Facelift and Neck Lift

Congratulations on your weight loss success. As a result of your weight loss, you may have loose skin throughout your face and neck, in addition to a loss of facial volume and muscular banding in your neck.

About Facelifts and Neck Lifts

These changes can make you appear much older than your actual age. In addition, constant sun exposure, pollution exposure, certain lifestyle habits (e.g., smoking) and hereditary traits can also contribute to the premature signs of aging throughout your face and neck. Furthermore, as we age, the skin cells slowly stop generating collagen and elastin, two proteins that are crucial for healthy, youthful-looking skin. Without these proteins, the skin loses its elasticity and starts to droop. Fat becomes displaced and muscle tone is lost.

All these factors can lead to the development of wrinkles, deep folds and creases, sagging skin and hollow-looking pockets throughout the face. The chin and neck areas are commonly affected by visible signs of aging as well, including jowls hanging off the jaw line, loose skin drooping off the chin and neck, and vertical banding of the neck muscles.

Fortunately, Dr. Michaels performs facelift and neck lift cosmetic surgery to combat the visible signs of aging. No one can stop the aging process entirely, but with facial rejuvenation surgery, Dr. Michaels can stave off visible signs of aging, helping you look as young as you feel. Dr. Michaels’ goal is to leave you with a natural and rejuvenated appearance, not a “tight, pulled look.”

Procedure

Facelift surgery is a suspensory procedure designed to lift the soft facial tissue to a more youthful position. Dr. Michaels repositions the deep connective tissue in the face, called the superficial muscular aponeurotic system (SMAS), to improve the look of the cheeks and jaw line.

Dr. Michaels has extensive experience in a range of facelift techniques. The standard facelift approach is performed under general anesthesia. During your consultation, Dr. Michaels will discuss with you whether it is safe for this procedure to be performed on an outpatient or inpatient basis. The procedure involves making an incision that runs adjacent to the sideburn hairline, extends in front of the ear and continues beneath the earlobe to the back of the ear, terminating in the posterior scalp region.

The plastic surgeon separates the skin from the underlying SMAS, tightens the underlying SMAS layer to re-elevate your facial tissue to a more youthful position, excises the excess skin and then closes the incisions with stitches. Because many patients have lost facial volume, especially in the malar (cheek) region, Dr. Michaels often combines autologous fat grafting with his facelift procedures to optimize your results. This restoration of volumes gives a very natural, rejuvenated result.

Before and After Photos

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Combining Neck Lift With Facelift

Often, a facelift is combined with a neck lift procedure to rejuvenate your appearance by defining the jawline and accentuating the cervicomental angle in your neck. To perform the neck lift, Dr. Michaels uses the same incisions that he did with the facelift, but he will make an additional incision hidden beneath the chin. He uses this incision underneath the chin to access and tighten the musculature in the neck.

The two main neck lift approaches are cervicoplasty and platysmaplasty. With cervicoplasty, Dr. Michaels eliminates the excess skin hanging off the neck, creating a smoother, younger-looking contour. With platysmaplasty, he tightens the musculature in the neck to correct the appearance of the vertical banding. With either procedure, Dr. Michaels often first performs liposuction of the neck and jawline to help remove excess fat deposits. This also helps to release the tissues of the neck, allowing Dr. Michaels to re-drape the skin in a more favorable position.

Neck Lift Surgery Without Facelift

For some weight loss patients, their concerns center on the redundant skin that remains under the chin, without a desire for a facelift. An isolated neck lift can be performed using the chin incision and a limited incision that begins at the base of the ears and extends posteriorly behind the ears and into the scalp. These incisions allow Dr. Michaels to both tighten the muscles of the neck and to remove the excess skin. For patients that have extensive skin excess throughout the neck, Dr. Michaels performs a specialized procedure that directly excises this excess skin. This is most commonly reserved for patients that have undergone significant weight loss.

Consultation

During your consultation, Dr. Michaels will examine your facial anatomy and carefully listen to your aesthetic concerns. He will then develop a personally tailored treatment plan. During your evaluation, Dr. Michaels may also discuss with you the need for adjunct procedures such as eyelid surgery, brow lifting, fat grafting (fat transfer) or injectable filler treatment to enhance your facial rejuvenation results. You can also learn about other body contouring procedures, such as arm lift, thigh lift and tummy tuck surgery.

If you are concerned that you look older than the way you or feel or that you look older than your actual age and you are ready to do something about it, it is time to learn more about your facial rejuvenation options. With facelift and neck lift surgery, you can recapture your youthful appearance, so your outward appearance matches your inner vitality.

Quick Facts

To schedule a one-on-one consultation with Dr. Michaels to find out more about your facial rejuvenation treatment options, contact Michaels Aesthetic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery by calling 301-468-5991 or 703-957-8610 or by clicking here.