Facelift

A facelift is a surgical procedure that restores a more youthful appearance to the lower 2/3 ‘s of your face, jaw and neck.

Dr McRae’s aesthetic goal is a natural, youthful, and refreshed appearance to your face. Face lifting has advanced tremendously over the last decade as the science of the aging face and neck has improved. The facelift is no longer a skin tightening operation that leaves patients with an operated appearance or “wind swept” look.

Dr McRae’s modern facelift procedures allow him to reposition the fat, the muscles, and the skin of the face to more youthful positions. He may also recommend the use of other techniques such as your own fat or natural fillers to rejuvenate the face into a more youthful appearance either at the time of surgery or at another time.

Facelift surgery is a highly individualized procedure.

Dr McRae performs both mini facelift (“short scar”) and full facelift procedures. Each of these procedures are highly customized based on the patient goals and recovery time. In the properly selected patient, a mini facelift can offer outstanding results with less downtime. A full facelift can offer unparalleled improvements.

The facelift procedure will:

• Tighten sagging skin
• Eliminate loose jowls and increased definition of the jawline
• Tighten and redefine the neck line
• Soften or eliminate wrinkles and deep creases
• Improve mid-facial sagging
• Reduce folds and creases (both nasolabial fold and marionette lines)

Here are a few qualities that we look for in patients considering this procedure:

• Physically healthy individuals
• Nonsmokers
• Goal for refreshed, less tired appearance, improved symmetry
• Realistic expectations

Dr McRae’s Approach to the Neck:

Dr McRae will often include a neck lift in his facelift procedure in order to restore a harmonious and youthful appearance to the face.

The neck can also be treated in isolation with neck lifting procedure depending on four factors that contribute to the aesthetic of your neck.

The fat, muscle, skin, and bone structure must all be assessed to arrive at a diagnosis and treatment modality that will bring you the best result possible.

Here is a simplified table that can help you understand what options are available based on your specific physical examination:

Decision analysis and patient education in treating soft tissue components in the aging neck:

Fat	Muscle	Skin	Bone	Treatment
+	no laxity	adequate	Adequate	Liposuction
+	+	adequate	Adequate	Submentalplasty
+/-	+	+	Adequate	neck lift / facelift
+/-	+/-	+/-	Inadequate	neck lift / facelift + chin augmentation**

* Visible or lax medial border platysma bands. Treatments include resection, plication, incising, botox

** Chin augmentation technique options include hyaluronic acid fillers, autologous fat grafting, chin augmentation, genioplasty or orthognathic surgery.

Adapted from source: Matarasso, 2014 : Managing the components of the aging neck.