Every hour of every day, gravity pulls our skin and its underlying support structures downward. Throw in sun damage (particularly in a sunny place like South Carolina!) along with the stresses of daily life, and our faces take a beating. Our cheeks lose volume and sag, deep creases form under the eyes and between our nose and mouth, we develop jowls, and loose skin and fat hang under the chin and jaw.
But a facelift with Dr. Smith can turn back the clock on facial aging, making a person look from 10 to 15 years younger.
Areas that facelifts address
Clinically known as a rhytidectomy (of Greek origin meaning wrinkle + excision), a facelift rejuvenates the mid-to-lower face and neck. Of course, every patient’s needs are unique, and Dr. Smith adapts every facelift to those needs. But overall, these are the target areas of a full facelift:
- Mid-face sagging
- Deep creases under the eyes
- Nasolabial folds (laugh lines)
- Sagging cheeks
- Jowls
- Loose skin and fat under the chin and jaw
Areas that a facelift won’t fix
The name facelift can give the impression that this surgery targets the entire face, but that isn’t correct. Facelifts target the mid- and lower face. They do not rejuvenate the brows, eyelids, or nose. To address these areas, some patients combine a facelift with a brow lift or eyelid surgery.
Different techniques
A traditional facelift rejuvenates the face, jowls, and neck. For this procedure, Dr. Smith makes an incision that begins in the hairline at the temples, moves down around the front of the ear, then behind the earlobe, ending in the lower scalp at the hairline. After the skin is lifted, underlying fat is sculpted or removed, muscle and tissue is repositioned, and excess skin is trimmed then the skin is re-draped.
Other techniques employed by Dr. Smith are a mid-face lift that mainly targets the cheeks and smile lines and a limited-incision facelift that targets the areas around the mouth and eyes. Both of these techniques involve only small incisions that are easily hidden.
Are you interested in taking over a decade off your facial age? Call Dr. Smith at (843) 705-8940 and set up a consultation for a facelift.