Should laser resurfacing or deep chemical peel be performed before a face lift? (Photos)

I would highly recommend that you NOT get any resurfacing done before a facelift. The reason being that the resurfacing will change the skin for the better, but the facelift will lift the skin up over the jawline. That causes the neck skin, that hasn't been treated by resurfacing, to be pulled up and the line where the resurfacing ended can be seen. I personally prefer to do an Erbium laser resurfacing at the same time as a deep plane facelift. The deep plane technique allows for the ability to laser the skin safely due to a better blood supply to the facelift skin. That way, the facelift lifts the jowl, then the laser can be performed right down to the new jawline and "feathered" into the skin of the neck. Both heal at the same time, so though patient literally look horrible during the healing of a laser peel, by the time 7-10 days pass, things look pretty good. And by day 14, patients look great. The before & after photos on the link are patients that have had a facelift with laser resurfacing.Andrew Campbell, M.D.Facial Rejuvenation SpecialistQuintessa

Great question... typically I combine a facelift with a deep chemical peel or a fully ablative laser for facial wrinkles. We do this at the same time so patients only have to heal once.

I would definitely recommend doing any face lifting surgery prior to any deep laser or chemical peel resurfacing.  There is always a transition zone between the face and the neck under the jawline where the laser/peel treatment must end.  The neck can not tolerate deep resurfacing in the same way the face can. If you have the resurfacing first the more hidden transition zone under the jawline will be moved into a more visible location as the skin is re-draped for the facelift. This can result in a "line of demarcation" between the treated and untreated skin (either different color or texture) being much more visible.