The Face Lift of Today

The traditional face lift can sometimes look unnatural and have a long recovery period.

Dr. Peter B. Fodor, a board certified plastic surgeon from Los Angeles, California discusses the face lift of today. This new procedure will have “patients presentable in seven to ten days as opposed to weeks and weeks after surgery.”  Sometimes face lifts can even take up to six months to heal and for the incision lines to mature.

By Peter B.Fodor, MD
and Susan Kamyab
ThePlasticSurgeryChannel.com

 

Traditional Face Lift

• The surgeon makes the incision for a traditional face lift surgery beginning in the temple area behind the hairline, then continuing down in front of the ear, and circling around the ear lobe back up to the point where it started, in the scalp.
• A traditional face lift pulls the skin outward to gain access to the underlying muscle and connective tissue.  Next comes re-positioning and tightening the tissue and securing it in its new position with sutures and/or tissue glue. Some fat may also be removed or re-positioned at this point.
• After the tightening of underlying tissues, the excess skin is trimmed away.
• A second incision under the chin may be necessary to further improve an aging neck. Sutures or skin adhesives close the incisions.

Dr. Fodor explains, this type of surgery can sometimes cause a funny looking appearance or a look that comes across too pulled and tight.

Upward Lift for a more Natural Look

With the new face lift procedure, an upward lift of the skin versus’ a pulled back lift will make appearances look more natural.  “We can pull up the sagging tissues under the skin and fix it to a solid anchoring point at the temporal fascia,” says Dr. Fodor.

The temporal fascia is a broad fascia covering the temporalis and attached below to the zygomatic arch.  Dr. Fodor notes, “The strongest part is just above the ear where the ear inserts to the scalp.  So we attach the sagging tissues to this part of the temporal fascia.”

A Safe Lift

Dr. Fodor states,  “Being that the undercutting is so minimal here, it is also a safer procedure so we’ve been very excited about doing this kind of face lifts.”  Recovery is significantly shortened because the swelling and bruising is for all practical purposes eliminated.

Regardless of what procedure you choose, ” you want to be familiar with all the different methods so you can custom tailor what you apply to each patient,” says Dr. Fodor.