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Facelift Cost ≈ $12,100 average cost

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Will a Facelift Tighten Pores?

My pores are so large that my skin sags and looks like fine wrinkles. If I were to have a facelift, would it have an adequate effect on tightening them? I would assume they would soften, just like any other facial wrinkles. I am aware that a facelift is not a solution for acne scarring, but my main concern is pore size.

Asked 29 months ago by sebastiana in New York

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face wrinkles sagging acne scars fine line large pores skin tightening

A facelift will not improve pore size

Hi Sebastiana. No, a facelift will not affect pore size. It may improve the overall appearance of your face and neck skin and skin texture, but pore size itself will not change.

James M. Pearson, MD

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

Pores and Facelift

A facelift will improve some of the "sagging" you describe, but pore size and acne scarring will generally not be substantially improved. This has been a vexing problem for facial plastic surgeons, often addressed with fairly aggressive procedures like full face dermabrasion or those that don't seem to work at all light superficial laser resurfacing. The best results with the least amount of down time and expense appear to be with deep fractionated laser treatments... more

Paul K. Holden, MD

Phoenix Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelift and pore sizes

A facelift will not change your pore size. Try some medical grade skin care, like retin-A, or laser resurfacing, like CO2 pixel.

Irvin M. Wiesman, MD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Facelift and Pore Size

There is no anatomic explanation on how a facelift can reduce pore size. Pore size is one of the most difficult areas to treat. I have found intradermal Botox to be a good treatment for some patients with enlarged pores.

Anil R. Shah, MD

Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelift will not affect pore size

A facelift will not affect pore size. To affect the pore size, the skin would have to be stretched too far and would look too artificial. Deep acne pock scarring can be helped with a facelift by stretching the actual scar as well as dermabrasion to the actual affected skin.

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William Portuese, MD

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Fat Grafting Is Better Than Facelifting For Pore Size.

Since you describe laxity that causes wrinkling along the large pores you might see some improvement in the appearance from a facelift because the laxity will be less. I notice in many patients the a facelift will "iron out" irregularities especially along the cheek skin. I would strongly suggest adding fat grafting to your procedure as this will transfer stem cells which appear to rejuvenate the skin and reduce pore size. In summary, you will almost certainly improve your... more

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David L. Mobley, MD

Sarasota Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Fat grafting, laser resurfacing, IPL are better options

Some newer studies and results from physicians more recently are showing that these modalities may be more beneficial to reduce pore size for people. A facelift will not effectively do this but it can improve your wrinkles to an extent. Fat grafting has been shown by some to regenerate the skin including reducing the size of your pores. Stem cells in the transferred fat can rejuvenate the skin for years. Laser resurfacing through the creation of new collagen can also reduce the size of the... more

Philip Young, MD

Bellevue Facial Plastic Surgeon

Many options for IMPROVING pores, but facelift is not one of them

Hi Sebastiana, You have already received excellent advice here, but I would like to throw my two cents worth in since this is a special interest area of mine. As you can see there are many ways inlcuding lasers, dermabrasion, fillers, chemical peels and(my personal favorite) intra-dermal Botox to help improve the appearance of pores. I emphasized "improve" because that's really all they can do - make improvements on how the pores look, nothing can or should permanently... more

Kamran Jafri, MD

New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

Not really!

Excess skin is improved with a facelift, but not pore size. Peels will improve the overall quality of the skin but not make pores smaller.

Toby Mayer, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Nonsurgical treatments may be best solution for pore size, skin quality concerns

While a facelift can do many things such as correct the neck, jowl, and cheek folds, complementary procedures are important to address fine lines, sun damage, acne scars or pore size. Facelift corrects significant aging and laxity while nonsurgical therapies can help clean up these others issues. This is the reason that most cosmetic practices today incorporate both treatment options when considering facial rejuvenation. Our own practice has a full time aesthetician to provide laser and... more

Peter E. Johnson, MD

Des Plaines Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

A Facelift will not change the size of your pores

If your main concern is pore size then there are two things that work very well: Clarisonic MD skin care brush. SilkPeel Microdermabrasion If your concern is truly acne scarring, then I would suggest laser skin resurfacing with a product like the Fraxel Laser. A facelift will not change your pore size and you should not consider the procedure if pore size is your primary concern. Good luck.

Sirish Maddali, MD

Portland Plastic Surgeon

Facelift can make skin look smoother.

Hi! Tightening the skin with a facelift can make the skin look smoother. This is a side effect of the facelift. Surgery of course will not change pore size, but the pores might become less noticeable.

George J. Beraka, MD

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Injectable Fillers work well for wrinkles and acne scarring.

I advise my patients that Face Lift Surgery works well to rejuvenate the sagging neck, jowls and midfacial structures. Face Lifting is not meant to eliminate large pores, acne scarring or wrinkles. In my experience, wrinkled skin looks improved after face lift surgery only while the skin is swollen. Just about all of my Face Lift patients will have their deep wrinkles and scars treated with Injectable Fillers before surgery. I am not aware of any good treatments for large pores. I hope this... more

Eric M. Joseph, MD

West Orange Facial Plastic Surgeon

Oddly, a facelift can help large pores due to old acne scars

Dear Sebastiana Facelifts are generally neutral on normal skin pores. A well done series of Fotofacial is about the only treatment that I am aware of the will make these types of pores look better. Are they actually smaller or is it that they simply look smaller? This question has never been formally studied. However, many people who complain of large pores are really talking about old acne scars and pits. As we age, there is loss of support for the skin and the dermal scar that extends from... more

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Facelift Reducing Pores

No. Pores are like upside down mountains, they are larger the thicker the skin. Anything that reduces the thickness of the skin reduces the size of the pores. Medical skin care such as Obagi, microdermabrasion, exfoliation, skin resurfacing, and others will all reduce the size of the pores. All by reducing the thickness of the epidermis.

Donald Kress, MD

Frederick Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Facelifts will not change pore size

Hello Sebastiana Facelift surgery will do many things, but it will not affect pore size. As a a matter of fact, pore size is one of the most difficult conditions to predict outcomes on. Any treatment that causes swelling will temporarily reduce pore size, but I do not know of a permanent treatment.

Francisco Canales, MD

Santa Rosa Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Pore Size Does Not Change With Facelift

The skin pore size does not change with facelift. In the first 3 weeks afte a facelift it might appear that your pores are smaller and skin is smoother. That is a temporary effect from the swelling that accompanies a facelift. To improve the pore size you need either a chemical peel or a laser resurfacing. Regards

Tanveer Janjua, MD

Bedminster Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelift and Pore Size

Unfortunately, a facelift will not reduce pore size. This is intrinsic in the skin. However, it can improve the appearance of some types of acne scars.

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Amir M. Karam, MD

San Diego Facial Plastic Surgeon

Facelifts have little effect on skin pore size

Facial aging occurs in a number of ways: 1. Skin 2. Dynamic Lines (muscles pulling underneath) 3. Loss of Volume 4. Effects of Gravity 5. Loss of elasticity. Facelift surgery addresses the last two. Initially, skin can look different after a facelift, but if you have acne scars and even wrinkling of the skin, it can look better but the skin will stretch back. For the skin, acne scars and wrinkles are treated by laser or peels of the skin. As for the second and third conditions, dynamic... more

Steven J. Pearlman, MD

New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

Effect of face lift on pore size.

Your best method to determine if this will diminish your pore size is to place your cheek skin on simple tension by lifting and pulling your skin up and back. What happens to your skin?