Skin and Face Lift

Ricardo Izquierdo, MD answers: Does a facelift result in less healthy skin over long run?

I read an interesting article that spoke of long term damage to skin that has been cut and pulled as part of a facelift. It states that skin will get thinner and will never regain or increase its thickness given that the skin is lifted away from underlying layers in order to tighten the underlying fascia and muscles. Especially so if more than one surgery. It makes common sense that skin may not re-attach itself to underlying tissues like it was before surgery.


Ricardo Izquierdo, MD
18 days ago
By Ricardo Izquierdo, MD - Chicago Plastic Surgeon

 Healing after any surgery follows a set pattern.  A facelift, done correctly, should not produce "less healthy skin".  Most surgeons now perform the structural tightening of a facelift in the layer below the skin.  Then the skin is re-draped, like a sheet on a bed, to conform with the improved jaw line, elevated jowls, and slimmer neck without giving the wind-blown look.  There will be a modification of the healing process over time leaving smooth, soft appearing and pliable skin.

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A: Repeated facelifts and their effect

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
19 days ago
By Otto Joseph Placik, MD - Chicago Plastic Surgeon

To some degree this may be true and it does make some scientific sense that repeated episodes of fibrosis from flap elevation and rearrangement may result in "aged" skin. However, I am not aware of any study which has "proven" this.

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