Step 1: Facelift Surgery Goals

• Step 1: Facelift Surgery Goals
• Step 2: Making the Incision
• Step 3: Creating a Pocket
• Step 4: Understanding the Layers
• Step 5: Trimming and Tightening
• Step 6: Improving Jaw Definition
• Step 7: Firming the Neck
• Step 8: Removing Extra Skin
• Step 9: Placing Fine Sutures
• Step 10: The Final Result

Understanding the goals of facelift surgery at our Denver plastic surgery practice is important so patients can appreciate their results. Aging reduces the skin’s elasticity, which is why we develop wrinkles and a sagging lower face with jowls, marionette lines, nasolabial folds and loose neck skin. These changes are inevitable, even though genetics and a person’s lifestyle can delay the onset of facial aging.

A facelift doesn’t restore the skin’s elasticity, but it does minimize those signs of aging that can make you appear older than you are. Modern facelift techniques emphasize producing results that look natural, instead of the “pulled” look that could occur following a facelift performed a couple of decades ago. Our plastic surgeons have training and experience that make them among Colorado’s most sought-after facelift surgeons.

At our Denver practice, the facelift techniques our surgeons use target 3 specific areas: the neck, the jawline, and the cheeks. During the surgery, they elevate and tighten loose neck tissues, create more defined jawlines, and reduce the jowls and marionette lines (lines that descend from the corners of the mouth). Importantly, they also lift tissue and muscle in the cheek area, reducing nasolabial folds and general wrinkling. The procedure tightens underlying facial structures and removes excess skin, promoting long-lasting results.

Our surgeons may recommend a mini-facelift for our Denver patients who are good candidates for that procedure. Minimizing the invasiveness of surgery with shorter incisions, less discomfort, and a shorter recovery reflects the trend of many plastic surgery procedures. The goals remain the same, but surgeons adapt their techniques to optimize the rejuvenating effects of the surgery while minimizing its downsides.

The following illustrations serve to describe the techniques used during a mini-facelift operation and to explain how it differs from a more traditional facelift approach. We hope this guide’s illustrations help you understand the techniques used during a mini-facelift operation and to explain how it differs from a more traditional facelift approach.

Step 2: Making the Incision