Introduction
When you look in the mirror do you see someone who looks older than you feel?
We all heard it when we were younger, “Age is a state of mind”.
It’s true. There are people who are younger than you who don’t have your vibrance and energy. But if your appearance belies that, maybe there’s something we can do for you.
Special Featured Video
Dr. Gelfant Demonstration | How is a Facelift Done?
Dr. Benjamin Gelfant takes you through the procedure so you know exactly what to expect.
Watch Video NowViewer discretion advised — Video shows actual footage of the operation, some viewers may find scenes disturbing.
Procedure Description
Contemporary face lifts are restorations of facial form that rely on detailed knowledge of anatomy and precise surgery technique. You can expect to look like yourself, only better.
Surgery involves:
- General (total) anaesthesia or local with sedation (“twilight”)
- Incisions designed for minimal hairline distortion, removal of excess skin and access to deeper structures
- Incision and Lifting skin away from deeper layers ( developing the “flap”)
- Tightening of deep layers for support
- Modifying fat pockets as needed, adding and sometimes removing fat
- Removal of skin excess and repair of incisions
FAQs
What is the best choice (Mid-Face or Sub-Periosteal)?
This is something that cannot be decided upon without a proper discussion of your concerns and the possible treatment options and the alternatives. I sit with you and first listen carefully to your concern while we look at you in a mirror. I explain what I see is causing these changes (the diagnosis) and then plan the treatment. Your budget may also play a role, but it is best not to consider this until after we have a full understanding of the problem and the best treatments.
How Long will it Last?
We are often asked how long the benefits from surgery will last. A well-done facelift with eyelids and forehead, either at one session or spaced in intervals, will often be the only one done for many years, often the only such surgery in a person’s life. Surgery does not make the face freeze at an age, nor are there sudden losses of the effect such that it suddenly becomes time to do it again.
The common way we describe the longevity of the surgery is that it sets the clock of aging back; the clock continues to run thereafter.
The following 50-year-old patient returned to our clinic for a visit nearly six years after her facelift, endobrow lift, upper and lower eyelid-plasty and lip augmentation. She was certain she needed nothing further done for her face.
Video Resources
Facelift Testimonial – 9 weeks post operative
Patient shown in our Facelift video describes her return to physical activity, driving, peer reactions, and personal satisfaction 9 weeks after surgery.
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Additional Info.
Since 1996, we have been doing the forehead lift via very small incisions using the endoscope, the surgical telescope-like device that has successfully reduced knee surgery scars from long unsightly incisions to much smaller puncture sites. In the forehead lift this offers the advantage of reducing the incision from one which runs from ear to ear across the top of the head, to several very short incisions. The aims of this operation are threefold: to reduce the sagging of the brow, (thus it is often also known as a browlift); to reduce the action of the frown muscles at the top of the nose and between the eyes; and to reduce the frown lines running horizontally across the forehead, if these are significant.
The small incisions used are easily concealed in the scalp, and recovery is quite rapid, usually about one week before returning to regular activity.
At Broadway Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Centre, approximately 75% of patients undergoing a facelift also have a forehead lift either simultaneously or shortly thereafter, and since I started using the endoscope, forehead lifts alone or with some eyelid surgery have become much more common, and are often done in younger patients. Sometimes we also extend the forehead lift under the surface into the upper cheeks, and combined with eyelid surgery we are able to get some significant upper cheek lifting without additional incisions.