COSMETIC SURGERY

Face lift

Different people's faces age differently but each is affected by a combination of heredity, gravity and lifestyle. Gravity tends to pull soft facial tissues downward, creating sags, lines and lost definition in the jaw line and chin. Skin loses its elasticity and facial fat leading to sagging features. Exposure to ultraviolet light and smoking also cause premature aging.

A face lift can now smooth and redefine the contour of the neck and jaw line to create a more youthful, more vital appearance, without the ‘tight' unnatural look of older face lift procedures. Advances in surgical techniques, anaesthesia and understanding of the process of change in soft tissues and muscles of the face in recent years have meant the development of safer and more satisfying outcomes, with shorter recovery time.

The choice of surgical procedure is determined by assessment of individual facial changes and patients' desires and expectations, combined with a review of your general medical history. Frequently, facelifts are combined with other procedures including brow lift, lip enhancement and eyelid surgery. All procedures result in scars discreetly placed in the hairline and skin creases but generally these face rapidly and, indeed, endoscopic (keyhole) surgery can avoid any facial scars. Some numbness in front of the ears is usual but normally disappears after a few months. The range of facelift procedures includes:

The Volumetric facelift

To correct loss of fat in the face and a gaunt or hollow appearance, transfer by injection of the patient's own fat to the face can be used in combination with modified facelift procedures.

The Volumetric facelift

This evolved from advances in facial reconstructive surgery where the soft tissues were lifted from the underlying facial bones to allow correction of severe disfigurements of facial bone growth. The surgeon repositions the entire facial 'mask', lifted to produce a more youthful appearance. In general, the mask lift is suitable for younger people with heavy brows, 'tired eyes' and sagging of the cheeks.