Why do most doctors remove buccal fat during a facelift?

Hello, hope you're well. Buccal fat does not necessarily need to be removed as part of a facelift procedure. It is only routinely exposed if deep plane dissection is done, so in reality, most surgeons do not even have access or exposure to the buccal fat for facial contouring. I only remove it if it is clearly herniating outward and contributing to jowling in this way--but that's the exception, and not the standard.
Best,Dr. Tower

Greetings from Newton, MA! If you are a runner it is unlikely you'll have significant fat in your face so removing the buccal fat is unlikely to be beneficial. Typically it is only on "chubby" faces that we would do this. Runners do get a thin face and fat loss, but, there are ways to manage that as well.
Buccal fat removal seems unnecessary (though we don't have a photo of you here).

In our practice, we've never removed buccal fat during a facelift procedure. In our practice, the goal of a lower face and neck lift is too tighten loose facial and neck skin, tighten loose facial and neck muscles, lift the jowls, and remove any fat deposits in the neck which also includes a platysma- plasty to significantly improve the jawline. If you're considering traveling for a facelift, Best to do that within United States to get the best results.