Home/Facial Enhancement Procedures/Facelift with Lifelong Lift™
Over time, our facial bones shrink. Also, the sun causes skin to lose elasticity, and gravity causes ligaments of the underlying soft tissues to stretch. As a result, the skin develops wrinkles, and gravity causes the muscle and fat overlying the facial skeleton to sag and droop, forming jowls and a double chin (loss of the horizontal jaw neck line). These changes can create discordance between how active people feel and what they see in the mirror. Therefore, people who are engaged in life often feel a desire to have a more youthful outer appearance that reflects their inner energy.
A facelift with the Lifelong Lift™ technique, developed by our board-certified facial plastic surgeon, Ali Sepehr, MD, can smooth out wrinkles and fine lines and take years off the appearance of your face. Please contact OC Facial Plastic Surgery to schedule a consultation for facelift surgery.
A facelift, technically known as rhytidectomy, can affect one’s appearance as dramatically as any other operation—it is common to look about ten years younger after a facelift and neck lift. Facelift surgery can be an effective and safe procedure that reduces sagging and drooping in the lower half of the face by repositioning the underlying descended muscle and fat back to their original position. A facelift also reduces the wrinkling by tailoring away excess skin. The greatest effect of the facelift is often seen in a much more defined jawline by decreasing jowling. The cheeks are also enhanced with a facelift. In contrast to short techniques, in which the effects of surgery often don’t last as long, the thorough and complete technique developed by Dr. Sepehr can have a very long-lasting outcome.
The Lifelong Lift™, a unique facelift procedure personally developed by Dr. Sepehr, is designed to yield incredibly enduring results by working in the deeper tissues of the face and neck. Using a multi-modal approach, Dr. Sepehr comprehensively addresses the facial structure to smooth pronounced facial lines, tighten sagging skin, and minimize the look of jowls in the lower face. This extensive rejuvenation can preserve the outcome achieved with facelift surgery for longer than traditional techniques.
Dr. Sepehr would be happy to describe the Lifelong Lift™ procedure in greater detail upon a consultation. To see what can potentially be achieved with a facelift, please feel free to explore the before-and-after photos in our patient gallery.
Amazing and Talented Surgeon Dr. Ali Sepehr , I felt like my requests were heard but valued his opinion more than my own, his manner made me feel very comfortable with him. He did not rush during the procedure. He studied my face from all angles. The results are extremely satisfactory and very natural in appearance. I am very happy with my results. I highly recommend Dr. Sepehr .
Thank you
Lolla Dubai
July 15, 2017
At your consultation, we will evaluate your facial bone structure, soft tissue covering, and skin. All of these factors, in conjunction with age, skin type, and ethnic background, impact the result of a face and neck lift. If you have extensive skin laxity in the neck, or a congregation of excess fat and redundant skin that may be preventing a well-defined neck profile, a neck lift is also available at our practice. The procedure can be combined with a facelift for a more complete cosmetic makeover.
A skillfully performed facelift and neck lift can make patients look up to ten to twenty years younger than their actual age. When combined with good skincare and periodic facial rejuvenation treatments, a facelift can help achieve the highest caliber of facial rejuvenation. Depending on whether you opt to undergo a neck lift at the same time as your facelift, the procedure can:
While there are many possibilities with regard to what a facelift can achieve, exploring our before-and-after photos can give you a more comprehensive understanding of what you can expect from the outcome of surgery. For some patients, jawline contouring can be an ideal complement to the facelift and neck lift procedure to further refine the contours of the lower face.
A facelift typically takes between three to four hours and is usually performed under general anesthesia. The procedure begins by making a well-hidden incision, camouflaged within the hairline and in natural skin creases around and behind the ear (no hair is shaved). The skin is elevated. The Superficial Musculoaponeurotic System (SMAS) is seen. The SMAS layer (strong underlying connective tissue fascia) is mobilized and repositioned back to its normal, youthful location. This tightening naturally results in excess skin. The skin is redraped and the excess is tailored away. Drains are placed, and the incisions are closed with fine sutures. The healed incisions should be virtually invisible.
Quick Facts
You may choose to stay overnight under our care for comfort. The drains will be removed the first day after your facelift. Before you go home, you will have a light supportive facial garment placed over the facial area. The mild discomfort and tight pressure sensation can be easily controlled with pain medication as needed. All stitches will be removed between the fifth and eighth post-operative day. Recovery time ranges from 1 to 3 weeks, however, on average after 2 weeks, others will not be able to tell you had surgery. Most swelling will have dissipated after six weeks. Some unavoidable areas of numbness will gradually decrease. Intermittent bursts of tingling signal the progressive return of sensation as the nerves “turn back on.” You will likely see significant results within the first few months after treatment, with the most optimal results of facelift surgery becoming apparent after one year. Careful adherence to pre-operative and post-op instructions is necessary for optimal healing.
There are a few different techniques that can be used to revitalize your appearance and Dr. Sepehr will provide additional information about which one may be appropriate for you during your initial consultation. Regardless of the approach, he will place the incisions within the hairline and/or the natural folds of the ear to keep them well-hidden. The scars should be relatively inconspicuous once fully healed.
Facelift surgery can last many years if you take good care of your skin and avoid environmental damage. Dr. Sepehr’s Lifelong Lift™ technique is also designed to provide longer-lasting results than the traditional approach, the outcome lasting for 10 or even 15 years for some patients. Occasional non-surgical maintenance may extend the benefits further, which we can discuss at your appointment. We can also advise you on how to preserve your results with recommendations for skin care products and services.
The cost of your facelift will be unique to your treatment plan, the price generally varying according to your geographic location and the expertise of your plastic surgeon. Patient reviews from Realself.com list the average cost of a deep plane facelift near Newport Beach as $18,807, with the price ranging anywhere from $8,000 to $38,000 depending on the complexity of your procedure and whether a neck lift is performed simultaneously.
After Dr. Sepehr examines your anatomical indicators and gains an understanding of your needs in a consultation, our office will be able to provide you with a personalized quote. In addition to accepting several major payment methods, we also work with leading plastic surgery financing companies like CareCredit® and Prosper® Healthcare Lending. These options offer qualified applicants a variety of flexible payment plans with low monthly installments to make the cost of a facelift more manageable. Once approved, patients can select the most ideal plan to accommodate their budgetary needs. If you would like to learn more about our accepted modes of payment, please contact our practice for additional information.
While a surgical facelift remains the gold standard for facial rejuvenation, signs of aging can still be corrected with non-surgical options for an exceptionally natural-looking outcome. Dr. Sepehr offers a liquid facelift for patients who cannot—or do not want to—undergo surgery, a treatment that uses various injectables to accentuate the youthful characteristics of your face. Using a custom treatment plan tailored to your individual concerns, a combination of dermal fillers and/or BOTOX® Cosmetic injections can be administered to fill in and smooth pronounced facial creases, restore volume to hollow areas, and make the youthful contours of your face more visible. Although the results are not as extensive or long-lasting as the surgical Lifelong Lift™ technique, a liquid facelift can be utilized to renew your facial aesthetic with minimal downtime and topical anesthesia. Please inquire about a liquid facelift with Dr. Sepehr during a consultation if you are interested in his artistic non-surgical approach.
The need for a facelift is usually determined less by age and more by the extent to which a patient exhibits loose facial musculature, sagging skin, and jowls. Dr. Sepehr has performed facelift surgery on men and women from a broad range of ages. He has found that there are some patients in their thirties who experience the indications for a facelift, while other individuals near middle age may not benefit from the procedure. Therefore, there is no ideal age to pursue facelift surgery and candidacy is decided based on whether a patient has the requisite aesthetic concerns.
A facelift can be a powerful treatment to reverse the effects of aging, but the procedure is limited to rejuvenating the lower two-thirds of the face. That said, wrinkles, sagging skin, and/or tissue laxity around the eyes and forehead can still be treated with other options from our practice, such as blepharoplasty and brow lift surgery, respectively. Eyelid surgery can smooth the skin around the eyes and treat puffiness as well as eyelid hooding, while a brow lift can rejuvenate sagging brows and improve forehead creases and hairline position/forehead length. If your concerns are more focused under the chin and around the neck, chin augmentation or a neck lift may be better solutions to attain younger-looking facial contours. Patients frequently combine procedures to achieve more comprehensive rejuvenation for the same recovery period. Dr. Sepehr can advise you on a recommended treatment plan based on your unique concerns and goals.
While Dr. Sepehr’s Lifelong Lift™ procedure can often outlast the results of standard facelift techniques, the natural aging process will inevitably continue after your surgery. Fortunately, facelift patients generally always appear younger and more refreshed when compared to individuals of the same age who did not undergo the procedure. If signs of sun damage and facial aging reappear, medical spa treatments can provide an excellent way to “touch-up” the outcome of your facelift and prolong your facial rejuvenation. Non-surgical options to maintain your results may include:
These treatments are all available at our Newport Beach practice and performed in-office without the need for anesthesia. Our skincare products can even be purchased online to provide your everyday regimen with a powerful upgrade. If you’re unsure which product would provide the most benefits for your unique concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact OC Facial Plastic Surgery for a skincare consultation with our aesthetic professionals.
A facelift is considered a very predictable procedure with a proven record of patient safety, as well as a documented history of clinically-supported results. However, given that no surgical procedure is risk-free, a facelift comes with a chance of complications. The risks of a facelift are similar to those of other cosmetic procedure and include the potential for bleeding, negative reactions to anesthesia, infections, poor wound healing, nerve damage, changes in skin sensation, and fluid accumulation, among other possible complications. However, the likelihood of adverse side effects is greatly minimized when you select an experienced facial plastic surgeon to perform your procedure. As a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon who is fellowship-trained and specializes exclusively in aesthetic facial enhancement, Dr. Sepehr has extensive knowledge on how to not only maximize patient safety, but also how to achieve the most impeccable, long-term surgical outcomes.
A combination facelift plus neck lift is usually considered the most optimal treatment plan since the face and neck age together. This not only allows a higher degree of rejuvenation, but addressing both regions also can provide the most natural-looking, harmonious results. For these reasons, Dr. Sepehr typically performs both procedures simultaneously and rarely completes a facelift or a neck lift in isolation. A dual treatment plan gives Dr. Sepehr the opportunity to remove jowls, sagging neck skin, and descended tissue in the lower face all at once for a comprehensively smoother jawline and neck contour.
That said, each patient’s needs vary and surgery is ultimately tailored to your unique desires. Dr. Sepehr will assess your features in person to determine whether you would benefit from a joint procedure. If you do not have excess fat, sagging, skin, or stretched musculature in the neck compromising a sleek contour, there is typically no need to add a neck lift to your facelift.
When it comes to facial plastic surgery, the results possible with a RadiaLift — a more integrative and holistic method of lifting the facial tissues —are often unmatched. The RadiaLift procedure was personally developed by Dr. Sepehr to more cohesively address signs of facial aging. A RadiaLift seeks to restore support for the face and neck in the same manner in which the facial tissues age. Since the face tends to sag in a more rotational fashion, a RadiaLift resuspends lax tissue from multiple vectors. This can achieve rejuvenation that looks more natural and graceful when compared to traditional facelifts, which may show obvious signs of surgery. Rather than address one region of the face at a time in isolation, a RadiaLift approaches the entire face as a whole.
It’s important to keep in mind that a RadiaLift usually consists of multiple facial procedures personally tailored to target your unique concerns. A facelift and neck lift are commonly included in a RadiaLift, along with blepharoplasty, chin implants, jawline contouring, and fillers, among other techniques to achieve greater facial harmony.
To avoid the tight, pulled, or unnatural look that can result when a facelift is performed incorrectly, it is pivotal to select an experienced facelift surgeon who is well-equipped to make your aesthetic goals a reality. While researching your options, you can get an idea of whether a prospective surgeon is the right fit for you by:
Learn about a plastic surgeon’s educational background, board-certification, and where they received their training to gain an idea of their expertise. In general, choosing a board-certified facial plastic surgeon to perform your facelift can ensure you are in the hands of a qualified facial specialist who has been extensively vetted by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
It is often true that the more frequently a surgeon performs a facelift, the more adept they can be in tailoring the procedure to produce your desired final outcome. Find out whether a surgeon specializes in facelift surgery, or has developed a cutting-edge technique that improves upon the traditional procedure. Such aptitude can increase the likelihood that you are under the care of someone who is proficient working with the complex facial anatomy.
The quality of your results will likely be the ultimate determinant of your overall satisfaction. Explore a plastic surgeon’s online patient gallery, or ask to see examples of previous facelift outcomes during a consultation. His or her portfolio can be an excellent indication of the type of results you can expect to achieve.
Online patient reviews can offer valuable insight into the level of care provided by a plastic surgeon, as well as the overall surgical experience offered at a given practice. Explore reviews from an array of platforms, such as Yelp, Realself, and Facebook, to attain a comprehensive understanding of patient satisfaction under a particular facial surgeon.
Once you find someone who meets your criteria, the next step is to schedule a consultation. This visit can be used as an opportunity to ask your potential surgeon any questions you may have about his or her training in person, and determine how comfortable you feel in their care. Ultimately, make sure you choose a surgeon who keeps you well-informed about the procedure by answering all of your questions and concerns patiently and thoroughly.
We understand you may have many questions, and we would like to help. Dr. Sepehr has provided answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about facelift surgery to aid you in your research. If you would like to learn more, or if you’re ready to schedule a consultation, please contact our skilled medical team.
Facelift procedures should be performed by a qualified surgeon. Please contact us to schedule a consultation for facelift surgery at our practice. Dr. Sepehr would also be happy to answer questions you have in regards to facelift surgery and/or any other procedures, like rhinoplasty and facial implants.
*Individual Results May Vary