How long does a facelift last?

A better question would be, "How much younger will a facelift make me look?" Facelift surgery is a way of "resetting the clock of aging in your face." The same factors that caused your face to age before surgery will continue to cause facial aging.

In the average patient, a facelift operation rejuvenates the face by ten years. There are exceptional cases where the surgery can make a patient look twenty  years younger.

I suggest you bring some photographs to your facial plastic surgeon for your consultation. This will give additional information about the rate of aging in your face, and the expected results from surgery.

Hello,

I would agree that a well performed  and appropriately selected Facelift will last 5-10 years.

It is important to recognize that in all patients after the first few weeks a little "settling in" occurrs, where 5-10% of the "tightness" initally seen goes away as the swelling of the facial tissues go down.  That's why its is useless and frankly unethical for after pictures to be taken very soon after surgery since these are not the utlitmate results that will be seen in the majority of patients.

The following are the most important factors that working together determine how long a facelift lasts:

1. Anatomy: some people are inherently blessed with great underlying anatomy - they have long necks, high hyoid bones and little fat in their jowels.  They also may have very good skin that has a natural glow and skin tone that stays with them over the years and makes "it easy" for the facelift results to last.  Others aren't so lucky and no matter how succesful the facelift their anatomy does not permit for long lasting results.
2. Genetics: genetics and anatomy are related, but also your genetics determine how you age.  Some people look young for their age and some people older.  This will have an impact on the results of the facelift.  Also some people reach an age where they "all of a sudden" develop turkey necks, wrinkles and jowls.  This is also influenced by genes.
3. Skin Care: no matter what your anatomy or genetic luck, it is crucial to take care of your skin both before and after a facelift.  This means cleansing, moisturizing, toning and protecting your skin from the sun.  Smoking is terrible for your skin.  A healthy lifestyle with daily hydration and high dietary anti-oxidant intake is great for it.  The healthier the skin the longer a facelift lasts.
4. Type of Facelift: this is probably the most important factor.  It is key that your Surgeon be able to identify and recommend the correct procedure for your anatomy, genetics, skin type and goals.  Whether that be a mini-lift or a full deep plane composite facelift, procedure selection is a very important factor.  As a basic rule, the more invasive the procedure the longer lasting the results.  I have also found over the years of performing hundreds of facelifts that the SMAS plication only procedures are the most inconsistent and have the shortest lasting results.  That is in contrast to SMASectomy, cranial suspension and SubSMAS procedures that provide longer lasting  and durable results.

Hope this was helpful for you!

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Everything is relative and variable. All patients are of course different. On average though, I let my potential patients know that  a facelift will last approximately 7-10 years.  This is when the SMAS is treated. Simply doing a skin lift is most often a waste of time and money for the patient.

We can not stop aging, but a well done facelifting procedure will leave the patient always looking that much better than having never done the procedure in the first place.

As I am sure you have read, lifestyle is a large factor in healing and in the longevity of such a procedure. Returning to smoking (I insist all my facelift patients have quit smoking for 2-6 months before the procedure) will reduce its longevity. Sun exposure, as I have stated in other answers, will age you. Extreme losses or gains in weight will affect a facelift. A patient's age is also a factor.

Lastly, I thoroughly believe that a patient's attitude and spirit affects his or her health and longevity. I believe it speeds healing as well as how long a procedure lasts.  This is impossible to measure of course and is completely subjective, but a persons spirit and well-being do make a real difference.

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Some surgeons say they last a lifetime. If you look at a patient that had a facelift years out and then were able to look at the same exact patient that didn't have a facelift years out, the facelift patient would still have signs of improvement 10 or even 20 years out.

I tell my patients that it is difficult to predict how long a facelift will last because there are so many variables ( including: age of the patient, skin quality, technique, smoking and health history), but will most likely give good results for at least 5 -10 years.

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