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After a Facelift, Can Your Face Get Thinner? Does Any of the Fat on Cheeks Get Absorbed?

asked 1 year ago by SugarTime
Latest answer by Sam Naficy, MD
Question viewed 343 times
Tags: face, fat loss

16 answers to After a Facelift, Can Your Face Get Thinner? Does Any of the Fat on Cheeks Get Absorbed?

Fat loss and face lifts

Whether or not any fat is lost during a face lift depends to some extent on the technique used. We typically add fat to face (fat grafting) at the same time as the face lift

Sam Naficy, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Can the face get thinner after a face lift

The answer is yes and no. yes, the face oftens appears thinner after a face lift because the excess skin and muscle tightening, of the face when combined with shaping of the cheeks, makes the face appear thinner but in a shapely and more aesthetic manner. No, in the sense that the Face Lift somehow causes fatty tissues, of the cheeks, to dissolve. If you are experiencing thinner, flat cheeks after a face lift...it's most likely due to how the face lift was performed or... more

Francis R. Palmer, III, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

The face looks thinner after a Facelift because sagging tissues have been lifted off of the lower face

Fat does not dissolve after a Facelift. If fat was removed during a Facelift that area-usually the neck-will look thinner. It is rare and very unlikely that fat has been removed from the cheek and jowl area-this can be risky to facial nerves. Most likely you are seeing the effect of the Facelift. As we age fat and skin move downward creating fullness due to loose tissue around the mouth, lower cheeks and jowls. A good Facelift elevates the lax skin and fat by pulling them upward.... more

Brooke R. Seckel, MD
Boston Plastic Surgeon

www.drseckel.com

Facelifts don't thin your face

Unless a concerted effort is made to take out fat, a facelift doesn't thin your face. A properly done SMAS lift will redistribute the fat and restore the cheek volume of youth rather than thinning the cheeks.

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Face does not get thinner after facelift

There is a miniscule amount of fat that is absorbed along the area of the surgical facelift where the incisions and elevation of the SMAS is performed. Only the areas that are undermined will get a very slight resorption of fat.

William Portuese, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattlefacial.com

Facelift with Thinner Face

The reason that the face may appear thinner is the vertical direction of pull on the underlying muscle during traditional facelift surgery. This results in a more angular oval facial shape from a previous boxy flat appearance. The cheek fat is very unlikely to atrophy and should actually appear more pronounced depending on the vector of pull during your facelift. All the best on a safe recovery. Paul S. Gill, M.D. Glll Plastic Surgery Houston... more

Paul S. Gill, MD
Houston Plastic Surgeon

Face lift and facial thinning

A face lift accomplishes several objectives: elevation of sagging (cheek pads, jowls), smoothening of the skin (cheeks and neck), and, at times, decreasing the excess fullness form fat of the cheeks, jawline, and neck. In general, as we age we lose fat volume in our body, and in some individuals it may sometimes appear more pronounced in the face. For this reason, many plastic surgeons now believe that repositioning the fat and less fat removal is better than more, so... more

Ricardo Izquierdo, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

After a Facelift, Can Your Face Get Thinner? Does Any of the Fat on Cheeks Get Absorbed?

In most cases no but without a photo very hard to advise. Seek in person evaluations from boarded plastic surgeons in your area. From MIAMI Dr. Darryl J. Blinski

Darryl J. Blinski, MD
Miami Plastic Surgeon

Facelift: Common Results

The goals of a facelift procedure are to suspend the soft tissues of the face to their more youthful position. During this process liposuction can be performed to further reduce some of the excess adipose tissue in the region of the face and neck. Combined, the effects of suspension and sculpting afford an excellent rejuvenation of the lower 2/3’s of the face.

James M. Ridgway, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

After facelift surgery face can be "thinned"

If there is excess fat in the face and neck it can be reduced if this will present an aesthetic improvement. Fat can also be preserved in the thin neck. Our Smartlifting techniques with laser assisted facelifting can transfer jowl fat to the cheek are giving the face a more heart like shape. Like wise laser assisted facelifting can strategically melt fat in some locations. Full faces can also be reduced with removal of buccal fat if necessary.

Richard Gentile, MD
Cleveland Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.facialplastics.org

Preserving facial fat with rejuvenation surgery

In general , it may appear that your face is thinner due to the repositioning of the fat. However, in most instances, plastic surgeons will try to preserve volume.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Facial atrophy

When performing a facelift usually the goal is to preserve facial fat as much as possible. I suppose that some of the fat that was cut through to elevate the skin may have atrophied a bit.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Thinning of facial fat in facelift.

A facelift does not cause fat to be absorbed. There are, however, some newer techniques that retain all of the fat better than older techniques. If you lose weight after a facelift, you could lose some Of the fat that was retained.

Robert T. Buchanan, MD
Highlands Plastic Surgeon

What happens after a Facelift

During a facelift, the skin and soft tissues are elevated and the underlying tissue is repositioned to achieve a more youthful position. With many facelifts, liposuction of the neck and jowls is performed and often the muscles are tightened. In some patients, extra fat can be transferred to the midface to enhance the results from surgery. However, every patient is different and the procedure need to be customized to each individual person. Good luck. more

David Shafer, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

www.ShaferPlasticSurgery.com

You should not lose fat in your cheeks after a facelift

A facelift repositions the fat within th face to a more youthful position. Next the excess skin is removed. After a facelift, you should not lose the fat that was repositioned, but keep in mind that the aging process will continue. It is possible that some of the fat may decrease because of the natural aging process. This may happen very slowly over years and years.

Matthew Schulman, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Fat loss in face after a facelift.

A Facelift will reposition the tissues of your face back to where they started out when you were younger. This process does not cause your fat to go away, however, some surgeons do some fat contouring while they are doing the Facelift procedure. In general we do not remove fat from the cheeks.