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Facelifts were up (pun very much intended) 18% in 2022.
Photographed by Hannah Khymych
Or the mini facelifttheBaked by Melissacupcake of plastic surgery, if you will.
But how much can you actually downsize aprocedurethat involves scalpels and your face?
A frequent answer: the mini facelift.
Photographed by Hannah Khymych
Is a mini facelift just good marketing of a major surgery?
But when anything in the aesthetics world sounds too good to be true, we have questions.
So we called six plastic surgeons to get every last one answered.
Starting with: Is amini faceliftjust good marketing of a majorsurgery?
Is there actually such a thing as a mini facelift?
Afaceliftof any variety is always a big commitment.
Were talking about relatively small changes for a procedure that requires moving your skin and tissue around.
But in short, yes.
Mini facelifts do indeed exist.
Just dont let the word mini fool you.
And you wont exactly hop up off the operating room table right after and go out to dinner.
you could expect to hunker down for about two weeks ofswelling.
So, what is a mini facelift?
(They should also be inconspicuous when surgeons start farther up in the hairline during a traditional facelift.)
Mini facelift is a catchall term.
In a good mini facelift, the skin is redraped, gently and naturally taut, but never tight.
Excess skin is trimmed, and the incisions are closed with fine sutures under no tension, he explains.
The mini facelift only addresses the jawline and upper neck.
You may have also heard of the ponytail facelift recently.
Who is a candidate for a mini facelift?
A facelift is not generally the first dip into the aesthetics world for these patients.
They usually have done something before thats nonsurgicalneuromodulators, fillers, lasers.
So, a lot of people onOzempicorWegovymay be candidates for traditional facelifts instead of minis.
Some patients find weight loss significantly affects their face adversely, while others see minor changes.
Can you combine a mini facelift with other procedures?
The short answer is yes.
Can you fake a mini facelift with Botox and fillersa.k.a., a liquid lift?
The short answer is no.
You cannot lift the jawline in a natural-looking way usingfillersorBotox.
Sometimes [people think] so much filler will give them thelook of a facelift, says Dr. Leipziger.
I tell patients, You cant have any more.
This is going to start going in the wrong direction.
That direction can look puffy, with unnaturally filled cheeks.
We need to do a facelift to get the correct result or youll look completely overdone.
What about a thread lift?
The threads are gently lifted or pulled tighter to raise and hold the underlying tissue.
Sounds ideal, right?
A patient could just pop into their doctors office during lunch and emerge looking bright and youthful.
Theres also the fact that they can be done in medspas instead of byboard-certifiedplastic surgeons.
In my opinion, thread lifts produce limited, short-lived results, says Dr. Leipziger.
(About one to three years is typical.)
This would result in loss of the lifting benefit and possible facial asymmetry.
In addition, the tissue scarring brought on by the thread lift may complicate future facelift surgery.
What are the risks of a mini facelift?
They are not exactly mini.
Actually, they are pretty much the same as the risks of a regular facelift.
Theres always a risk of infection and bleeding with surgery, says Dr. Leipziger.
And any time youre getting an incision, youre getting a scar.
What is the recovery time for a mini facelift?
Its not that obvious and they can go about their usual activities.
What is the cost of a mini facelift?
Want to read more about facelifts?