The Facelift: Trends and Developments

It is still widely thought that a facelift lifts the entire face. That is not the case, and this is why the name is actually a misnomer. The classic facelift concerns only the jawline and the neck, where the skin, and possibly the underlying facial muscles, are treated so that the skin sits smoothly and tautly once more.

In our clinic, we use various methods:

• minilift
• MACS lift
• deep plane neck-facelift

The minilift is a relatively straightforward procedure, which can therefore be performed under local anaesthesia. Only the excess skin is removed. The disadvantage of this procedure, however, is that gravity regains its hold on the skin within a relatively short period of time. As we age, skin becomes increasingly less elastic, and the effect of such a 'skin only' procedure is therefore not long-lasting.

With a MACS lift, we go one layer deeper than the skin to make a more fundamental change. 'MACS' stands for 'Minimal Access Cranial Suspension'. This means that only a minimal incision is required, from in front of the ear to the hairline. In the MACS lift, the skin is detached from the SMAS layer (Superficial Muscular Aponeurotic System). This is a type of fascial sheet beneath your skin that is attached to a large part of your facial structures. Using sutures, pleats are created in the SMAS layer. The fascial sheet is thereby tightened and excess skin is removed.

By operating beneath the fascial sheet, the deep plane neck-facelift achieves an even longer-lasting difference. The procedure is thus performed at a deeper tissue level. Particularly with visible signs of significant skin ageing, this facelift delivers excellent results. Both the MACS lift and the deep plane neck-facelift are performed under full general anaesthesia. We advise allowing at least two to three weeks for recovery.

On social media you may have seen and read about other types of facelifts, such as the liquid facelift. With this approach, fillers and botox are used to fill and/or accentuate parts of the face. As can be seen with celebrities such as Madonna and Courteney Cox, this can also turn out less favourably. At Blooming PC, we therefore do not work with this approach. Furthermore, the effect of fillers (8-12 months) and botox (3-6 months) is only temporary.

Another well-known phenomenon is the ponytail lift and the cat eye for foxy eyes, developed by the famous American plastic surgeon Chia Kao. Particularly in America, this is truly a trend. Several of his techniques are even patented. The ponytail lift is quite innovative and avoids a scar on the neck. However, people with a great deal of excess skin are not well served by this approach. This method therefore has its limitations. The cat eye is extremely painful and does not last long. It is a rather extreme form of facelift, towards which we in the Netherlands are considerably more cautious.

Another technique sometimes applied is the combination of a facelift with lipofilling. In this approach, fat cells are harvested. The intact fat cells are then injected at specific locations in the face. The disadvantage is that it is unpredictable which fat cells will survive, meaning you do not always achieve a good result. For this reason, we are also more cautious about this technique at Blooming PC.

After reading the above, do you still have questions, or would you like to know which facelift will be most effective for you? You are warmly invited to book an appointment with one of our plastic surgeons.