What is a Facelift?

A facelift is a term that can be very confusing. Many individuals use the term facelift to describe any kind of lifting of the face, including a browlift, a midface lift, and a lower facelift. Dr. Lam expressly does not believe in the benefits of an upper and midface lift anymore, as he can explain to you more specifically during a personalized cosmetic consultation. When the term face lift is used in this text it specifically describes a “lower facelift”, i.e., a lift that will help correct the jowls along the jawline and the hanging, redundant neck.

When is a Facelift Necessary?

Dr. Lam truly believes that too many facelifts are performed today oftentimes unnecessarily in younger patients. Many people come to seek help from Dr. Lam and lift their jawline up a bit with two fingers and say, “Can you do this for me? I think I will look a lot better.” There are two problems with this kind of assessment. First, it does not truly describe the effects of a facelift. A facelift helps to lift the sagging tissues of the jawline and neck but is not a “skin lift”. The effect of a finger pull on the skin is not equivalent to a facelift. That was what the short-lived “Threadlift” offered as hope to the consumer but has since made a quiet exit from the cosmetic stage due to disappointing results.For younger patients (thirties and forties), a fat transfer to the lower chin area just in front of the jowl can offset the heaviness of the outer lower face and jowl and may be all that is necessary. A small jowl can be easily effaced with a fat transfer alone. A more pronounced jowl and any neck descent will require a face lift to do the job right.

What kind of Facelift Does Dr. Lam Perform?

First of all, don’t bother to try to append a name to it. J-lift, Mini-lift, S-lift, Max-Lift, Quicklift, Lifestyle Lift, etc. All of these terms ultimately are marketing terms that only serve to elicit greater confusion in the marketplace. It is better to describe how Dr. Lam does his facelift so that his technique can truly be separated from the pack out there.

Here is how Dr. Lam’s facelift differs from everyone else’s:

1. Most individuals are afraid of a “pulled” or “windswept” look. Fortunately, to avoid this problem, Dr. Lam does not pull back AT ALL. All of his face lifts are lifted upward to counteract the effects of gravity. Now how many plastic surgeons perform a facelift with no pull back at all? Very few.
   
2. Dr. Lam’s incisions are about a third of the length of most plastic surgeons out there. Many surgeons extend their incisions up into the hairline or down low behind the ear, which can cause two problems (besides a long recovery): hair loss or a very visible incision. Dr. Lam’s incision ends 2 mm behind the sideburn hair. If you have had one of these types of incisions in the past, can you still wear your hair up? Do you have to style your hair forward to cover the old scar? These are real problems with traditional facelifts.
   
3. There are two principal types of facelifts: “SMAS” and “Deep Plane” facelifts. Which technique does Dr. Lam use? Neither. The SMAS facelift offers more transient solutions in which muscle is sutured back to muscle. The Deep Plane or Composite Face Lift offers a higher risk of nerve injury, a longer recovery period, and not necessarily any better results. In fact, when the Composite technique is performed, the eye is swept upward and the results can look startled and windswept. As mentioned earlier, a lifted brow and cheek look simply dreadful in Dr. Lam’s opinion. Dr. Lam uses a technique that uses a suture vertically suspended to the heavy fascia in front of the ear to limit it from slipping. The micro-scarring that occurs through this technique offers a much more permanent solution (minus aging) than almost any other technique without any pull back of tissues whatsoever.
   
4. There are two kinds of sutures that can be used to suspend the neck and face: permanent and dissolvable. Dr. Lam now exclusively uses dissolvable only sutures to limit the risk of a suture causing problems down the road. Dissolvable sutures do not compromise any long-term facelift results but simply avoid complications in the future.