Do you find yourself looking in the mirror and sadly looking at the lines on your face? Have you ever found yourself wishing you could get your baby’s facial skin back? If you answered “yes,” then you may benefit from a facelift — especially if you find that your favorite Botox, filler, or night cream is no longer able to remove fine lines and wrinkles.
A facelift, or rhytidectomy, is a surgical procedure that is performed to remove excess skin and loose soft tissue along your jaw line. People who are candidates for a facelift often complain that they have a jawline and “marionette lines,” or lines that run from the corners of their mouth to their chin. A facelift lifts the jaw and shifts volume up to the cheek area, and returns them to the position they held years ago. It enhances the marionette line and makes a person look fresher with a smoother jaw line.
The cost of a facelift can vary widely, depending on the level of your procedure as well as your level of training, experience and clinic location. For this particular type of facial plastic surgery, some well-known doctors on Instagram are now charging prices down to six figures.
A neck lift is usually included in a full face lift, but if you have an eyelid lift (blepharoplasty), forehead lift, chin implant, rhinoplasty, or other procedure, the combined procedure will cost more.
Facelifts are typically performed in an outpatient facility (accredited operating room in your surgeon’s office, outpatient surgery center, or hospital OR), under general anesthesia or local anesthesia with IV sedation.
Once you are unconscious or sedated, your face will be injected with a mixture of lidocaine, epinephrine, and tranexamic acid, to numb the area and minimize bruising.
A facelift surgery usually takes between two and four hours, depending on the skill of the surgeon, and the technique they use.
You will need additional time in the recovery room as the anesthesia has worn off and the nurse will make sure you are okay.
You’ll have the worst facelift recovery after 7–10 days and look pretty good within 2 weeks post-surgery.
However, the first week can be tough — you’ll be swollen, stiff, and sore — especially if you’ve had additional procedures like laser resurfacing, rhinoplasty, facial fat grafting, and/or eyelid surgery, all of which can dramatically increase swelling and inconvenience.
You will look “restaurant ready” two weeks after the operation. In about six weeks, you will return to your regular exercise and social engagements.
Full results (including scar maturation) take a full year to surface.
So is a Facelift Worth it?
If you’re ready to endure the downtime and trauma of cosmetic surgery, the benefits are undeniable and long-lasting. The benefits don’t come without a price tag and you can expect to pay a lot more for a facelift than for an injection.
If you want to adopt a gentler approach than cosmetic surgery and try something less invasive, dermal fillers and Botox treatments can reduce visible signs of aging. They also stimulate collagen production, which keeps your skin looking young. Botox can also stop the formation of new wrinkles by paralyzing the muscles, making them unusable.
