are removed about four to five days following surgery, and most people can return to work within one to two weeks. Complete healing may not occur for two to three months.
Facelift Risks
Since facelift is truly a surgical procedure, there is always a risk of bleeding or infection, though both are extremely uncommon. Difficulty with healing is especially common if the patient is a smoker and for this reason most surgeons, including Dr. Pin, will not perform a facelift on anyone who has smoked during the few weeks prior to surgery. Following surgery, many patients develop temporary numbness in their face, a side effect that usually resolves over the ensuing several weeks. When the deeper, or SMAS facelift is performed, there is a greater risk of injury to nerves that move the muscles in the face; however, this is very uncommon when the procedure is done by an experienced surgeon.
Facelift Costs
The facelift procedure is one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures performed on patients that are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. There are many people that are interested in undergoing facelift surgery. However, people want to know the general price of desired procedures before they make the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery. Dr. Paul Pin typically charges our patients $9,500 to $10,500 for facelift surgery. This cost includes all fees associated with the facelift procedure, including the anesthesiologist and surgical facility.
Some patients that undergo facelift surgery wish to have a browlift or eyelid surgery performed in one appointment. Patients that undergo more than one plastic surgery procedure at a time are eligible for a price deduction.
Health care financing companies such as CareCredit and Unicorn Financing offer payment plans to qualifying cosmetic surgery patients. Financing allows patients to break up the total cost of treatment into smaller monthly installments.
Dallas Facelift Consultations
Facelift is an extremely common procedure that, if done under the right circumstances – on the right patient for the right reasons by the right surgeon at the right time in the patient’s life – can lead to extremely gratifying results. If you find your wardrobe is beginning to consist of too many turtlenecks and scarfs, or if you are commonly mistaken for your sister’s mother, a facelift might be a reasonable consideration. Contact our Dallas office today to discuss your options.
Facelift is real surgery and involves risks such as bleeding, infection, and scarring. Results vary. Dr. Pin will be happy to discuss these and other risks of facelift.