As we age, the effects of gravity and the use of our facial muscles, cause changes that occur to the soft tissues of the face, giving a 'tired' appearance. Skin becomes looser, fat descends, and muscle 'banding' takes place in the neck. Wrinkles begin to appear in the skin, along with other changes, signaling a maturing appearance.

The surgical procedure known as a facelift or "Rhytidectomy" is performed to temporarily reverse some of the facial changes that come with aging, though this surgery prcedure cannot reverse or repair all changes. Through well placed, inconspicuous incisions around the ears and hairline, the tissues of the face can be accessed, repositioned, and excessive tissues are removed. Facelifts only "set back the clock"; the constant pull of gravity cannot be stopped.

The facelift surgery procedure can be combined with other procedures, such as eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), Browlift Surgery (Forehead lift), and/or chin augmentation, either at the time of the facelift surgery or in a step-by-step approach.

Your plastic surgeon will gather your complete medical history, with particular emphasis on your weight, any possible underlying medical issues such as High Blood Pressure or rick of heart related conditions, history of cigarette smoking, and bleeding tendencies. Your personal skin care regimen will be reviewed as well.

In Addition, a Complete physical examination of your facial features is performed, including your upper face or brow, eyelids, midface/cheeks, and neck. An examination of your chin as it relates to your other facial features and bone structure is also reviewed. The doctor vocalizes what he sees to give you a complete and thorough overview of how he perceives your appearance has been affected by aging, with an eye for detail as to how each component relates to the other, and what might be done to improve each feature/component surgically.

You may decide that you do not want to take advantage of every aspect of treatment that is available for facial rejuvenation, but make sure you know and understand about every available approach and what each surgical approach can offer. Plastic Surgery by its true nature is an art, and the application of any approach to treatment must be custom tailored to the individual patient’s goals and desires.

Beyond what your surgeon will provide in terms of surgically treatable facial aging, there are many other areas of treatment that can improve your appearance that may be of equal and/or even greater value. These procedures and treatments include injectable fillers to treat lines, lips and scars, skin care which addresses facial aging components such as sun damage, prominent blood vessels, and wrinkles, cosmetic dental treatments which can make a striking improvement on your appearance, new hair styling, cut, and coloring can also help distract attention from any indications of facial surgery, and a makeup consultation. When you see someone who looks years younger than his or her age, it is very likely that there is more to it than just the services of a talented plastic surgeon.

Often, to communicate visually what is possible with facial plastic surgery, Your Surgeon will demonstrate the anticipated effect of the facelift using a sophisticated and advanced computer-imaging program. After taking a digital image of your face, your surgeon can then "transform" your image witht he use of a computer, and can give you a realistic idea of how the facelift results. Though this type of service is not a warranty of the results of surgery, it can offer the best educated guess technology and good judgment has to offer.

Any complications following facelift surgery procedure are infrequent and usually minor. However, individuals vary greatly in their physical reactions to any surgery, including their healing tendencies, scarring potential, and certainly in their psychological reaction to the effect of surgery.

These complications include infection, hematoma (collection of blood under the skin that must be removed by the surgeon), injury to nerves that control facial muscles (this is usually temporary), and any possible reactions to medications. Poor wound healing is has been recorded in cases where the patient is a smoker, thus your surgeon will most likely not perform a facelift surgery procedure unless you are committed to quitting smoking for atleast a mnth before and two weeks following your surgery.

Any scarring from a facelift surgery are normally very inconspicuous, but in some ethnic cases these scars may be more obvious as a consequence of that person’s tendency to form thick scars. This cannot be predicted before surgery, but treatmenta are available to minimize the appearance of thickened scars. Certainly, any history of poor quality or 'thick' scars should be mentioned to your surgeon at the time of the consultation.

*Content Courtesy of San Jose Plastic Surgeon Dr Craig Creasman