Question
With so many less invasive alternatives to a traditional surgical facelift, when is the traditional lift the best option?
Answer
Your question about less invasive alternatives for facial surgery is timely and excellent. There are some techniques that are minimally invasive and at the same time minimally effective and, therefore, we rarely use them. A traditional facelift operation addresses laxity in the cheeks, along the jaw line and laxity in the neck. Sometimes I’m able to carry out a short incision facelift for patients who have just soft tissue laxity in the cheek and along the jaw line. This involves smaller incisions around the ear. Occasionally, patients just have difficulty with neck laxity and this can be carried out with just the neck lift and no operation in the cheek area. Again, it is important that the soft tissues be elevated and re-suspended, and the fault of some lesser invasive procedures is that they do not accurately create a foundation that provides a lasting result.
