Results

The results of a facelift can be very impressive, but efforts to make every wrinkle go away with extreme facelifts can produce a surprised or wind-blown look.

Though skillful surgery often makes incisions obscure, loss of hair at the incision site is another problem that can occur. Some patients have hair transplants to lower their hairlines enough to cover the incision. In time, the lifted skin will loosen up again, simply because it's going against gravity. Lifting the muscle along with the skin supposedly addresses this problem, but it's not a guarantee against sagging. Younger people tend to get better and probably longer-lasting results because their skin is more elastic and can hold itself up better. The doctor needs to know and understand how to delicately balance the amount of skin tension in order to get the best possible result.

Patient Stories

I thought about a facelift for several months before deciding to see it through. Some of my hesitation was because I'd heard that going through a facelift was a traumatic experience, and I guess in some ways it was. The procedure went well, but the scar and the bruising was pretty bad at first. I was afraid I'd never look normal again. But it got better each day, and after a few weeks, I was completely amazed at the improvement. The scar isn't really visible, and I'm very happy with the results.

I had a facelift about five years ago because I was so unhappy with my sagging skin and facial jowls. I'd heard horror stories about all the things that could go wrong, so I chose my doctor very carefully. He had a lot of experience and was able to prepare me for the procedure and recovery, both of which went very well. I was very pleased with the final results. After all this time, it still looks good, and I am so glad that I had the surgery.