What Is a Facelift?
What rhytidectomy involves, and the crucial difference between lifting tissue and resurfacing skin.
Rhytidectomy in plain English
A facelift — medically a rhytidectomy — is surgery to reposition the sagging soft tissues of the lower face and neck. Through incisions around the ears (and sometimes in the hairline and under the chin), the surgeon tightens the deeper SMAS layer, repositions tissue and removes excess skin to restore a firmer jawline and neck.
What it treats — and what it does not
A facelift is excellent for jowls, a sagging jawline and a loose neck. It is not a treatment for skin texture, fine wrinkles, volume loss or the eyes and brow.
Lifting is not resurfacing, and lifting is not volumising. Understanding this is the key to a happy result: a facelift handles sagging; other procedures handle skin quality, volume and the eyes.
This is why facelifts are so often combined with fat transfer, eyelid surgery and resurfacing.
The main techniques
Facelifts differ by how deep the surgeon works. Briefly: skin-only (outdated), SMAS (the workhorse) and deep plane (the most advanced). Explore them all in Types of Facelift.