How long does a facelift last?

 
 
 
Hi, I’m doctor Dan Shapiro I’m board-certified plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of plastic surgery I’ve been practicing the Scottsdale Paradise Valley for over 21years.

Today I’m talk to you about a common question that i get asked in regards to facelifts. That is how long does a facelift last? The answer that question is multifactorial. I think we have to look at someone’s habits. I think we have to look at their genetics. I think we have to look at whether their face is thin or heavy. All those go into the equation along with what sort of stuff that I do will give an indication of how long a facelift lives.

First of all I think you have to understand that when we talk about how long a facelifts lasts it’s different for everybody. I think that you are sending back the clock and you will continue to age more gracefully than had you not had the facelift. When a facelift is “not lasting anymore” it’s not like all of a sudden you look old. I think you’ll continue to look younger than you would have have you not have a facelift. I think that you have to develop some new habits and continue to age gracefully.

One of the different kind of cases that I do, is a mini face up which uses only skin to elevate the cheek area. That is a good procedure for people that don’t have a lot of skin laxity, don’t have heavy jowls, and their neck looks relatively good. That generally includes people between 35 to 50, let’s say with moderately good skin elasticity, generally non-smokers, and generally not a lot of sun exposure. The nice thing about a mini facelift is other procedures can be done with it at the same time. It can be done in the office whether it be having your eyes done with laser resurfacing or fat transfer. So that whole package tends to last longer than had you not had that with a mini facelift.

The other procedure that I do is a more comprehensive facelift and that’s called a SMAS facelift and when I do that procedure I’m actually elevating the deep tissues of the face which include the muscles the fat and the skin. That procedure is more elegant, it addresses the neck and that tends to last longer. It’s difficult to really put a time estimate on that because everybody is different. Some people that have a history of smoking, some people have had significant sun exposure, and some people don’t have full bone structure. In those patients it tends not to last as long. In patients that have the other situation, with no sun exposure, no smoking history, and beautiful bone structure it tends to last longer. So what is that timeframe generally, I would say around 10 years, and longer in patients that have better habits.
Coming in there are things that you can do to prolong the longevity of facelift.

Changing some of the habits that have negative effects, stop smoking, have less sun exposure, using retina bleaching cream and then augmenting that with some maintenance therapy and that would be some fillers. Whether it be fat having laser resurfacing whether we do ball therapy which is a non-invasive skin tightening. Many things can be used to prolong the length of time a facelift will last. If you are considering a facelift, come in and we’ll talk about it and find out if you’re a good candidate. Thank you.


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