What Should I Look for in Facelift and Neck Lift Before-and-After Photos?

Board-certified plastic surgeons endeavor to restore a more natural, pleasing, age-appropriate appearance through facelift and neck lift surgeries. At my Pasadena plastic surgery practice near Los Angeles, my surgical goal is to create a return of form and function that is uniquely optimal for each patient.

Despite artistic challenges, plastic surgeons attempt to achieve common post-op results that distinguish their surgical outcomes from baseline findings in standardized photos. Here are a few indicators of success.

Definition of Anterior Midface Cheek Fat Pad

Appropriate upward and lateral repositioning and fullness in the cheek fat pad away from the deepening nasolabial fold. Successful results are often characterized by a smoothness to the cheek mound by surgical displacement complemented with fat grafting.

Definition of Jawline

The means outlining the defined jawline by repositioning the lax platysma muscle, liposculpting redundant subcutaneous fat collection, and draping the loose skin.

Natural Draping of Facial Skin

An aesthetic plastic surgeon artistically repositions subdermal fat and muscles first and then drapes the skin back towards the ear and sideburns for a natural, unstretched appearance. Plastic surgeons appreciate that:

• Embedded wrinkle lines in the lateral cheek must retain their natural directional appearance after skin draping.
• An abnormal change in earlobe position can alter the location of the pierced earlobe opening, sway the lobe’s vertical axis, or drag it downward to create a “pixie” earlobe deformity.
• An overly exaggerated skin adjustment can alter the normal location and appearance of the corner of the mouth.
• Aggressive skin tightening can obliterate the normal depression in front of the tragal cartilage located in front of the ear’s opening.

These structural deformations can result from exaggerated skin tightening or from mispositioned skin and diminish the overall benefits of facelift surgery.

Subtle Scarring

In face and neck lift surgery, plastic surgeons design their incisions to be hidden as much as possible but also take preventive maneuvers to reduce the expectant sequences of scar formation and healing. Plastic surgeons individualize the location and extent of incisions specifically to address the requirements for exposure and effective tissue adjustment.

A common design conceals the incision below the hair-bearing sideburns, follows along the normal crease line in front of the ear, and runs along the back of the ear to the hairline. This pattern stabilizes the location of the sideburn and buries the new scar within established normal creases around the ear. In some cases, the surgeon may locate the incision inside of the tragal cartilage and simultaneously maintain the normal appearance of the tragal cartilage.

The development of thickened scars can occur but may be diminished by the usage of buried sutures that reduce tension-closures, along with the appropriate amount of skin removal. Scar modification is begun after suture removal with a variety of topical and injectable agents combined with light therapy.

To see examples of the facelift and neck lift results you can expect at the Sasaki Advanced Aesthetic Medical Center, please visit our before-and-after photo gallery.

If you would like to learn more about facelift procedures in the Los Angeles area, please contact us online or call my Pasadena plastic surgery office at (626) 268-4524.