What does releasing of ligaments mean in a facelift? How many would be released and where on the face, how are they reattached?

Retaining ligaments anchor the dermis, subcutaneous fat and SMAS to the bony periosteum or deep fascia. The role of these ligaments to support facial soft tissues against forces of gravity. The attenuation of retaining ligaments with aging leads downward displacement of soft tissues, and responsible for many of the stigmata that occur with aging. Inadequate release of these retaining ligamentous attachments during facelift prevent the transmission of traction toward mid face which may lead to an unbalanced, unnatural appearance with unopposed nasolabial folds. Additional attempts to improve untreated nasolabial folds such as fat grafting to malar region are more likely to result with a “stuffed look”, “operated appearance”. Extended techniques such as deep and composite plane facelifts involving the surgical release of mid facial ligaments produce combined, balanced, and harmonious rejuvenation of the midface, cheek, and lower face without requiring a separate midface lift procedure.

The Lift and Fill Face lift which combines the modern anatomic concepts of facial aging and the role of central facial  fat compartments with deep layer SMAS lifting to allow for natural long term results in facial rejuvenation today .    The use of Fat in facial rejuvenation with a modern Lift and Fill Face Lift has not only changed the results but also refocused our surgical techniques .   The key to natural results is to analyze each patient's aging face and stylize the face lift technique to allow for the best results for that person.   Please find a board certified Plastic surgeon with the expertise and experience in facial rejuvenation and also who understands the science of aging 

This is a technical question regarding the nuances of the different approaches to facelift surgery and how the deeper tissues are repositioned to improve the results from facelift surgery. There a couple of ligaments which when released allow a more effective lift and redraping of the skin.However, these retaining do not need to be reattached. The tension of the SMAS lift will provide the rejuvenating effect  Depending on what the ageing problems are in the first instance your surgeon can advise you of the technique that is proposed since facelift surgery is not a single technique and needs to be tailored to the individual.