Facelift

The facelift is the gold-standard surgery in facial rejuvenation. It lifts and tightens areas of the face that have declined aesthetically over time. By skillfully manipulating not only the facial skin, but the complex musculature and tissues beneath it, an expert surgeon can transform your features to enhance smooth wrinkles and lines, and help you tighten loose skin. As results from modern face lifting procedures are both striking and natural-looking, it is a hugely popular cosmetic procedure that provides patients with long-lasting aesthetic results.

As one of the top plastic surgeons in California, Dr. Tim Neavin is a skilled practitioner who specializes in facial rejuvenation procedures, body contouring, and aesthetic breast procedures. He reflects your unique beauty by performing the most suited face-lifting technique to help you meet and exceed your beauty goals. At Artisan of Beauty Plastic Surgery in Beverly Hills, Dr. Neavin can help you revitalize your face and regain your youthful visage once more. To schedule a personal consultation to discuss facelifts, please call (310) 858-8811, or set up your visit with us via our inquiry form.

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About the Facelift

The facelift has been a popular cosmetic surgery for many decades. It offers patients a more comprehensive, long-term solution to common signs of aging that semi-permanent treatments like Botox and dermal fillers just can’t achieve. 

Facial Aging

Aging affects our appearance in many different ways. Wrinkles and lines can become more permanently etched into the face as time progresses. We may notice our jowls are more prominent. In addition to this, both men and women notice a decline in their skin’s elasticity as they get older. The nasolabial folds, the folds of skin between the nose and the mouth, are more prominent, which can affect the overall appearance of our face. The decrease in key components of skin structure like collagen and elastin can cause noticeable sagging, which is almost impossible to address without surgical intervention. But perhaps just as important are the volume changes that occur with facial aging.  Fat loss in the cheeks and temples and forehead contributes to the aged appearance, and must not be ignored when performing a facelift.

Unsurprisingly, there are multiple techniques in modern facelifting. These include incisions of varying lengths, and surgeons can tailor facelift surgeries to a patient’s unique facial anatomy and can meet the specific aesthetic requirements asked of them. In most instances, patients want to steer clear of the old-fashioned “pulled” look of the past. Thankfully, the facelift has advanced to a point where natural-looking results are not only possible but expected. With the addition of fat (fat transfer), much more natural results can be achieved.

The main goals of the facelift are to restore a more youthful appearance in the face. It does so through the removal of excess skin and fat. It can address numerous signs of aging, including:

Dr. Neavin achieves effective facial rejuvenation results by placing strategic incisions at specific points. He then elevates the skin to reveal the facial musculature and its surrounding tissues, the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS); a key factor in many facelift procedures.

Understanding the SMAS

The SMAS is an interconnected system of muscles and connective tissues that, along with our bone structure, is responsible for the way our face looks. It’s a fibrous network of facial muscles that control our expressions, and the layer of tissue home to collagen, elastin: the dermis (the deepest layer of the skin). ⁽²⁾ 

According to surgeon reports, around 50% of all facelifts have some kind of SMAS dissection and manipulation. ⁽³⁾ Dr. Neavin offers the SMAS facelift technique to patients with deeper, more entrenched lines, for whom it will produce optimal rejuvenation results, along with facial fat transfer to specific regions of the face to create a more natural-looking result.

Benefits of the Facelift

Facelift surgery helps hundreds of thousands of people across the United States achieve their beauty goals. Some of the key benefits of the facelift include the following.

Research confirms that facial fat volume diminishes with age. As a result, facial fat transfer has become an extremely popular facet of many facelift procedures. ⁽⁴⁾ Dr. Neavin offers fat transfer with every facelift procedure for cases in which it would optimize patient results.

Candidates for Facelift Procedure

Healthy adults in their  40s, 50s, and 60s may benefit most from a facelift. Where patients have deeper lines and prominent wrinkles, and there is severe skin laxity in the facial profile, a facelift can achieve dramatic, lasting results. As one of the most comprehensive ways to rejuvenate the face, face lifting is extremely popular. However, you may wish to seek a facial rejuvenation procedure if you:

To find out if a facelift is suitable for your needs, book a personal consultation with Dr. Neavin at Artisan of Beauty Plastic Surgery.

Personal Consultation

Dr. Neavin is a skilled plastic surgeon with an artistic flair and a deep understanding of his patients’ desires. He creates a tailored treatment plan by gathering information and getting to know his patients on a personal level. At your personal consultation in Beverly Hills, Dr. Neavin will ask you about your medical history, if you have had any prior facial surgeries (cosmetic or otherwise), and what you’re looking to gain from a facelift procedure. He will perform a thorough examination of your facial skin, noting the prominence of wrinkles and lines and the severity of the skin’s laxity.

Facelift Procedures

SMAS Facelift

The SMAS facelift alters the underlying muscles and tissues of the face as well as the skin for a tightened effect. It may involve plication (folding) and imbrication (overlapping). After exposing the SMAS, Dr. Neavin adjusts the SMAS, lifting and trimming the necessary tissue where indicated. Depending on your treatment plan, the SMAS facelift may involve fat transfer. Once the manipulation of facial tissues is complete, and the necessary skin is removed, he redrapes the overlying skin and sutures it at a higher position.

Sub-SMAS Facelift

Dr. Neavin also offers the sub-SMAS facelift. This technique goes deeper still than the SMAS and may involve the manipulation of lower levels of retaining ligaments that connect the SMAS to the periosteum (the thin layer of tissue that covers the bone). The sub-SMAS technique, sometimes known as the extended SMAS technique, can provide midface rejuvenation (from below the cheekbone to above the upper lip), which may not otherwise be achieved with a standard SMAS facelift procedure. ⁽⁵⁾

Mini Facelift

The definition of a mini facelift varies from surgeon to surgeon. Usually, it is indicated for patients who wish to tighten a specific area of the face; namely the jowls and upper neck. It does not focus on the SMAS, but instead seeks to “fine tune” a targeted section of the face for less extensive, but natural-looking results. As less of the face is operated on, there are smaller incision points which can result in shorter, barely visible scars after healing.

Neck Lift

Some patients may wish to combine a facelift procedure with a neck lift. This surgery requires the excision of skin and tissue in both the face and the neck area with incision points around the ears, down the back of the neck, and under the chin. A neck lift as a standalone procedure is suitable for patients with excessive skin laxity in the neck, or for patients with prominent platysmal banding (muscle bands in the neck), but who have very little visible sagging in the face.

Results

One of the most attractive features of the facelift is that it is a precise, intensive rejuvenation surgery that achieves more permanent results than other, less-invasive techniques. Patients who maintain a healthy lifestyle, with a balanced diet and regular exercise can see the results last for many years after their procedure, with some lasting up to a decade. Patients who opt for a SMAS facelift will be encouraged to know that these results may last longer. Encouraging research suggests that, on average,  a well-performed SMAS facelift could last up to 12 years. ⁽⁶⁾

Cost of a Facelift in Beverly Hills, CA

The cost of your facelift will depend on a number of individual factors including the type of facelift Dr. Neavin deems best for your needs, and whether you choose to combine it with another procedure, such as a neck lift. Financing may be available to qualified candidates. 

Contact Artisan of Beauty Plastic Surgery to book your personal facelift consultation with Dr. Neavin and take the first step towards a more youthful visage.

If you’re traveling to Los Angeles from farther afield, Dr. Neavin has formulated a helpful travel guide to help you manage your hotel booking smoothly and efficiently. To find out more about surgical procedures and med spa treatments at Artisan of Beauty, please read our blog and join us on our social media pages.

References

1. Raggio, B. S., & Patel, B. C. (2021). Deep Plane Facelift. Retrieved from PubMed website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545277/ 
2. Whitney ZB, Jain M, Zito PM. Anatomy, Skin, Superficial Musculoaponeurotic System (SMAS) Fascia. PubMed. Published 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519014/ 
3. Whitney ZB, Jain M, Zito PM. Anatomy, Skin, Superficial Musculoaponeurotic System (SMAS) Fascia. PubMed. Published 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519014/ 
4. Caplin, D. A., & Perlyn, C. A. (2010). Facelifts: A Contemporary Perspective. Missouri Medicine, 107(3), 195–197. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6188335/ 
5. del Toro, E., & Aldrich, J. (2021). Extended SMAS Facelift. Retrieved from PubMed website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562296/ 
6. ​​Sundine, M. J., Kretsis, V., & Connell, B. F. (2010). Longevity of SMAS facial rejuvenation and support. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 126(1), 229–237. https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181ce1806