I want the jowling completely gone - Facelift or mini facelift? (Photos)

Thank you for your photos. You are starting with excellent facial shape and contour with a minimum amount of jawline irregularity. The small traction that you are performing on your cheek in one of your photographs shows an improvement of your jawline, making it straighter and sharper. This would be able to be achieved with a mini facelift as long as the SMAS layer was sutured superiorly and posteriorly. This layer is the cause of the jowl and needs to be addressed at the time of a facelift to give the optimum result. A mini facelift should have a relatively quick recovery and achieve your goals. Best wishes.

Answer: It's a procedure once thought to be appropriate for minor changes on young people. Today, surgeons who are expert know that the younger you are the more invasive the surgery needs to be to achieve even small results; youthful tissue is strongly elastic and does not take subtle hints to move or change shape by minor surgical procedures. You'll need a full facelift.

It may be possible for you to have a mini facelift. It does not look like your neck is that bad. Also, depending on your age, I prefer to do mini facelifts on younger women and full facelifts on older women.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

We call our advanced lower face/neck lift a mini lift since we've minimized the risks by getting rid of general anesthesia but it is a real lower face/neck lift. The old mini lifts are really worthless and don't last more than a few months. The jowls would be gone and you would have a very sharp jawling.

An isolated facelift (short incision facelift or minilift) will not address any excess skin in the neck. If you are not unhappy with your neck, then the short incision facelift will allow for a rapid recovery (some surgeons call it a "weekend" lift). If you expect your neck skin to be improved, the traditional lower face and necklift should be performed.