What you have to understand is that these are marketing terms and not defined surgical procedures.
The lifestyle lift is performed by different surgeons in different locations and as far as I know there is no textbook that defines the procedure. Most of the patients are "screened" by a nurse or health care personnel and I frequently hear that patients do not meet the doctor until the day of surgery. This may explain the low (60%)satisfaction rates reported in the "Was it worth it?" survey. Compare this to the high (78%) facelift rates.
This is in direct contrast to the composite lift or the deep-plane technique which are very defined procedures. I would disagree with the other physician who states that the MACS lift does not achieve the results. In moderately aged individuals this provides an excellent result with a minimal downtime. The innovatiors of the technique have two books, several CD's on the technique and over 10 years of follow-up.
However, I do generally agree, that the more advanced the aging is, the more agressive the surgical procedure needs to be. With this in mind a mini-lift means different things to different people.
This would be parallel to having a construction person say we are going to do a mini remodeling of your kitchen: does that mean a coat of paint, tearing down the walls, ripping up the floors, new plumbing/electricity. You really have to get down to the specifics of what you want. Your face is made of bone, muscles, fat, and skin along with glands, organs, nerves and vessels. Each and all of these components contribute to aging and it depends on which one you are going to treat that defines each procedure.
I tried to keep this brief but give you an overview to why this is a complex question with no easy answer.
