Am I a Good Candidate For a Face Lift?
By David Reid | Published on December 1, 2009 | 0 Comments
Dr. David S. Reid is a cosmetic surgeon at New Dimensions Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery. Located in Belleville, Illinois, Dr. Reid is a member of both the American Medical Association and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. He is a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and has been in practice since 1995. In this article, he explains what makes a person a good candidate for a face lift.
As long as someone is in good health and has realistic expectations, I think pretty much any man or woman could be considered a good candidate for a face lift. Most people have a good amount of fatty tissue that sits right under their neck skin, and that is something we can easily reduce with this procedure.
My average face lift patient is probably in her mid 50s. But, of course, that is just an average. I also have patients coming in and asking for face lifts who are anywhere from their mid to late 30s, all the way up in age. I have actually done a couple of face lifts on gals who were much older. But as long as a patient is in otherwise good health, this procedure can easily be done to produce a great result.
Now, when you are talking about a face lift, what you a really talking about is a neck lift. It’s a bit of a misnomer to call it a face lift, since essentially what you are doing is lifting the skin around the neck and getting rid of the fat.
What we are really doing with a face lift is removing the fatty areas from the face and neck and then taking the bands of muscle from underneath the chin, tightening them, and stitching them together. Those are the muscles that are just underneath the skin, and we are able to give people a great result with this.
In terms of the incisions that have to be made, when we are doing a face lift on a patient that means we are loosening the skin under the jaw line all the way from under the chin to the ears. At the same time, these incisions allow us to greatly reduce prominent jowls during the face lift, a benefit that a lot of patients really appreciate.
For those who may not know, the jowls are the area that can kind of bulge below the jaw line for some people, although certainly not all people. The jowls are the tricky area that isn’t exactly located at the chin. It is hard to exactly pinpoint the jowls, but they essentially sit back from the chin and below the neck on many people. So the word jowl refers to the skin or fatty tissue that can hang below the jaw line.
Obviously, hanging jowls isn’t a youthful look, which is why many people request that we reduce their jowls during the face lift procedure. As you get older—well into your 40s, 50s, and 60s, especially—it is just a natural thing that the jowls become more prominent. So we can give people back their youthful look by reducing the size of their jowl area during the face lift procedure.
With face lifts, patients often seek to have more than one procedure done at once. This is definitely something we can accommodate. Cosmetic procedures like eyelid lifts, forehead lifts, and nose reshaping can all be done in conjunction with a face lift. By doing that, patients can have just one surgery and come out with a drastically new look.
So essentially, as long as you are in good health, your age does not matter a great deal when it comes to having a face lift. I have worked on patients of all ages with this, and it really has much more to do with expectations and health than anything else.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
Tags: face lift, plastic surgery
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*Disclaimer: The information on this website is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.