The price of a lifestyle lift is likely far less than a facelift customized for you by an experienced, well trained plastic surgeon. But, the cost in terms of complications, unsatisfactory results or possible reoperations could be very significant. The results of a good facelift are long lasting. The results of a bad facelift are forever.
My time on the day of surgery will benefit my patients the rest of their lives. Personally, for me, it would be a soulless pursuit for my office to just collect the patients payment and then rush through the a 'cookie cutter' procedure and obtain a mediocre result. The real joy is doing my very best knowling my patients and their families have trusted me with their faces and their well-being and providing the best result possible to the patient.
One size fits all surgery will rarely proviude patients with the desired results. Today the popular media is filled with reports of the "latest and greatest" aesthetic treatments and procedures (including surgical procedures) many of which come and go in the blink of an eye. In some instances the "latest thing" may merely turn out to be ineffective, but in some cases it may turn out to have an unacceptably high risk of complications, and in a few cases it may turn out to be, quite frankly, dangerous.
Buyer beware: a number of ‘limited incision’ and ‘quick recovery’ facelift procedures are currently marketed to patients with names like “The Quicklift”, “The Lifestyle Lift”, “The Weekend Facelift”, “The S Lift”, “The MACS Lift”, etc. As with most things in life, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. In my opinion, the results of surgery are in direct proportion to the time and effort that the surgeon has put into the procedure. Most of the procedures I have listed above cut corners to arrive at a shorter surgical time and quicker recovery (which, by the way, isn’t always the case), and most of them undertreat or do not at all improve the neck. Additionally, ‘cutting corners’ in the neck almost always leads to distortion of the neck area skin, which often is quite readily apparent in ‘before and after’ images of these procedures with gimmicky names.
Surgical treatment of facial aging changes must be carefully individualized to match each patient's aesthetic needs and desires. No two 'facelifts', by necessity, are the same. In helping a patient to make decisions about plastic surgery for facial rejuvenation, I always examine and assess how each aesthetic area or 'unit' of the face contributes to an individual's overall appearance: the brows and eyelids, the cheeks or 'midface', the lower face and chin, and the neck. An individualized surgical plan is then developed which addresses each patient's specific concerns and needs.
Consult with a plastic surgeon who has experience and expertise in both surgical and non-surgical facial rejuvenation to determine the treatment plan that is best for you.
