The Evolution of Surgical Facelifts

With the rise of non-surgical skin rejuvenation and body contouring treatments, are facelifts a procedure of the past? While it may seem as though everyone’s getting Botox these days, there’s still a high demand for surgical facelifts. However, unlike the facelifts of the past, now the procedure offers better, more natural results with less downtime.

At Legacy Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics, our surgeons, Dr. Kim and Dr. Wingate combine decades of experience with the latest techniques and technology to provide patients with exceptional results.

Patients from far beyond Exton, PA, are willing to travel to our world-class skilled surgeons at Legacy Plastic Surgery. 

If your views on facelifts are stuck in the past, read on to learn how modern facelift procedures have evolved, delivering better results than ever.

What Do Surgical Facelifts Accomplish?

Facelift procedures target the visible signs of aging. The practices improve the appearance of the face and neck by addressing the following skin concerns:

• Skin looseness or laxity that causes sagging
• Deep fold lines that form between the nose and the corners of the mouth
• Loss of volume in the cheeks
• Jowls along the jawline
• Loose skin or excess fat in the neck

Over time, loss of collagen and elastin can cause the skin to be thinner, lose volume, and form fine lines and wrinkles. Facelifts are the most effective, comprehensive solution to reduce the signs of aging.

Facelifts of the Past

Surgical facelift procedures began around the 20th century, with the first known surgery occurring in 1901. The first procedures only removed excess skin and pulled the remaining skin together, tightening it over the face. 

Facelifts continued to evolve, becoming increasingly popular after World War I. In addition, as physicians increased their knowledge of human anatomy, their surgical techniques advanced.

In the 1980s, a new technique for surgical facelifts emerged: the sub-facial dissection. The procedure allowed surgeons to lift the skin independently of the muscles and connective tissues that connect the skin to the body. Those tissues, known as the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS), give the face its structure. 

Facelifts could now provide dramatic, natural-looking results by lifting the skin without disturbing the SMAS. 

Facelifts may have smoothed wrinkles and tightened loose, sagging skin. Still, despite these developments, they also tended to result in an overly tight, pulled look that seemed inevitable as recently as the early 2000s. 

However, recent improvements in everything from our knowledge of how the body changes with age to the direction in which facelifts lift make surgical facelifts a fully evolved procedure. 

How Are Facelift Procedures Different Now?

Surgical facelifts have become simpler, safer, and less expensive in recent years. Patients who shied away from the procedures in the past because they felt the results made them look fake or overly tight and pulled now enjoy more subtle, natural-looking enhancements that freshen their look.

New technologies, a better understanding of anatomy and aging, and updated techniques have drastically changed facelift procedures. Here’s what those pursuing a facelift now can expect:

Better Understanding of Facial Aging

There was a lack of understanding of the anatomical changes that caused facial aging in the past. When a patient underwent a facelift, the surgeons would surgically lift and tailor the skin without addressing the underlying causes of skin laxity, wrinkles, and other issues. 

As a result, after surgery, patients had the tight skin promised but lacked the fresh, youthful look they hoped to achieve. A new understanding of the changes the body experiences that cause the appearance of aging skin allows surgeons to offer comprehensive results that address more skin concerns, like volume loss.

More Customized Procedures

In the past, all facelifts pulled the skin horizontally, drawing the skin sideways. Now, patients may undergo traditional facelifts, which tend to pull sideways, or vertical facelifts, which often focus on the lower face and pull vertically to address hanging skin on the chin or jaw and neck area. 

Facelifts no longer work as a one-method-fits-all procedure and now include several ways to customize the technique to achieve your goals better.

Longer Lasting, More Natural Results

Updated facelift techniques allow surgeons to delve deeper during surgery. Now, surgical facelifts can go under the fascia enveloping the facial muscles. Using this technique, surgeons release ligaments that previously hindered their ability to lift facial tissue. 

Surgeons can replace sagging tissue with this new methodology, offering a more natural and long-lasting result.

Combined Procedures

Patients who choose a facelift may also rejuvenate aging eyes in the same surgical procedure by adding a brow lift or eyelid surgery. They can also restore facial volume through a fat transfer procedure or combine a facelift with a neck lift. 

Most patients prefer to recover from one surgery that addresses multiple concerns, and newly evolved facelifts allow that. 

Shortened Recovery Time

While the recovery from a facelift surgery depends on several factors, all patients now enjoy a faster recovery. 

Generally, most patients can expect to fully recover from their procedure in two to three weeks. However, patients who chose a mini-facelift often return to work and normal activities in about a week. 

More Facelift Options than Ever Before

The last twenty years have evolved facelifts of the past into a new, customizable procedure that offers better results and more options than ever before. If you’ve ever considered restoring your youthful appearance through a surgical facelift, you owe it to yourself to learn what the procedure can do for you. 

Legacy Plastic Surgery’s convenient location in Exton, PA, serves the surrounding areas and other communities throughout the state and Delaware. 

Call our offices today to schedule your personal consultation with our expert team.