Quick Procedure With Quick Results - A Contemporary Facelift

The development of jowls and loose neck skin is one of the first signs of facial aging. This is the result of the pull of gravity whose continuous downward pull eventually wins over the attachments of the skin to the underlying tissues. The changing appearance of the jowl neck area is very disturbing for many people.Most do not notice these facial aging signsuntil they see those family or social event pictures where one wonders how those jowls and saggy neck skin could be there.

All facelifts are not done alike. Simplistically, they fall into two main categories....full and limited. Many facelifts done today are of the limited variety and makeup nearly half of all of my facelift operations. Lifestyle lift, Quick lift, Swift Lift, S-Lift, to name a few, are different names for a limited facelift. to name a few of the most prominent and marketed. There are other names as well and there will be more marketed and practice-branding names in the future. But essentially they are all the same (despite what each may claim) with a few minor variations that quite frankly don't mean anything to you as a patient nor to the long-term outcome of the procedure. A full and limited facelift differs in that.....that the limited facelift is to no surprise more limited. Very little work is done in the neck area and the procedure and scar is isolated to in front of the ear. Mechanically, the upward pull of the limited facelift is fairly vertical as opposed to a full facelift which is closer to 45 degrees so that the excess neck tissue can be worked out behind the ear.

The result of a limited facelift is obviously less than that of a full facelift but the results in the jowl and upper neck area can still be quite impressive nonetheless. The key to a very satisfied outcome after a limited facelift is in proper selection of the patient. My approach in patient selection is that it is good for two types of patients. The best patients has only a minor amount of facial aging and is usually younger. These are the perfect patients for the procedure as they will get an ideal result. Furthermore, their 'problem' doesn't merit a full facelift anyway. The other patients who can benefit are those whose jowl and neck issues are more severe, and they would get a better result from a full facelift, but they desire less of an operation for a a variety of personal reasons. As long as they can accept and have been fully apprised that the result will not be similar to a full facelift, they can get good results also. For these type patients, its all about understanding that the results are effort-driven. The less of a procedure you do, the less of a result you will get.

Unlike some advertised plastic surgery procedures, the limited facelift lives up to its hype. It is a 60 to 90 minute outpatient procedure that requires no drains or dressings. A good social recovery (how do I look?) does take only about a week. Other than some mild ear tenderness, there really is no pain. When combined with other facial procedures (which may require a more normal recovery), even more dramatic changes can be achieved.

Dr Barry Eppley, board-certified plastic surgeon of Indianapolis, is in private practice at Clarian North and West Medical Centers in suburban Indianapolis. He writes a daily blog on plastic surgery at http://www.exploreplasticsurgery.com