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Eventually all people get wrinkles, skin sagging and tissue flabbiness on cheeks and neck. This happens as a result of natural ageing process, environmental factors influence and facial muscles movements.
Until recently most people considered facelift an indication of high society life, a prerogative of movie and music starts, politicians and celebrities. Today plasty of face and neck is available not only for rich and famous. This is one of the most frequent esthetic surgeries. It is generally known that the better you look the better you live. Today many people decide to undergo the facelift surgery to look younger and more attractive.
What is plasty of face and neck?
Plasty of face and neck (rhytidectomy) is an esthetic (cosmetic) surgery that eliminates some face and neck ageing signs and allows general rejuvenation of appearance.
This surgery, which is also known as “facelift”, serves to eliminate cheeks descent, decrease nasolabial fold and restore normal contour of neck and chin area. The surgery includes two main elements:
- lifting of subcutaneous muscle and other thick subcutaneous tissues;
- lifting of skin and removal of excess skin.
If the skin of the neck is very flabby and there is a deep skin fold under the chin, an additional surgery can be performed in the area of chin to connect edges of subcutaneous muscles.
What can be achieved by facelift?
Rhytidectomy allows to eliminate wrinkles, sagging and flabbiness of skin on cheeks, edge of lower jaw, and fold on the neck (“turkey neck”). Facelift does not eliminate nasolabial folds, baggy lower eyelids, fine wrinkles over the upper lip, in the outer eye corners and on the forehead. Other procedures are required for these purposes: injection methods of wrinkles elimination, blepharoplasty (eyelid plasty), skin polishing, and forehead plasty. These surgeries can be performed simultaneously with face and neck plasty. In other words, facelift does not eliminate visible ageing signs of the upper part of the face and the area around the eyes.
When is it better to undergo the operation?
Most frequent candidates for the surgery are men and women between 40 and 55 years, but the treatment can be effective in both younger and older age.
Possible complications
All general surgical complications may occur after the surgery. The most frequent complication is blood and interstitial fluid accumulation under the skin after skin detachment and lifting. In some cases this may require puncture of the fluid accumulation area or repeated surgery. The probability of these complications is higher for the patients with high blood pressure.
Nerves can be damaged during the surgery. Damage of motor branches leads to paresis in the innervation zone of facial nerve. Damage of sensory branches can lead to formation of neuromata that cause chronic pain.
Quite rarely the surgery may lead to skin necroses. In most cases they appear in the postotic area. Smokers are particularly prone to them.
Rough cicactrices appear usually in postotic area at strong skin tension.
As a result of hair follicle damage during section and detachment of tissues on the head hair loss in the place of section is possible. If the patient is prone to hair loss, this process can intensify after the surgery.
How long does the result remain?
The result of the surgery remains for many years but this process has several stages. During first several weeks after the surgery a slight relaxation of facial soft tissues will occur. The surgery, of course, does not stop the process of ageing; it only eliminates visible age-related changes. Your way of life, skin type, condition of osseous structures, negative influence of solar irradiation and other environmental factors, smoking and heredity – all this determines the effect of the surgery and its length. Potential clients often ask how much younger they can become and how long does the result remain. As a general rule, the younger is the patient the longer is the result. If you are between 40 and 50, you can count on effect preservation for up to 10 years. If you are over 60, the effect usually lasts for 5-7 years. On the other hand there is nothing incredible in the fact that a 50 years old woman looks like 30 years old after rhytidectomy.
How is the operation performed?
Techniques for each surgery may vary but general rules in most cases stay the same. Skin section begins on the scalp in temporal area, turns around auricle and ends in the back of the head. Most of the section is hidden on the scalp. Skin of temples, cheeks and neck is detached from underlying tissues and pulled up and back, excess skin and subcutaneous fat is removed. Often the interlayer between skin and muscles, so called SMAS, and deeper facial structures are pulled up as well. This makes the effect of the surgery more pronounced and stable. Additional procedures are performed almost always: removal of local fat depositions under the chin, on cheeks and front surface of the neck, neck muscles tightening. The surgery lasts for 2-4 hours, local anesthesia or intravenous narcosis can be used depending on the extent of intervention.
Preparation for the operation
The patient has to be in good health (no chill or other diseases in this period). The patient has to undergo an examination (blood and urine analysis, fluorography of thorax organs, electrocardiogram) and be examined by the Center anesthesiologist.
If the patient smokes, he/she has to stop smoking at least 2 weeks before the surgery and desist from smoking for at least 2-3 weeks after it. Otherwise there is a risk of wound healing disturbance because smoking significantly reduces blood supply to skin vessels.
If the patient takes some drugs he/she needs to discuss the permissibility of it with the doctor during preliminary consultation.
It is necessary to thoroughly wash the head during two days before the surgery.
Anesthesia
Anesthesiologist determines the variant of anesthesia during preliminary consultation.
Operation
The patient goes to clinic on the surgery day and undergoes a short preparation. Surgery duration is 4-5 hours.
Skin section begins on the scalp and is continued in the auricle direction in such way so as to place the central part of the future cicatrix inside the ear so it will not be noticeable for others. Then the section goes behind the auricle and ends also in the hair growth area.
Therefore postoperative cicatrix is not noticeable for others, which is an important advantage of the surgery. Soft bulky dressing is applied after the surgery and removed on the next day.
How long is the postoperative period and what happens during it?
Edema and bruises in the intervention area are usually observed during several days after the surgery. Slight pain in the first day after the surgery, sensation of light tissue tension and decrease of cheeks and neck skin sensitivity are normal occurrences. Main bandage is removed in a day or two after the surgery. At this moment the patient can wash his hair and take a shower. Light auxiliary bandage can be used for another week. Stitches are removed gradually to maximally decrease cicatrisation. They are completely removed in 10-12 days after the surgery. At the same time the patient can resume usual social activity. Healing takes place by stages. It is not recommended to take sunbathes, dye hair, perform facial massage and engage in heavy sport activities for 3-4 weeks after the surgery. The face goes back to normal in 10-12 weeks. In 3-6 months postoperative cicatrices become lighter and almost unnoticeable. |
