A facelift in Seattle, WA has numerous benefits. With all the non-surgical or minimally invasive options available for facial rejuvenation, you might wonder why anyone would still consider having a facelift performed. Although a facelift is a more complicated procedure than injections or fillers and requires more recovery time, the benefits of a face lift outweigh the drawbacks of a face lift for many patients. If you’re thinking about a facelift or wondering whether you should have a facelift as opposed to one of the less invasive procedures for facial rejuvenation, read on to learn about the benefits of the procedure to help you decide if it’s the choice for you.
There are significant benefits to a facelift if you are looking for facial rejuvenation. These include:
- Most Effective Way to Deal with Your Neck
- Long Lasting Results
- Most Likely to Make You Happy with Your Results
- A More Dramatic but Natural Result
- Can be Combined with Other Procedures to Get Even Better Results
There are probably more benefits to a facelift that could be discussed but let’s look at each of the ones listed in more detail.
Most Effective Way to Deal with Your Neck
Excess neck skin, neck fat and bands in the neck are very difficult to get reasonable results with any technique other than a facelift that includes the neck. Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion about what the difference between a neck lift and a facelift is. Almost all facelifts deal with the neck and a neck lift is really a lower facelift.
We do not have any truly effective non-surgical treatments to improve the neck unless the problem is simply fat ,in which case Kybella works quite well. While many physicians will tout the benefits of treatments like Ultherapy, Skintite or Cool Sculpt, the fact is that these treatments cannot provide a quality long term result. In fact, the satisfaction ratings for them continues to drop and many physicians have dropped them from their armamentarium.
A surgical neck lift or facelift approach is still the best way to fix that sagging wrinkled neck.
LONG-LASTING RESULTS
One big benefit of a facelift, especially when compared to other procedures, is how long the results are expected to last. The results from injectables such as Botox typically last for a few months. The results from injectable fillers like Juvederm, Voluma and Radiesse last for a few months to up to two years. The filler Bellafill will last a much longer time but it is primarily used for fixing smile lines, lip wrinkles or smoker’s lines and lower eyelid bags.
The results from a facelift can often last for up to a decade, if not longer.
Interestingly, patients who had the surgery performed at a younger age were more likely to remain satisfied with their results many years later. A study published in 2012 in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery found that nearly 98 percent of patients who had undergone SMAS facelift were happy with their results a year after the surgery. Nearly 70 percent of patients remained satisfied with their results after more than 12 years.
The researchers then divided the study participants into groups based on their age. Those in the under-50 group were more likely to be satisfied with the results after a year and again after more than 12 years than people over age 60.
The bottom line is that the satisfaction from a facelift is very high and even higher if facelift surgery is performed prior to around 60 years of age.
LIKELY TO MAKE YOU HAPPIER
Another major benefit of facelift surgery is that a facelift improves people’s self-confidence and esteem. A 2013 study in the medical literature looked at people’s perceptions of themselves after they had undergone a plastic surgery facelift procedure. The study examined 544 plastic surgery patients, comparing them to 264 people who had thought about surgery but decide not to have it. The study then compared all of these patients to 1,000 people who had never considered facelift surgery at all.
An overwhelming majority of patients who had facelift surgery had realistic expectations for their surgery. Just 12 percent were expecting the surgery to completely change them or solve an issue.
Those who had realistic expectations for their surgery were more likely to report feeling healthier and less anxious than people didn’t have surgery. Most patients who had surgery felt that the area that was operated on was more attractive than before. They also felt that they were more attractive in general.
FACELIFTS CAN LOOKS NATURAL
Facelift surgery has come a long way since the early days of the procedure. There are certainly examples of bad plastic surgery in which the patient’s face has been pulled too tight but that does not need to be the case anymore. The methods used by Dr. Windle are more advanced and focus on the underlying muscle, not just the skin of the face, to create a natural look.
The newer facelift methods avoid the pulled back, tightened look commonly associated with surgeries of the past. The face and neck is lifted to where it was rather than pulled back. The incisions made during a facelift procedure are placed in inconspicuous spots, such as behind the ears or in the hairline, meaning that the scars from the procedure will be barely noticeable, if they are at all. Facelift and neck lift incisions are also much shorter today than they were. This is the so called limited incision approach to facelifts and neck lifts.
CAN BE COMBINED WITH OTHER PROCEDURES
Everyone’s face is different, meaning that an option that works for one person might not be the best for another. Therefore, a facelift should be tailored to suit the individual.
A facelift procedure can be truly customized to fit each patient’s needs. One way to customize a facelift is to perform it with another procedure. An advantage to having two surgeries performed at once is that it cuts down on recovery time and cost.
For example, you may decide to have a brow lift performed at the same time as your facelift. While a facelift focuses on the lower third of the face, a brow lift focuses on rejuvenating the forehead area. Having the surgeries performed together will create a harmonious appearance, as all parts of the face will look refreshed.
Another common example is combining a neck lift or face lift with permanent filler to not only tighten the skin but add volume back to areas that a facelift typically will not help. Bellafill works beautifully around the mouth and under the eyes in conjunction with a neck or facelift.
American and Canadian board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Brian Windle is available to answer any questions you might have about facelift surgery, either on its own or combined with another procedure. To learn more about the benefits of the procedure schedule a consultation today.
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