Facelift in Austin

Growing older doesn’t have to mean losing your good looks. Many treatments and procedures exist to enhance your beauty and preserve your youthfulness. A facelift is a surgical procedure that helps you look like a younger version of yourself by removing sagging skin and lifting and tightening facial tissue.

Look years younger with a custom facelift at APSI.

Over time, our skin loses elasticity and starts to sag. Our facial features begin to lose volume and wrinkles start to form. You may start to develop jowls, and the skin on your neck becomes looser. All these things are completely natural parts of the aging process, and there is nothing wrong with them. However, this doesn’t mean you have to live with them. If you are bothered by these signs of aging and feel your aging appearance is affecting your life negatively, a facelift may be a suitable option for you. A facelift can’t stop the aging process, but it can make you look many years younger.

Am I a good candidate?

The best candidates for facelift surgery can relate to the following:

Sagging facial skin
Facial wrinkles
Loose skin and fat under the chin

A suitable candidate for a facelift procedure is:

A healthy person without any underlying medical condition that would interfere with post-operative healing and recovery
A non-smoker, since smoking can negatively affect the health of the skin
Somebody with realistic expectations from their facelift surgery

When patients lack youthful volume in certain areas of the face, the facelift is frequently combined with fat grafting to fill in facial hollows and further improve wrinkles. During the procedure, the patient’s own fat is removed with liposuction from one area of the body (such as the flanks, inner thighs, or abdomen) and is injected into the face. These two procedures combined provide the best facelift results. Repositioning the face alone with the lift cannot replenish lost volume without the addition of fat or some other filler.

You deserve to feel beautiful and youthful

At Austin Plastic Surgery Institute, we firmly believe that you can be beautiful and radiant at any age. You deserve to look and feel your best, and we are here to boost your self-confidence and help you feel happy and comfortable in your skin.

All our doctors are board-certified and highly skilled, and we are known for being warm, welcoming and caring. We are hands-on and personally involved in every step of your treatment. We really want to know what your goals are, and we are always just a text or a phone call away.

Your consultation

All facelifts performed at the Austin Plastic Surgery Institute are done after careful consultation with you and your plastic surgeon. You will not just meet a patient coordinator to see if you are a candidate. We use our consultation sessions to educate you about the facelift procedure and all it entails, including price, preparation, and the recovery process.

We will review your candidature for a rhytidectomy and only perform the surgery if you are a suitable candidate.

This involves a discussion of your complete medical history (including allergies, medications, and past surgeries) and a physical exam.

We encourage you to share your aesthetic needs and goals for the procedure during this consultation.

This will allow your surgeon to choose the best facelift technique for you and will help in creating a surgical plan.

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Surgical techniques

There are various techniques used today to perform a facelift. Facial anatomy, skin laxity and your overall aesthetic goal will determine the best approach. Each procedure will be unique to the patient and will vary based on the type and location of the incision, the number of tissue layers affected, the plane of elevation and the level of invasiveness.

Generally, a facelift is performed on the lower half of the face and the neck.

It involves creating incisions, lifting the skin, tightening underlying tissues and repositioning fat, removing excess skin, re-draping and tightening the remaining skin, and then suturing the incisions closed with stitches.

Traditional facelift (SMAS)

This SMAS facelift is considered the gold standard. This surgery, while more complicated, produces results that are more dramatic and longer lasting. The technique involves manipulating a group of muscles beneath the skin known as the superficial musculo-aponeurotic system (SMAS). This section of muscle controls facial expression. An incision is made along the hairline from the temple to just behind the earlobe. The skin is then separated and lifted. The underlying muscles and tissue are tightened and secured so they maintain their new position.

Deep plane lift

The deep plane lift goes a step further than the traditional approach. It is better suited for those with severe sagging and drooping and is usually reserved for older patients. In addition to the SMAS layer being adjusted, a deeper section, known as the deep plane, is also treated.

While this procedure offers certain advantages over a traditional facelift, surgeons must be skilled and act with caution, so facial nerves are not damaged during the surgical process.

Mini facelift

A mini facelift is geared towards patients who want some of the benefits of a facelift, while at the same time minimizing the cost and invasive nature of the surgery.

Patients who wish to maximize the outcome of their surgery, resulting in the most dramatic results, will most likely need to turn to having a full facelift with fat grafting to meet these aesthetic goals.

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Facelift FAQs

Do nonsurgical alternatives exist?

BOTOX®, injectable fillers, microdermabrasion and chemical peels are examples of some non-surgical procedures that can assist in smoothing out wrinkles, improving fine lines and adding facial volume. These procedures also help to even out skin tone. However, these are treatments that will only affect the skin’s surface. Patients with loose skin, drooping jowls or a sagging neck will need to consider surgery if they want these features improved.

Will I look fake?

In the days immediately following facelift surgery, patients will feel tight and pulled. These are short-term effects, and they will subside. It’s important to find a reputable surgeon skilled in facial surgery. Surgeons who know what they are doing will make every effort to work within the confines of your unique bone, skin and muscle structures so a younger, more natural look can result.

Will there be visible scars?

Facelift surgery does require a long incision. However, in almost all cases, these scars are well hidden as they fall just along the hairline and around the ears in the natural folds of the scalp. In most cases, the scars should be barely visible to the naked eye.

What is the best age for a facelift?

The common age range for patients who undergo a facelift is between 50 and 70. It is safe to say most patients will look 5 to 10 years younger following a facelift procedure. Younger patients (40-50 years old) generally have better skin elasticity so their results may last longer than those of someone older. However, older patients may have results that appear more dramatic. For these patients, a facelift can be very worthwhile. Patients should think of a facelift as a process to turn back the aging clock. You will still age, but you will appear years younger.