Wednesday, November 12, 2014

How long will my QuickLift Last?

JUSTFORMENQuestion from Amelia Court House, VA I’m a 52 year old  male who has minimal jowling and very little neck sagging. I just had a QuickLift down, I’m 5 days out. I have minimal swelling and bruising, I’m fair skinned. How long do you think this procedure will last? Any answers appreciated.


 Answer from Dr. Dean Kane, Board Certified Baltimore Plastic Surgeon:
This is the “age” old, $64 million question each facelift surgeon is asked at consultation; so it is a very good question!

​​The duration of a facelift is dependent on many unique factors:
  1. ​ethnic background of the patient including the thickness of the dermis
  2. ​prior care and weathering of the skin
  3. ​amount of skin elevated and trimmed in the facelift
  4. ​added lifts such as the neck, jowl, brow and forehead
  5. the skills of the surgeon
  6. ​skin rejuvenation procedures and care following facelift
  7. ​and others.

In general, the less tissue lifted, the sooner the surrounding tissues will sag and the lifted tissue will relax once again. Rather than create a mis-conception that a quicker lift will heal faster and perform a similar end result to a traditional facelift; the patient and surgeon should identify those aspects of aging and create a surgical / non-surgical plan to manage the patients desire for improvement.

​The dermis of the skin in patients of northern European heritage tend to be thinner and therefore relax younger than patients of “color” (African, Mediterranean, Hispanic, Asian origins).

​​More weathered or less cared for skin will have less elasticity at the time of facelift and age quicker thereafter.

​​What we can say is that a facelift allows the face to continue the aging process from a younger looking age.

​​Many studies have reviewed this question and the current consensus seems to be that a traditional facelift will “last” 7 to 10 years. Please anticipate less “duration” if you have had less of a facelift.

If you will consider many of the new rejuvenation techniques to continuously stimulate the skin to “anti-age” such as the weekly use of topical retinoids, weekly to monthly use of dermal laser, IPL and fractionated CO2 or erbium lasers, and/or Sculptra therapy; the texture of the skin will improve, firm and tighten. So if you have had a facelift, you can keep it looking younger, longer.

​I hope this has helped you. All the best!
Dr. Dean Kane
Center from Cosmetic Surgery and Medi-Spa www.DrDeanKane.com
410-602-3322  DeanKane@DrDeanKane.com

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