Disappointment After Facelift and Fat Transfer?

Thank you for sharing. Without your before and after pictures, it's difficult to give specific recommendations. However, it seems like you are experiencing an all too common issue with mini-facelifts or "quick" lifts and the like. These procedures have a shorter operative time and faster recovery... but the tradeoff is that they tend to have a shorter duration of effect as well. In particular, when the procedure addresses the skin only, early sagging or recurrence of jowls is quite common.  For this reason, I recommend a facelift that lifts the deeper muscle and connective tissue layer of the face -- not just skin.
 

Thank you for your question. Many times, fat transfer fails due to improper harvesting, or poor fat quality due to weight changes over the past few years.  You should talk with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, and evaluate all your options, and see if there are other alternatives to explore.  Fat transfers are not an absolute way to improve volume. I hope this helps.

Recurring Skin Elasticity After Facelift

 

Without before and after photos, it would be difficult to give you a specific answer as loss of elasticity, age, race, smoking and sun history, all play a role in the type of results you should expect. Other factors are the skill of the surgeon and his experience. I have found for example that for upper neck skin laxity and lower facial rejuvenation, my Lite Lift, modified minimal incision facelifts with fat transfer do just as well as my traditional facelifts. For those patients with Turkey Waddle deformity and neck muscle bands a traditional facelift is recommended.

 More importantly, it sounds like you need a second opinion from a board certified Plastic or Facial Plastic Surgeon who specializes in facelifts.

The amount of skin to be removed during a successful facelift determines the length of the incision. Short incision facelifts are often disappointing because they do not address one of the components of aging-surplus skin.

I am sorry to hear of your disappointment following your procedure. My suggestion is that you do discuss the result with your surgeon as it is difficult to comment without knowing where you started from, the pre operative discuss, and the final result.

In either case it is possible that a form of revision may be needed to address your concerns.  The form of this revision and the surgeon to perform it you will need to consider carefully,. The key to success will be clear communication as to the likely outcome and an understanding from both surgeon and patient as to whether a particular procedure will achieve the result you are after.

This is  often the source of the problem - disappointment that a minimally invasive, or short scar procedure, failed to achieve the result that a more comprehensive procedure would have.

I hope that is of some help and all the best of luck

Jeremy Hunt 

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I am sorry to hear about your disappointment with your results. The incision for the facelift really has little to do with the longevity. The longevity of a facelift lies in tightening the muscle layer. Only your operating surgeon will know how or if  he or she tightened the muscle layer. 

Dr. ES

Without your before and after pictures, it is difficult to make any suggestions as to your results or provide further recommendations. 

Hello,

Thank you for the question.  I would have your plastic surgeon take before and after photos for you if you do not have them already.  Spend some time by yourself reviewing them and then review them with your plastic surgeon and discuss what you would like to accomplish.  This is often a great way to communicate as well as plan the next step in improving your facial appearance.

All the best,

Dr. Remus Repta

This is sad to read. We see this all the time with mini lifts and "lifestyle" lifts. They are shorter procedures and have you back in action days later but the trade off sometimes are the results. Many times a full face/neck lift should have been done but without before and after photos there isnt really anyway to be certain. Speak with your surgeon about your expectations. You should be happy and proud of your results. Good luck

Dear Aussie,

thank you for your question.  Often times, patients desire a short access type procedure or mini facelift because they desire less down time. However, there are limitations to these procedures, and with a lot of skin laxity, sometimes a full face lift is in order.  Discuss these aspects with your plastic surgeon.

Best Wishes,

Pablo Prichard, MD