How long does a mini face lift last?

We call our lower Face/Neck Lifts a Mini Lift because it is done under local with a little IV sedation for complete comfort but it is a true full lower face/neck lift which lifts both skin and muscle. Most true lower face/neck lifts last roughly 5-10 yrs and cost roughly $15-25,000 for quality work. We call ours a minilift because we have minimized the risks by getting rid of general anesthesia which is 90% of the risk of any procedure. Many other docs do a tiny incision behind or around the earlobe and barely pull the skin only and they call that their MiniLift which lasts about 1 yr and does minimal improvement at best and run roughly $5-10,000. I don't advise anyone getting them.
Because the true lower face/neck lift is so easy to undergo and makes such a dramatic improvement naturally, most patients all benefit from this at any age.

A number of factors go into how long a mini facelift result lasts. Prior sun damage, diet, quality of the skin, overall health, use of tobacco products, whether the minilift is a skin only lift or involves the SMAS layer. Assuming all the above factors are maximized to the better, than miniface lift should last 6-8 years. Obviously, the result after 8 years won’t match the result after 3 months, however your appearance should be better than if you’d not had facial rejuvenation. Best wishes.

The amount of time a facelift lasts is highly variable and dependent on both the patient and the surgeon. A deep plane facelift should last more than 10 years, but a mini lift addressing the skin only will likely only last 3-5 years and not look as natural. At 50 years old you are likely a candidate for a full, deep plane lift. Otherwise you will be back for stage 2 in a few years. Hope that helps!

When you see the term minifacelift or face and necklift, that can mean many things. And ultimately, what is done is what the surgeon feels his or her definition of that procedure is. It is very important in consultation to find out exactly what is going to be done. A traditional mini facelift involves incisions in front and behind the ear and works well for mild laxity of the jawline. If performed well, the results can last for many years. This can be variable, though, depending on if the patient has a healthy lifestyle, or if the patient has a heavy face. If your neck is bothering you, it could be best to go straight to a full face/neck lift as a mini facelift doesn't treat the neck well. As you can see there are a lot of variables so you need to find a facial specialist who you can trust to help you sort it out.

Although facelifting is a small part of my practice, I can tell you what my world renowned facelifting colleagues say: 1. mini facelifts yield mini results for a short period of time (a year or so), and 2. the younger you are the more you need a full facelift. Why? Because youthful tissue has much more elasticity, a good thing but not for a surgery that does very little tissue separation. Pulling on a little skin, or even a little deep layer tightening, the later less likely done in a mini facelift, will be resisted by the elastic nature of the tissue and result in it returning to its original contour.