Full Facelift

What Is A Full Facelift?

A “full “ facelift means the entire face is lifted. That means your forehead, brows, eyes, jawline and neck.

But a full facelift isn’t just one surgery. Since you’re lifting the entire face, different surgeries are indicated for specific anatomic areas. If your brows are descending, then you will need a browlift as part of your overall “full facelift.” But the two main options are trichophytic (within hairline) or endoscopic browlift. If your upper eyelid skin is sagging and hanging over your eyes, you will benefit from an upper blepharoplasty.

Similarly, if you have bags under your eyes, you may consider a lower blepharoplasty to suspend the lower eyes.  Jowling and loose neck skin are addressed with a rhytidectomy, or facelift. Rhytidectomy delivers the most dramatic result because it is resuspending deep muscular-fascia of your face (the SMAS) to rejuvenate your jawline and remove excess skin.

What Is The Difference Between A Full Facelift and Lower Facelift?

Aging affects all of us and the ultimate manifestation is sagging of our skin and fat. As you are aware, there are numerous non surgical and minimally invasive options available to rejuvenate your sagging tissue. A major reason is no one wants to go under the knife. A facelift sounds scary to most of us, yet we are attracted to the promise a facelift can make us look much younger. That’s why non surgical options are so popular in the world today. But there comes a time when your degree of aging is too much for Botox, fillers, or energy based devices to overcome. When you start to seriously consider a facelift, you may have heard terms like full facelift or lower facelift.

But the vast majority of patients inquiring about facelifts are primarily bothered by their cervicofacial jowling (the sagging at the jawline, corners of mouth) as well as loose neck skin. Some may also have fat under the chin along with loose neck skin. In these more common scenarios, a “full facelift” is not the option because the patient is happy with his or her brows and eyes.

The patients are candidates for what most surgeons describe as “lower facelift.” This term describes the target of lifting—your sagging jowls and loose neck. The goal of a lower facelift is to recreate a strong and youthful jawline, and improve the neck skin appearance.

A lower facelift is one procedure, not various procedures. There may be adjunctive procedures indicated to enhance your facelift that may be offered by your surgeon, but they are not considered part of a formal lower facelift. Some of these adjunctive procedures include liposuction, cheek or chin implants, fat transfer, or skin resurfacing (ie CO2 laser, chemical peels).

When Should You Consider A Full Facelift?

Are you tired of all those non invasive derma treatments for your face that have cost an arm and a leg that promise to tighten, tone and remove wrinkles from your aging face?  Get the permanent solution to remove those jowls, deep creases around your nose and mouth, and the deep wrinkles of your neck and face and your sagging neck and get a full facelift.

A full facelift will require a longer recovery since you will have more swelling and bruising. In both procedures, pain is not significant. Many complain of tightness or soreness, but rarely major pain. You may have trouble opening your eyes in the first few days after a full facelift (or if you have laser treatment around your eyes) due to the swelling. A full facelift will also demand more wound care actions since there are more incisions to care. While full facelift may see slightly longer swelling and bruising, in general, you can return to full duty and exercise in about two weeks. Most of our patients can return to work or into the public after one week. Cost is obviously higher if you have a full facelift.

What’s The Difference Between A Full Versus Lower Facelift?

While a traditional full facelift addresses sagging in the cheek (mid-face), jowl, and neck, a lower facelift focuses primarily on the jawline and neck.

The incision locations are similar, but a lower facelift may tighten only the platysma, or neck muscles, rather than the entire SMAS layer. A lower facelift can be good for younger patients with early aging of the lower face.”

What Exactly Does A Full Facelift Include?

The face is one of the most important regions of the body, capable of making or breaking a first impression. So if sagging skin, wrinkles, loss of volume, and other signs of aging have you feeling like less than your best self, it may be time to consider your options. Fortunately, a full face lift is an excellent choice for anyone who is seeking to revive the look of their face and take years off of their appearance. So if you are wondering what exactly is included in a full facelift, you have come to the right place. Here is what you need to know.