Facelift
Facial surgery specialists in Valencia
Facelift
Facelift specialists in Valencia and Albacete
General overview
Over the years, the skin of the face loses its tone and firmness, and furrows and folds appear as a result of excess skin, atrophy of the natural fat pads and weakening of the facial ligaments. These features appear as a natural consequence of aging, and can be made worse by various factors such as sun exposure, smoking or stress, among others.
A facelift, also known as a rhytidectomy or face lift surgery, is a surgical rejuvenation technique that improves the tone and tension of the skin, ligaments and muscles of the face and neck. During the procedure the excess skin is removed and the ligaments and muscles are re-tightened through incisions that are covered by the hair and concealed along the edge of the ear and behind it.
Types of facelift
Although this procedure is commonly known as a facelift, there are variants of it that treat different areas of the face and neck.
- Cervicofacial lift: This technique treats sagging, folds and wrinkles on both the face and the neck. The incisions begin at the temple, where they are hidden by the hair, extend towards the ear, concealed along its edge, and then run behind the earlobe to the scalp, where they are also hidden by the hair.
- Facelift: This technique treats only the face, without addressing the neck. It may be chosen over a cervicofacial lift because the patient has good-quality neck skin, without significant wrinkles or folds, or simply out of personal preference. The incisions are similar to those of a cervicofacial lift, without the posterior extension required to treat the neck.
- Neck lift: This technique treats only the neck, without addressing the face. It may be indicated in patients with an aged neck whose facial wrinkles are not marked enough to justify a facelift.
- Brow lift: Aging causes the area between the temple and the upper eyelid to droop, lowering the outer edge of the eyebrow and giving the face, and especially the gaze, a sad, aged appearance. A brow lift is a technique that improves the position and shape of the eyebrows and corrects this age-related drooping. The surgery consists of removing the excess skin through a small incision concealed at the hairline of the eyebrow or in a forehead crease.
A facelift or cervicofacial lift is very often combined with liposuction of the double chin to optimize the results and achieve an even more marked improvement in the facial contour.
In certain cases, it is possible to use liposculpture or infiltration of the patient’s own fat to add volume to areas of the face that have lost their natural volume over time, enhancing the results of the facelift.
When to choose facial fillers and when to choose a facelift?
There are many facial rejuvenation techniques aimed at restoring the volume and tone of the skin of the face, but the most widely used and the ones that achieve the best results are the facelift and fillers with hyaluronic acid.
Fillers with hyaluronic acid can treat patients with mild or moderate signs of aging. However, in cases with more marked signs of aging, fillers do not achieve satisfactory results, and there is a risk of using too much product to overcompensate for existing defects, giving unpleasant and unnatural results. In these more severe cases, a facelift would be justified.
For these reasons, when undergoing facial rejuvenation treatment it is essential to be assessed by a plastic surgeon who is skilled in both hyaluronic acid filler techniques and surgical lifting. Otherwise, if the doctor carrying out the assessment can only use one of the techniques and does not refer patients who need surgery to other specialists, there is a risk of forced, inappropriate indications and suboptimal results.
Our approach to the facelift
Our aim when performing a facelift is to improve appearance and provide natural, harmonious rejuvenation of the face and neck, avoiding changes that could excessively alter our patients’ facial identity. We also limit how aggressive our techniques are, in order to avoid exaggerated results of stretched faces which, despite a significant improvement in their wrinkles, can end up looking artificial.
About the surgery
If you would like to rejuvenate your face in Valencia or Albacete, you can request an appointment with Dr. Enrique Salmerón González, for a personalized assessment of your case and detailed information about the whole process by clicking here.