Lower Face Lift - When Is It Required?

With age, the skin loses its elasticity and firmness, causing sagging skin and deep folds. The facelift, as the name suggests, gives a lift to the ageing face so that a youthful appearance is restored.

The lower one-third of the face, given the lesser number of bones, is a lot more prone to ageing changes. There are many people with the corners of the lips drooping, double chin, folds from the nose to the lips losing their definition, skin sagging, etc. These can be corrected by a trained, well-experienced surgeon.

The following are some of the main issues which can be corrected with lower facelift surgery.

1. Gravity: Though not noticeable at all, the earth’s gravity plays a major role in the ageing part. Especially in the lower half of the face, there is no underlying bone except the mandible. This causes the muscles and tissues to gravitate downwards, producing an aged appearance with a double chin and undefined neck/head interface. The rounded facial appearance becomes elongated gradually with age, which can be restored with a lower facelift.
2. Drooping mouth: With age, the muscles in the lower face droop and produce an appearance with corners of the mouth drooping. The lips lose their normal curvature and become thin and are usually downward aligned, giving a grumpy appearance.
3. Double chin: There is gradual laxity that builds in the muscles of the chin and neck, forcing people to wear turtlenecks to avoid the sagging skin and double chin.

These are some of the common indications for a lower facelift. There are different types of lower facelift. The same has been listed below.

1. S-facelift: A small, S-shaped incision is made beginning in the front of the area, and through this, the underlying structures are tightened and excess skin is trimmed down.
2. SMAS facelift: This incision begins around the temples, is hidden under the hairline and works to remove fatty tissue and firming up the connective tissue. This is a more elaborate process than the S-facelift.

Both these can be clubbed with neck liposuction where excess fat is removed from the neck area to produce far improved results.

Suitable candidates: People in relatively good health with an adequate elasticity of the skin around the face and neck. Laxity around the jawline, drooping corners around the mouth, excess fat in the neck and chin area are good candidates for lower facelift surgeries.

While a lower facelift can help improve your appearance, it is extremely important to place yourself in the hands of a competent, well-experienced surgeon. These are intricate procedures and can go if not done by an experienced person. Choose someone you are sure of and see yourself lose some years.