Archive for June, 2010
A facelift is a procedure designed to restore the neck and the lower third of the face, evolving tremendously over the previous 40 years. The deep plane facelift went through several developmental stages and today serves as one of the very best facelift techniques to provide patients with a long term correction of the jaw line and excess skin and fat in the neck. Early facelift pioneers discovered the SMAS (muscular) layer of the face and its importance in facelift surgery. Releasing the SMAS layer allowed aggressive re-suspension of the facial soft tissues, correcting the jowls and defining of the jaw line. Next the “Bi-planer” facelift lifted and contoured the neck to remove the excess skin and fat in addition to releasing and suspending the SMAS layer. The “tri-planer” facelift was then developed, to mobilize the tissues of the midface below eyelids and treat the nasolabial folds. This technique resulted in a less than satisfactory midface correction. Finally, Hamra refined this technique into the Deep Plane Facelift, releasing the suspensory ligaments just below the midface resulting in a correction of the midfacial drop and a softening of the nasolabial folds in addition to the correction of the jaw line and neck. This offered a unique facelift procedure, because it was much more comprehensive than any technique previously described. Today many of the best facelift surgeons use a variation of this technique.
The deep plane face lift can now be combined with mini facelift incisions to provide the maximum amount of correction available with a single facelift procedure while using the smallest incisions. Many patients falsely believe that the “Deep Plane” facelift will result in longer healing times. In truth, there is actually less bruising and risk of hematoma than with other techniques. With the deep plane facelift the correction in the midface and nasolabial folds is less permanent than the correction of the neck and jaw line. It is not as effective as a separate endoscopic temporal midface lift as a midface lift procedure. Surgeons who perform the deep plane facelift have had specialized training in the technique because it requires an intricate knowledge of the anatomy of the soft tissues of the face and the facial nerve to achieve optimal outcomes and avoid complications.
When consulting about facelift surgery, the overall expenses in addition to the healing period are foremost considerations. Most informed patients are seeking to have a procedure that will offer the longest term and most complete correction, thereby decreasing the overall cost from unnecessary revision surgeries. The deep plane facelift is currently one of two “gold standard” procedures, to correct the aging jaw line and neck, the other being an extended Sub-SMAS facelift. It is the only procedure to offer a correction of the midfacial soft tissue drop and the nasolabial folds with a single procedure.
Facelifts are often combined with other procedures, including: upper and lower eyelid blepharoplasty and brow lifts for a “full facelift” surgery. In addition, a skin rejuvenation plan is important to add to surgical procedures to attain superior results. Laser surgery and medical grade skin care products are often combined to offer the state of the art in skin rejuvenation therapy. Consultation with an expert facial plastic surgeon is critical to developing a strategy to restore and preserve ones youth and beauty.
Benjamin C. Stong MD
Atlanta, GA