Why is a 20 year old getting a mini facelift a bad idea?

In our practice, we perform a non-surgical face lift / skin resurfacing treatment using Renuvion Helium Plasma Radiofrequency. ​To get the most improvement with skin tightening, we combine Renuvion (formerly J-Plasma) with lasers (Fraxel, Clear + Brilliant, CO2), microneedling/PRP, Ultherapy and InMode FaceTite. I suggest getting a formal evaluation with a cosmetic dermatologist. Best, Dr. Emer​​​​

Thank you for your question.  A Facelift procedure is beneficial for patients with loose skin around their jawline, therefore jowls starting to appear.  The SMAS muscle and skin is targeted to create a sharper slender jawline.  At 20 unless you have had a lot of weight loss your skin has not lost much elasticity. You would need examination to suggest the best treatment or procedure.  All The Best 

 Our society puts a great deal of stress on our younger generation because role models consist of fashion models or young, pretty TV stars, which is unfortunate. Even without photographs, I can tell you for certain  that you are not a candidate for a facelift. In facial aesthetics there is something I like to call the “facial aesthetic ladder”.  You must climb this ladder slowly. It is better to start off With conservative, non-invasive procedures as you age as a maintainence program.  Jumping to a facelift at such an early age will give you an unnatural appearance. Discuss your options with a board-certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist and please get the notion of a facelift out of your mind.  Best of luck!

Facelifts are for sagging skin and fat. This would be really uncommon in a 20 year old, and if it was found in a 20 year old you would be really suspicious of something else going on that would preclude surgery. You are fixated on the facelift being the answer for your face when it is not. This isn't an appropriate technique for an otherwise 20 year old healthy face. The vector of pull shouldn't be straight back, so what you are doing with your hands isn't what the surgery does. You complain of a baby face, which is related to the position and size of the fat pads in your face. While most of us do re-position the fat pads in a facelift, your fat pads are probably anatomically where they should be and unlikely to move, so the facelift will not change the baby face look you don't like. Changing the relative volume of the various areas of your face would be injectable fillers--something that might be a possibility for you. It is highly unlikely that any reputable plastic surgeon would do a facelift on you--so no hope of getting this operation. However, there is hope for feeling better about yourself and changing your appearance. You say you feel bad about yourself. I would recommend addressing this area first. I would start with your primary care doctor. I would recommend you go through a good round of counseling sessions to find out why you feel bad about yourself--your primary care doctor can help you get this set up. In the long run, what you really want is to feel better about yourself. The counseling sessions will help you get to the bottom of this and set up a plan to address it. When the counselor feels that you are ready, your primary care doctor can help you find a reputable surgeon to address your cosmetic concerns. I will also address something that you have probably wondered about but not asked: no, insurance will not cover this. Insurance doesn't cover surgery for something that makes you feel bad about yourself. You will need to pay for your treatments yourself.Call your primary care doctor's office today and get started. Why wait? Then come back and let us know how you are doing in your path.

The answer is simple to the question - when is it appropriate to have cosmatic surgery or even treatments.  Consider that every treatment/surgery has a cost including money but probably more important a cost of time, recovery, scars, risk and the very fact that the tissue is altered in some way on a permanent basis (Loss of elasticity, loss of circulation, loss of normal aging processes +-, etc.)  A decision to have surgery or treatment should be approached as a balance scale or algebra equation.  When the factors on one side of the scale (advantages) outweigh the other side (disadvantages - total cost including emotional, etc) then the treatment should be done.  These various factors are relative to many of life's situations - age, financial, emotional, social, etc.  Remember however that once done, similar to tattoos, it is virtually impossible to totally reverse.

 Hi, it's a bad idea because at 20 years old the face wouldn't have "jowls".  Jowls are sagging facial tissues that are the primary indication for any form of a facelift.  That doesn't mean that your face can't be aesthetically improved through the various techniques that can be used for facial shaping.  In any case, non smiling photos of your face from the front and side would help in the evaluation.
 I have performed many facial shaping procedures using dermal fillers, silastic facial implants (cheek, chin), liposuction and/or facelifts for over 30 years.  Following my beauty principles, women look the most feminine, youthful and attractive with heart shaped faces.  Heart shaped faces have cheeks that are full and round in the front.  if the cheeks are flat or concave in the front, cheek augmentation with a dermal filler or using cheek implants for a permanent enhancement will create full, round cheeks that will feminize the entire face.  If excess fat exists (called "baby fat" in a 20 year old which typically reduces by itself by the mid to late twenties), this can be reduced with liposuction to further shape the cheeks and face.
 When the chin is weak, this creates an imbalance making the nose appear larger, the mid face top heavy and the lower face look short that de-emphasizes the lips and allows early formation of a double chin.   Chin augmentation using a chin implant will add projection to the chin creating harmony and balance to the lower face. 
 I have found that placement of a silastic chin implant, through a small curved incision under the chin (also allows excess skin removal) to be very safe, quick, highly effective and far less invasive than a sliding genioplasty.  I perform chin implant surgery in 30 minutes or less, often using a local anesthetic alone.  In my opinion, you are a good candidate for chin implant surgery.
 Similarly, if the back portion of your jaw line is a bit weak this can be augmented, without making your face appear masculine, using precise placement of a dermal filler (I prefer using Restylane Lyft).  Finally, if the lips are thin or do not have the ideal aesthetic promotion, they can be augmented with a dermal filler or lip implants.    
 So, as you can see there are many things available to improve the appearance of a 20 year old without performing a facelift.
Hope this helps.