Does Facelift Involve Literally Pulling the Skin to Tighten?

I have scars under my eyes. If I have a facelift, would it mean that the scars could be removed as excess skin as the face is pulled up tighter?

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22 Doctor Answers | Asked by Peter Hewitt 1 in uk

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Skin Tightening in Facelifts

Modern facial rejuvenation is much, much more than just skin tightening. One can see this in the current franchise and heavily marketed “facelift type” procedures. These procedures are done under local anesthesia and the scar is in front of the ear and the skin is only pulled tightly. This does not last long nor does it look good. True facial rejuvenation is a deep layer manipulation using a “Lift & Fill” technique as aging is both facial skin laxity with facial... more

Rod J. Rohrich, MD

10 reviews

Dallas Plastic Surgeon

Eye scars being removed during a facelift

The skin that is removed during a face-lift is mostly the skin in front of the ear. I cannot imagine that you have enough loose skin that a scar on or around the lower lid would be remove during a face-lift. If the scar is close to the lash line and you have loose skin of the eyelid, it might be able to be removed using an eyelid incision though.

Facelift and Skin Tightening

An anatomically correct facelift is actually designed to lift up the deeper tissues of the face. When the deeper tissues of the face are suspended, the excess skin is removed without tension. While it seems intuitive to just cut and remove skin, the skin only lift will place excess tension on the skin and relies on delicate skin to lift up heavier face tissues. The reason this technique does not work is that ultimately the skin stretches back, leaving the patient... more

Facelift tightens the fascia and structures underneath the skin

A comprehensive face/neck lift involves tightening the fascia and structures underneath the skin in the face, the tightening of the muscles in the neck, removal of fat deposits both above and below the muscle in the neck, and then gently removing any excess skin that is present after the muscle and fascial layer has been tightened. It will not affect any scars on the eyelids.

A midface lift could recruit more skin and perhaps allow scar improvement

The typical facelift done to improve the neck, jowls, and cheeks would do little for the eyelid scars. A midface lift, however, done at a deeper level elevates the cheek almost directly upwards and can recruit tissue into the lower lids. This has been well shown by a number of studies including one by Quatela in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery. Depending on the situation the scar could then be improved. Various peels and laser treatments could be added depending on the situation.... more

Facelift versus lower eyelid scar revision

It depends on how bad the scars appear and other factors such as lid tone, skin excess and the type of facelift you are going to have performed. If, for example the surgeon performs midface/ cheek lift with the facelift a fineline scar revision is certainly possible, but conservative laser resurfacing or chemical peel may do more to correct lower lid wrinkles or loose skin than another skin removing procedure. If there are other eyelid deformities (pseudoherniation, tear trough, hollowing,... more

Eyelid Scars

A facelift, which lifts the side of the face and the neck, would have no effect on lower eyelid scars. A check-lift, done through a lower eyelid incision, could be used to revise the lid scar if there is tension of the skin on the lower eyelid.

Richard W. Fleming, MD

9 reviews

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.bevhills.com

Lower lid scars

To answer your question directly, a facelift will likely do very little for your lower lid scars (and I assume some of these scars go onto the cheeks). Even fillers may be risky in the lower lid skin itself, but not on the cheek. You may consider some form of peel or better yet the Fraxel laser Re:Pair. First you must see a board certified plastic surgeon or facial plastic surgeon to assess these scars. Only then can an assessment be made as to what technique may help. Do not expect... more

Pulling Skin for a Facelift

It's interesting that you should bring this up. I think that most people believe that this is what we do during a Facelift. In fact the first facelifts were just tightening of the skin. These were okay for the time but plastic surgeons learned that if you don't correct the underlying structure it's impossible to get a good long lasting result. Thus the multitude of facelift procedures that address the SMAS (superficial musculo aponeurotic system). By elevating the SMAS, in some form or... more

Facelfit Procedure

A face lift ideally treats the neck and jowl area. It really does not come close to the lower eye lid region as far as removing skin. Skin is tightened and removed as is the deep layer called the SMAS, which is tightened as well. The skin that is removed is the excess skin around the ears, so there really is not skin removed from under the eye. Depending where the scars are and what kind of shape your lower eyelids are, you may be a candidate for a lower eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty)... more