Please call 754-277-4120 to schedule an appointment at our convenient location in Fort Lauderdale. Dr. Michael Frederick also serves the surrounding Broward County towns of Weston, Hollywoood and Cooper City. We also welcome patients from the Miami area, including Aventura and Coral Gables. Dr. Frederick also has strong ties to our Palm Beach neighbors from Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter.
Particular attention is paid to the details like the placement of the sideburn in relation to the ear and the preservation of a hanging ear lobe if present to eliminate the older tell-tail stigmata of a facelift. The goal is to turn back the clock in a dramatic but natural appearing way. Browse through our collection of facelift and neck lift before and after photos, then read below for more information.
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Benefits of a Facelift
A strong jawline and a sharp neck angle define what a youthful and healthy face looks like. A facelifts improves both of these. The majority of patients considering a facelift come to reverse the signs of aging; They feel as active and as vibrant as ever, yet they look in the mirror and that’s not what they see on the outside. The goal of a rejuvenative facelift or neck lift is to turn back the clock and restore your outward appearance to your inner energy and vigor.
Benefits of a Neck Lift
A neck lift can be used to reverse the signs of aging in the neck or can be used to reshape the angle of the neck in a patient of any age. All neck lifts include an incision under the chin through which the neck muscle (the platysma) can be tightened and the fat above and below it can be removed. This can produce dramatic improvements in the neck and jawline that liposuction alone cannot. In patients who also have excess neck skin an incision is hidden behind the ear to remove the excess skin. A neck lift will not significantly improve the jowls. To do that you need to extend the incision in front of the ear, which is a facelift.
Procedure
The facelift technique involves elevating the skin off of the muscle and fat underneath and then re-shaping the fat and muscle by removing it, tightening it or lifting it. This is done in the front of the neck by removing fat above and below the platysma muscle and by tightening the muscle with a sutures, which is called a platysmoplasty. The platysmoplasty gives the desired 90 degree angle neck definition. The muscle and fat sculpting is also done along the cheek as sutures are used to re-elevate the loose tissues that created the jowls, lifting them back onto the malar eminence to create youthful cheeks and a sharp jawline. The skin is then lightly draped over the new construct and the excess skin is removed. In this manner the skin is not “pulled” and patients have a natural looking result with minimal scaring.
Facelift for Men
The aesthetic ideal for men is slightly different than for women. The youthful female face is heart shaped with fullness in the cheeks that circle down to the chin point. A male face is considered more attractive with more square or chiseled features. For this reason as men age and the volume shifts down from the cheeks to the jowls this often squares they face out slightly, giving them a more “manly” appearance. A traditional facelift can often feminize a mans face too much by creating too much cheek fullness and rounded features. Each facelift must be adjusted to the specific patient. Most often a neck lift alone is the best option in men. A neck lift gets rid of the turkey neck with a completely hidden incision behind the ear and leaves a normal sideburn which is important so a beard or a 5 o’clock shadow looks completely normal.Candidates
The ideal age for a facelift will vary from person to person. Most patients decide to have their first face lift between the ages of 50-65 but typically the earlier the better. Menopause can dramatically affect the elasticity of your skin and it is optimal to perform facelift surgery when the skin still maintains its strength. This will provide a longer lasting result.
Preparation
The most important thing to manage before having facelift surgery is your blood pressure. This is very important to decrease the risk of bleeding post-operatively. It is also important to stop taking any blood thinning medications at least 1 week prior to surgery. Common medications include Vitamin E, ibuprofen and Aspirin. If you have any medical conditions like heart, kidney liver or lung disease you may need to get medical clearance from your Primary care physician or cardiologist. Lastly, it is important to quit smoking. Smoking dramatically increases your risk of having a complication with your healing.
Risks
Facelifts and neck lifts are very safe procedures and can even be done under local anesthesia if desired. Although rare, the most common complication is bleeding which is not life threatening but may require a procedure to restore the optimal contour. Hypertension, men and overactive post operative patients are at higher risk. Very rarely a sensory or motor nerve may be damaged, but in the very rare case that this occurs it almost always comes back completely with time. Of note, numbness in the area where the skin was raised during the facelift will always be numb after the facelift but will return with time.
Recovery
Despite what most people think, there is minimal pain after facelift surgery. You will go home with a head wrap that will be removed the next day. The only sutures to be removed will be fine nylon sutures in front of the ear between days 5 and 7. Most swelling and bruising will subside by two weeks and activities should be minimized during that time. Two weeks after the facelift you may start to resume normal activities with full exercise permitted at 4-6 weeks with final swelling resolving around 3 months post operatively.
Complimentary Procedures
It is very common to combine a facelift or neck lift with other age reversing surgeries. These potentially include a brow lift, lower and upper eyelid lift, a lip lift, skin treatments like laser treatments or peels and hand rejuvenation. Hand rejuvenation is a classic telltale sign of aging and is commonly overlooked. With a facelift it is easy to combine laser treatments to eliminate brown spots and fat grafting to the back of the hands to hide veins, tendons and bones.
FAQs
WHY DO SUBMANDIBULAR GLANDS MATTER IN A FACELIFT?
The submandibular glands lie on either side of the neck under the jawbone. They can very in size and often with time hang down more visibly as aging relaxes the ligaments. They are often not noticed before the facelift because the loose skin and fat conceals them but when the muscle and skin is pulled tight they become more noticeable as the swelling dissipates and disrupts a sharp jawline. For patients concerned about this, the submandibular gland may be partially resected during the facelift operation but there is an increased risk of injury to the nerves and of developing a salivary leak into the neck.
WHAT TYPE OF ANESTHESIA IS USED FOR A FACELIFT OR NECK LIFT?
Facelift or neck lifts can be performed under local anesthesia, light sedation or general anesthesia pending the patients preference.
HOW LONG DOES A FACELIFT OR NECK LIFT LAST?
The thing to remember is that a facelift or neck lift is permanent but the patient will continue to age. On average most patients decide that around 10 years after their first facelift they have aged enough that they are due for another. However this varies depending on how fast someone ages and their personal preferences.
HOW MUCH DOES A FACELIFT OR NECK LIFT COST?
The cost of a typical face lift or neck lift ranges from $10,000 to $15,000 depending on the extent of surgery needed. In a young patient without extra skin who only needs an anterior neck lift or “platysmoplasty” the cost will range from $4,000 under local anesthesia to $7,000 under general anesthesia.
*RESULTS MAY VARY