Facelift

A facelift is the gold-standard method of facial rejuvenation, especially when you are concerned by jowls and a sagging neck. However, the term ‘facelift’ is often used to refer to a surgical procedure that actually includes a range of different procedures with different outcomes and implications. Understanding what a facelift entails and the intricacies of each variation is key to ensuring you choose an option that best addresses your concerns.

Finding the right treatment for you

The Full Facelift

Find out more about our full facelift surgical procedures.

View treatment

Deep plane face & neck lift

Find out more about the deep plane face and neck lift.

View treatment

Volumetric Facelift

Find out more about the volumetric facelift.

View treatment

Non-surgical facelift

Find out more about non-surgical facelifts.

View treatment

What is a facelift?

Contrary to the name, surgical facelifts do not impact the entire face – but rather the lower face and neck and to a lesser extent the cheek. Most patients who have a facelift procedure also undergo additional procedures such as eyelid surgery or laser skin resurfacing to achieve a more comprehensive result. The facelift predominantly works by removing excess tissues from areas where they accumulate on the face – especially the jowls and neck. It is especially effective to remove loose skin and tissue from the jawline and neck, it is achieved by making incisions around the ears, repositioning the facial muscles, and then removing excess skin or sagging skin to create a smoother and more refreshed appearance. While highly effective at remodelling the lower face and neck, a facelift has minimal impact on the cheeks and mouth area – and virtually no impact on the eyes, brows or forehead. For that reason, a facelift is often combined with other surgical and non-surgical procedures to address changes in the other areas of the face.

Modern facelifts

In decades gone by, our understanding of the ageing process was more limited. We assumed that the face aged as a result of gravity, causing the tissues to drop – therefore, facelift surgery evolved based on pulling tissues as tight as possible. However, in their efforts to reposition the tissues to a more youthful position, surgeons found that pulling tighter resulted in an unnatural, “windswept” appearance – a tell-tale sign of having had surgery.

It has only been in the last few decades that we’ve come to truly understand the effect of volume loss on the face and how this impacts the three-dimensional facial structure. Consequently, the modern approach to full facelifts revolves around holistic volume restoration to the entire face, skin rejuvenation as well as the surgical part of the facelift.

There are many different technical variations of how to perform a surgical facelift. We utilise the deep plane facelift technique, which involves going deeper into the tissues of the face to truly release and reposition the retaining ligaments of the face – rather than simply pulling the tissues tighter. This is a more advanced, and time consuming type of facelift to perform but we use this technique because it creates the most natural and long lasting results.