Face Lift In New Eltham

You may be surprised to hear that face lift operations have been performed by surgeons for more than a century. However, they really only came into fashion in the 1960s when they were carried out by highly qualified surgeons in hospitals. Prior to this, cosmetic surgery had all been rather secretive!

In the early days of face lifting, additional procedures to improve the neck were done in a separate operation at a later time, but today a facelift and neck lift are usually performed at the same time.

Other developments and refinements in how facelifts are carried out followed as more operations were performed. These included different incisions and stitching techniques in order to prevent women who had had face lifts looking like their skin had been stretched in a wind tunnel! Nowadays, face lift patients have a much more natural look to their faces after surgery.

The classic facelift or Rhytidectomy technique changed little until the early 1970s, when a Swedish surgeon, Tord Skoog, MD, presented and published his work about such operations. Skoog argued that face lifts could be made more successful in their look, and longer lasting in their effect, if tightening the muscles of the face and neck could happen as part of a face lift, as well as merely getting rid of any excess skin. This is known as a S.M.A.S. facelift.

In the late 1970s, some plastic surgeons began to use lipoplasty (liposuction) as a method of re-shaping the area beneath the chin and jaw line. They also started to use liposuction in any areas of the face which required it as part of a face lift.

The S.M.A.S. facelift is still the most commonly performed technique used today, although a number of other techniques have also been developed and have their fans. It is probably safe to say that there is no obvious “best technique” on which surgeons agree!

What many surgeons do agree on, however, is the ideal candidate for a facelift. This is someone who has loose facial skin but which still has some elasticity in it and a relatively well defined bone structure.

Patients are usually in their 40s, 50s, or 60s, but facelifts can be successfully performed on patients in their 70s and 80s.

We have, however, noticed a recent trend towards people in their late thirties seeking a facelift procedure.

According to statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), 68,983 Americans had facelift surgery in 2019 to help reduce the appearance of loose skin and wrinkles around the cheeks and neck area, that's a decrease of 5.7% on 2018 figures, no doubt due to a rise in non-surgical solutions to facial ageing. Facelift is only the 7th most common surgical cosmetic procedure in the USA.

If you're considering a facelift, the following information will give you a basic understanding of the procedure. It can't answer all your questions, since a lot depends on the individual patient and the surgeon. Please ask your surgeon about anything you don't understand.

Depending on the length of the operation, you may be allowed go home after a few hours, or remain in hospital for a couple of days. Most patients return to work 10 to 14 days after the surgery.

Most people can have this surgery as long as they are generally in good health. It is also vital that you are realistic about what you expect from a facelift.

If you are prone to keloid (red, angry, raised) scars, or have a history of problems with wound healing your surgeon may not recommend this procedure or may caution you that scars could be raised and very visible.

It is highly unlikely that anyone considering a facelift or rhytidectomy surgery would be able to access this free of charge on the National Health Service.

However would always recommend that you visit your General Practitioner before embarking upon a cosmetic procedure involving surgery.

As well as their advice and guidance they may also be able to refer you to a local surgeon for a consultation. 

The NHS has set out the following guidelines on how to get cosmetic surgery through the NHS:

To receive cosmetic surgery from the NHS, you will normally need a referral from your GP. You will have a consultation with a plastic surgeon and an assessment by a psychiatrist, or psychologist. It will then be decided whether there is enough social, psychological, or physical benefit to be gained to justify surgery." 

Please note that results of cosmetic surgery vary enormously, depending upon both the patient and the skill of the individual surgeon, so outcomes for procedures will always be more variable than those for less invasive non-surgical treatments.

(All before and after photographs featured are real patients treated by highly experienced surgeons, your results may differ).
 

Mid Face before surgery and 3 months after mid-face lift surgery.

Photographs courtesy of Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Mr Christopher Inglefield, BSc, MBBS, FRCS (Plast) at London Bridge Plastic Surgery.