A facelift restores smoother, pleasing contours to your face and neck. It can help you look as good as you feel, and perhaps feel younger than you are. . It can "set back the clock" and improve the of the most visible signs of aging. By removing excess fat, tightening underlying muscles, and reshaping the skin of your face and neck.

Although a successful facelift can temporarily set back the clock, no cosmetic procedure can permanently prevent the effects of aging. In combination with your facelift, you may select other procedures to achieve the results you desire, for example, a brow or forehead lift, eyelid surgery, nose reshaping, fat injections, chemical peel, term abrasion, laser skin resurfacing, Botox or soft facial filler injections.

Ideal Candidates for a facelift

• Are in good Health
• Have realistic expectations
• Have a deep line, or fold, running from the corner of your nose to the corner of your mouth.
• Have jowls, or loss of a well defined jawline associated with youthfulness.
• Have deep wrinkles in the cheeks and sagging of the "highlight" areas of the cheekbones.
• Have loose skin, wrinkles, vertical "cords" or excess fatty tissue in the neck.
• Need to repositioned fat to fill in sunken areas.

Facelift Procedure

An incision usually begins above the hairline at the temple, extended in the natural line in front of the ear, and continues behind the ear lobe to the lower scalp. If the neck needs work, a small incision may also be made under the chin. The underlying muscle is lifted, which brings the skin back in a natural and pleasing way. This avoids an over tighten skin pulled back look (also known as the wind tunnel look, a tell tale sign of an overdone facelift). Stitches secure the layers of tissues and close the incisions. Bandages loosely wrapped around the head are use to minimize bruising and swelling. The operation itself requires 2 to 3 hours to perform.

Short Scar Facelift

Over the past few years, Dr. Gartner has achieved amazing results with the short scar facelift. This avoids the incision behind the ear in the hairline, allowing women to hold their hair up during activities because there is no visible scar behind the ear. This also achieves superb results in the male patient.

Facelift Recovery

Recovery varies among individuals and you will be asked to restrict your activities and simply relax for a few days. Elevating your head when you sleep will help minimize swelling and bruising. Bandages and drain tubes will be removed in one or two days. The greatest amount of swelling occurs 24 to 48 hours after surgery, and you may notice puffiness and discoloration which may be more pronounced in some portions of your face than others. Do not be alarmed by any unevenness or temporary asymmetry caused by this variance in swelling and bruising, which is perfectly normal. Stitches will be removed from four to seven days after the surgery. Most patients are able to return to work in 10 to 14 days.

The ideal facelift doesn't draw attention to itself. It just leaves you with a brighter, fresher face, a clarity around the eyes, forehead and mouth, and a refreshed expression. The effects of a facelift are long-lasting; years later, you will continue to look better than if you'd never had a facelift at all. Examine some of the before and after pictures and see for yourself.