Cost of a Face Lift

Traditional Face Lift Technique

The basic or traditional facelift involves incisions made at the hairline. Incisions are the access sites at which the surgeon performs a facelift. Excess skin is removed. The skin is then gently pulled and tightened over your face. Finally, the incisions are closed with sutures (stitches).

Mini-Lift The Mini lift works well if you are in your late 30s or early 40s. A small incision is made in front of the ear. Then, a small area of skin is lifted. The mini lift works well for targeting areas in your face that are showing early signs of ageing. There is a shorter recovery time of 4 to 5 days but the results are small as well.

Weekend Face Lift

This technique removes excess chin fat with liposuction and tightens the loose skin with a laser. The laser is used inside the neck on loose tissue that often adds a heavy look under your chin. This area is the jowls and can be large on some people. This technique does not remedy face wrinkles, or deep lines above the jaw line. Rather, the heat from the laser constricts the fat cells and tightens the surrounding tissue. The area then becomes more firm. The cost is usually from $6000 - $12,000. The operation time is usually 1 1/2 hours or less. Local anesthesia or sedation is used.

Step by Step Surgical Process for Weekend Lift:

Patient is first sedated with local anesthesia injected to ensure the patient feels nothing

Face is cleaned and marked with surgical pens

Pockets of fat are marked, circled, and an outline of new contours is sketched to help the doctor

Neck is injected with lidocaine (local pain killer) and epinephrine (constricts the blood vessels to prevent bleeding) in Tumescent Liposuction Technique Laser cuts an incision in natural fold under chin and fat is vacuumed out After the liposuction, the laser heats fat causing that tissue to shrink and tighten

The skin is then tightened Afterwards, strips of thin foam protective tape are used to hold the area and are usually removed after three days

There is mild swelling and bruising

This technique is called the Weekend Lift because many people have the procedure on Friday and have the bandages removed on Monday. This technique is fairly new and not a lot of long term testing has been conducted. It is important to speak with your doctor about the different techniques available for a facelift and the potential risks.

Endoscopic Face Lift

This technique reduces sagging in the lower face and helps remove signs of ageing. The operation lasts for 3 to 4 hours and often general anesthesia is used. An endoscope is a telescope instrument. There is a window that allows doctors to see and accomplish facial cosmetic surgery procedures. The fiber optic light and video send images to a TV monitor. This gives the doctor another vantage point and helps during the surgery.

While watching the TV monitor, the doctor tightens the sagging area and rearranges the fat tissue. The incisions for an Endoscopic facelift are smaller and consequently, the incisions heal faster with less chance of scarring.

There are two ways of approaching an endoscopic facelift: superficial or deep.

Superficial is when the skin is elevated by incisions at the hairline. The skin is then pulled and pleated, which means folded at the incisions. The pleats disappear above the hairline and behind the ear over several weeks. No tissue is removed after the incisions as with a mini lift. The results are small.

Deep lift involves freeing the original attachment of the skin and reattaching the skin in a more toned state to the facial bones. Tissue and muscle are secured higher and in a pulled back position. This is not a good procedure if one has saggy or droopy skin, especially in the neck. Results are less than with a traditional facelift. There is less pain and a faster recovery time after the procedure is over. This is due to smaller incisions and micro handling. It also results in less bruising and swelling.