There Are Many Different Face Lifts
Very often in an individual, the different zones of the face are aged to different degrees. In fact, we all age in different ways, depending on our bone structure, genetics, and to a certain extent facial activity patterns. The surgeon who carries out the same face lift procedure in all of his patients may occasionally obtain a good result, but there will be many patients who are either over or under-lifted in the key facial regions.
The structural descent that occurs with the aging process has specific consequences in each facial region. In the upper cheek, there will be a flattening out of the area beneath the eyes and a deepening of the shadow line that occurs between the upper lip and the cheek (the nasolabial fold). This tends to make the face look gaunt and tired. In the jaw border region, there will be a loss of the clean line of definition that separates the jawline from the neck. Heaviness develops below the corner of the mouth as the lower cheek structures slide downward and forward. The face looks heavier as the beautiful triangle that is formed by the chin and jaw border turns into a rectangle. In the neck an increasing fullness develops under the chin and vertical bands form in the front of the neck as the platysma, the supporting muscle of the neck, loses its tone.
When I analyze a face I pay careful attention to each of these major zones and put together a specific plan so that each zone will be precisely adjusted. I like to look at photographs of patients that were taken at different times in the past. This makes it possible to formulate a plan of surgery that respects the natural form of the face. My goal is to produce a result that looks refreshed and vital, but not different from the patient’s intrinsic “look.”