Ageing and wrinkled skin is inevitable. This has led to the increase in procedures and surgeries that can counter the effects of ageing. There are numerous cosmetic surgeries that are done throughout London and the UK including facelifts, liposuctions, fat grafting, facial fillers, facial implants and many more. Most people opt for cosmetic surgery because they want to extend the feeling of youthfulness throughout their years, and as they age.

A very popular cosmetic procedure is a facelift. As the name suggests, a facelift is a procedure through which the facial skin is lifted, reshaped and filled to give a more youthful appearance. The procedure is carried out at Cadogan clinic in London.

As mentioned, the main reason why people opt for a facelift London is because they want to retain their youthful look. However, in addition to that, there are some patients who need their face to be tightened and filled because of the effects of weight loss. Weight gain stretches the skin, and if the patient decided to lose weight, the fat may be gone, but the skin may not revert to its previous condition. This leaves it saggy and wrinkled.

Expectations and Results Of Facelifting

It is important for a patient to be realistic about what to expect from a facelift. If you ask people on the street, which is the best technique for rejuvenation, they will answer facelift! By no means, a facelift will give you a more youthful and refined appearance, but it will not alter any of your facial features, perhaps enhance them. During the procedure, a patient can expect the skin to be tightened and lifted. Depending on the need, other facial parts may have to be filled and plumped up.

The results of the procedure will vary from patient to patient. For instance, a person with severely wrinkled skin and thin lips will have a more visible change in appearance as opposed to one who has barely-there wrinkles, whose outcome can be more subtle. The best results are on patients with excess of weight and fat on their face.

Types Of Facelifts
There are different types of facelifts in Cadogan clinic of London. There is a mini necklift or pinched facelift, lower and midfacelift, we do not talk about, here, of the Endo-lift which is a non surgical face lift with upper face FAMI™ (see the FAM™I chapter).

Each of the types of facelifts has its own benefits, risks and results. Some of those facelifts may involve very little or no undermining, while others may be quite extensive dissection. However, in as much as the procedures may vary, there are some constant factors that are shared throughout all the types of facelifts. There is muscle tightening and or removing excess skin and some case the reshaping is made with fat grafting.

Recovering From A Facelift

Most facelifts done are not that extensive to the point that they should interfere with a patient’s day to day life. However, a traditional facelift may require that the patient rests at home for a few days and heals. During that time, it would be advisable to have someone else nearby to care for them. Generally, a patient can expect to recover and fully heal after a period of two weeks. However, this again is relative and varies from patient to patient. Following the procedure, the patient may be given medication to help alleviate the swelling and bruising, as well as prevent bad scarring.

A facelift can be safely carried out by a Dr Roger Amar or Dr Olivier Amar at the Cadogan clinic, Sloane Street in London. Now with advanced technology, the procedure has continued to become safer with less risks involved.

Face lifting

Introduction

A rhytidectomy, best known as a face lift is a kind of cosmetic surgery that helps older patients to look less tired and wrinkled. The first facelifts were performed around 1912, and the surgery has advanced far beyond what it was at the time of its inception. Nowadays 80% of the original indications for facelifting are no more good, which means that 80% of the face liftings are obsolete with introduction of the FAMI™ (see the FAM™I chapter).

Frequency of Surgery

How often you have the surgery usually depends on your age. As the Face Lift Guide points out, if you are over 60 years of age, you should have a follow-up surgery about two years after your first. Avoid having it done too often, as it could permanently damage your face, as we have seen in many cases of celebrities whose surgery has actually made them look older than their actual age.

Why We Age

Overtime, the skin loses two main ingredients–collagen and elastin–which ensure the smoothness and elasticity of the skin. These ingredients are not replenished in sufficient quantities, after a certain age, to maintain the beauty of the skin that characterizes youth. For this reason you see the following symptoms in people who have gotten older: Wrinkles; face lines; double chin; sagging cheeks; and flabby neck, just to name a few. These can be corrected–at least temporarily–using both surgical and non-surgical face lifting procedures, as the Face Lift Guide points out.

How The Procedure is Done

In a face-lift operation, the doctor makes a number of incisions along the hairline and the ears or chin, depending on the surgery type that is employed. He then separates the skin and tissues carefully and gently, stretching and lifting the skin, removing the excess skin and fat.

Non-Surgical Techniques

There are non-surgical methods, without a scalpel, that are less invasive and far less painful. Some do not require as much recovery time as the standard procedures. Should the patient choose the less painful and bloodless technique? Ask the Drs Amar! They will explain you non-surgical methods as the FAMI™ technique (see the FAM™I chapter).

Risks

A plastic surgeon is ethically bound to warn you of any risks, but you as a patient still has the responsibility to ask the right questions. Educate yourself prior to your pre-briefing session. Read magazines and websites that will inform you of some of the risks to be aware of–such as scarring, bleeding, infection, anesthesia complications, facial asymmetry–which means uneven face–and fat necrosis, in which fat deep within the skin dies, as well as skin loss.

Preparation for Surgery

In the postoperative phase, you should quit taking aspirin, other antiinflammatory drugs, and herbal supplements herbal supplements as these may promote excessive bleeding and require blood transfusions. Also, you must quit smoking well before the day of the operation.

The plastic surgeon may also ask you for a complete work-up, which include lab tests to determine your state of health. He may also instruct you to adjust the dosing on certain medications you may be taking.

In this prebriefing session, you can also expect to be told where your surgery will take place: at the Cadogan which is an outpatient surgical center. If you are an outpatient, it is best to have a person drive you to and from the surgery session, and to stay with you the night immediately following the operation.

mini facelift

In general, a mini facelift is a safe and quick facelift technique that involves very tiny incisions under local anesthesia to rectify the problem areas of one’s face. Therefore, this procedure is one the least invasive in facial surgery and it is done with a minimal amount of risk. It is the best for treating the loose neck skin with minimum incisions and pain.

However, there are several possible risks as well as side effects that potential patients should be aware of:

Bleeding

Sometimes a hematoma or bleeding can develop leading to swelling under one’s skin. If this occurs, one has to have a little drainage surgery.

Scarring

Scarring is caused by any form of incision. However, this gradually fades with time specially under le ear lobule.

Numbness

This is just a temporary discomfort under the ear lobule which will disappear on its own.

Recovery

Generally, the recovery period from an average procedure is usually 1-2 days although most surgeons recommend that patients take it easy at least in the first week after having the surgery.
In addition, patients will also have signs of bruising in the first 2-3 weeks after surgery but this will gradually fade away after week 3. Most patients are able to go back to work after 1 week of the surgery but it is generally recommended that they avoid any strenuous activity and get a lot of rest which will help in the healing process.

Benefits of the mini facelift

One of the key benefits of this procedure is that it’s a far less invasive surgery compared to the full facelift with a good benefit in the upper neck. In addition, it takes one a shorter time to recover and a general anesthetic isn’t needed.

Moreover, surgeons can perform this particular procedure along with eyelid and brow FAMI™ (see the FAM™I chapter).

Although this procedure produces less dramatic effects, the surgery can take care of apparent signs of aging on the face especially for middle-aged people. These people tend to have a less elastic skin that gives them a jowly, tired look.

Other noticeable benefits you can get from this procedure are that it takes a shorter recovery period which produces natural looking results. And as a result of getting a neck youthful appearance, patients will have a lively appearance and enhanced self-esteem.

All in all, deciding to have this type of pinched lift is a totally different matter for people who will be concerned, understandably, at the risk(s), cost, side effects and recovery time. One should do a thorough background research to get answers to these questions before deciding to have a conventional facelift. .