Where is a Mini or Midface Lift Anchored? Is the Tissue Sutured Under the Eyes or Near the Ears? A Surgeon Once Warned Me Away

Mini- and mid- facelifts are quite different. Mini facelifts achieve minimal results because very little is done and fixation - if any - is, well, mini. Patients love to hear about mini facelifts because it promises something for nothing, or at least for less. Who wants a big operation when a little one will do? But, would you have a painter do a mini paint job on your house or a mechanic do a mini service on your car? Thought not. Rant over!

Mid face lifts are directed towards the front of the face as well as the nasolabial folds, and usually involve dissection under the lining of the bone (periosteum). Access can be through an extended lower eyelid incision or through a brow lift. Fixation is usually to the dense fibrous sheath that covers the temporalis muscle on the side of the head.

You should not choose a particular operation like you were dining from a smorgasbord. A Board Certified Plastic Surgeon will evaluate you and determine what areas he or she can improve and what procedures are the most appropriate means of doing so. A mid facelift is not suitable for everybody, a mini facelift for nobody.

Many surgeons, myself included, are performing fewer and fewer midface lifts due to prolonged swelling and potential distortion of the eyes. In office filler treatments or fat transfer has largely replaced this approach. The cheek tissue can be anchored to the bone of the cheek or to the muscle and fascia in the temple. It should not pull on the eyelid. A mini lift is actually a minimally invasive facelift and different from a midface lift. Minilifts are performed to help treat jowls and laxity in the lower face. I hope this information is helpful.Stephen Weber MD, FACS