Samson Lee, MD

One surgeon's minilift is another's modified lift is another surgeon's trademarked catchy name lift. Every surgeon has some subtle differences in how they perform facelifts, you can call it what you want... weekend lift, s-lift, etc. There have been multiple studies on trying to show the advantage of one technique over another. I think what is important for you to see is that surgeon's results. Generally speaking I think what is more important then if you have a 2-3cm longer incision versus an incision that does not go into the hairline is what happens underneath the skin. Deeper plane facelifts I believe last longer then plication lifts, albeit they carry more risk and take longer to perform. In the end I like to customize a patient's facelift to what they need and want rather then performing the same procedure for every single patient. Some patients only need a 'minilift' and some really need a deep plane facelift. Your surgeon should be comfortable with all techniques.