Full facelift under local anaesthesia

Facelift surgeries that address only loose skin and ignore the deeper facial tissues don’t give lasting, natural looking results. Achieving face lift results that are beautiful without changing your unique characteristics requires an intimate understanding of the aging face and how the underlying muscles and facial tissues interact with the facial skin. The best face lift repositions all of the layers to their natural, more youthful position, and does not simply pull up the skin.

A mini facelift could be a short scar facelift, a minimal access cranial suspension (MACS lift) or even a thread lift.  It’s very important you speak with your surgeon so you know exactly the procedure that is being recommended for you and why. Whether you are a suitable candidate for a mini facelift depends on your anatomy and how the aging process has affected your lower face and neck, the facial fat compartments, and whether you have protruding platysmal neck bands. Contact us or submit photos on the MeTime app and we’ll give you clear recommendations and options.

A full facelift that repositions the deeper layers and tightens the neck muscles lasts many years.  You will always look younger than if you had not had the surgery, so in this regard, the antiaging benefits can be considered permanent. It is possible to repeat a face lift and we see many people who have had previous surgeries elsewhere and then decide to come to us for a full facelift.

In our forties and fifties, we lose facial fat, the ligaments and muscles start to sag, and the skin begins to get loose and wrinkled. The natural folds of the face deepen, the jowls become obvious, and the neck looks less defined. Non surgical treatments like dermal fillers, radiofrequency needling and laser resurfacing stimulate collagen and have wonderful anti aging effects. Our one stitch facelift also improves visible signs of aging in the lower face and may be indicated if you have realistic expectations. If your neck looks great and you have early jowling and are in your mid to late forties, a short scar facelift (from the hairline to your earlobe) is more effective than any non-surgical facelift.  Most of our face lift patients are 45 to 60 years old.

During a full facelift under local anaesthesia, Dr Shadab injects local anaesthetic under the skin and around the tissues to be lifted.  With a numb face you are completely comfortable and have no discomfort throughout the procedure. If there is excess fat under the chin, this is removed with liposuction.  Then the muscle bands in the neck are tightened and stitched to the deep neck tissue to create a beautiful sharp angle under the chin.  The muscular layers in the outer face are then lifted and excess skin is trimmed.  All incisions are closed meticulously so when they heal you cannot see them and can wear your hair back.

This depends on the type of facelift.  A lift that includes minimal liposuction for a double chin, some stitches or skin glue and a small trim of remaining skin might not even need compression or bandages.  We do not perform these inferior lifts and call them full face lifts.  To minimize swelling, reduce collections and make sure you heal properly, we apply compression bandages for the first few days.  After that a simple Velcro head garment can be worn to apply gentle pressure. A rapid recovery is usual and most patients do not even report moderate pain during the recovery period.  Nevertheless, we prescribe antibiotics and some pain medication to make sure you are comfortable for the first week.  In 7-8 days, your stitches are removed.

Dr Shadab is a board certified plastic surgeon who has extensive experience performing face lift surgery. It is normal after a facelift to have reduced skin sensation in front of the ear for a few weeks. However, facial nerve injury causing permanent weakness is rare.  A nerve injury due to liposuction along the jawline that bruises the marginal mandibular nerve is more commonly reported but very uncommon in our experience.  This type of nerve injury can cause a mild weakness around the lower mouth muscles that gets better without intervention. Permanent hair loss in the lower scalp is possible but very uncommon. Abnormal looking fold lines in the cheeks or in front of the ear are common in PDO thread lifts or skin-only facelifts but not common in a properly performed full or deep plane facelift.  At Venus Medical, we perform face lifts under local anaesthesia, so there is no risk or recovery from general anaesthetic.

During the consultation you must tell your surgeon if you have any medical conditions, allergies, take medications and if you smoke.  You will be advised about suitability and preparation.  This includes whether you should discontinue any medications prior to your surgery or not.

There is usually a correlation with the extent of surgery and the price of a facelift.  Our advice is to be very careful if you are being offered a facelift that is cheap, because it may not be worth it in the long run.  We will provide detailed pricing either during an in-clinic consultation or through MeTime if you decide to have a remote assessment based on your photos and your expectations.  We do offer financing through Humm if you prefer to pay monthly over time.  Our clinic manager will be happy to discuss your options.

You must attend our clinic in Dublin for reviews as instructed.  You should avoid sun exposure for the first week and wear sunscreen thereafter.  We have special lasers that can treat bruises and scars to accelerate healing.  We can also perform manual lymphatic drainage massage at the clinic to reduce swelling as the tissues heal and the new youthful contours are seen.  Our experts in aesthetic medicine will advise on skincare and maintenance skin treatments so your results get better and better over time.  Many of our facelift patients decide to go on the Everyderm programme to maximise skin health into the future.