Compared to when I started my aesthetics career, more and more people are happy to go under the knife and having the odd nip and tuck. This is mainly due to our favourite celebrities openly confessing to surgical enhancements and it is now increasingly acceptable.
A facelift is a surgical procedure that involves having an anaesthetic and an operation. A consultant plastic surgeon will improve visible signs of ageing by removing fat, elevating and tightening muscles under the skin and removing and repositioning excess or baggy skin. Other procedures can be done at the same time such as a eye brow lift, eye bag removal and neck lift to improve the overall appearance of the face further.
So, yes a facelift is amazing, BUT before you say “I'm opting for a facelift” you need to bear in mind this fact - a facelift focuses on the edges of the face, dermal fillers focus on the middle of the face and Botox focuses on the muscles in the face. So a facelift will lift and tighten the skin but this does not add volume to hollows and flatness or soften wrinkles that are caused by excess muscle movement.
Therefore when considering a facelift, in my professional opinion, you also need to consider a combination of other treatments too - surgery, Botox, dermal filler, skin peels and skin-tightening products will all work together and enhance your face and maintain good wrinkle and tissue volume management.
I often see patients in my clinic who are disappointed following a facelift when they see a tighter skin but wrinkles and hollows still there. People often don't realise that replacing the volume to create a roundness and fullness of the face is a must if you want your facelift to look it's best. Botox and fillers are perfect for refining what the surgeon has put right.
In reality a facelift doesn't remove every wrinkle, if you aimed for that look, your face would be pulled so tight that you would look unnatural, have no normal facial movement or expression and feel very very unconformable. We have all seen the celebrities who have had botched tight facelift and become unrecognisable and not even look human and we all vow to avoid their plastic surgery nightmares. And, in fact, I don't know any reputable plastic surgeon who would perform such a result even if you begged him.
And finally, remember one important fact - the ageing process continues, so a facelift is not a permanent solution, it will not stop you ageing but non surgical facial treatments are a great way to keep wrinkles at bay if you commit to having regularly and long term.
Blog written by Karen Johnson