Quick Lift Vs. Lifestyle Lift: What's the Difference?

Beware of anyone advertising a ________ lift.  The ASPS and the AAFPRS do not allow their members to assign names to procedures commonly done for advertising purposes.  This practice is generally done by "cosmetic surgeons", many of whom come from the ranks of oral surgery, OB/GYN and have questionable training.  The public writes a question like, "what is the difference between and quick lift and a lifestyle lift" and the answer is the person performing the surgery probably doesn't even know.  The cosmetic surgeon may make a tiny modification to an established procedure that provides no long-term consequence on the surgical result and will assign it a name.  They will then go on the radio and television marketing this "new' procedure that produces dramatic results with little or no down-time.  Again, buyer beware.  Know what is being marketed to you.  My advice is to find someone who performs more than one "type" of facelift so the surgery can be customized to your individual concern.  Feel comfortable with the planned approach and make sure the surgeon has some excellent before and after photos.  In my practice we do offer both the full "traditional" face lift and a mini-lift.  This is not a new invention, but a shorter incision, less aggressive undermining procedure.  The mini lift does require less down-time and a shorter scar, but have a more limited application.    

Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion regarding the different types of facelifts. The LifeStyle Lift is a proprietary heavily branded type of mini lift. Some of this confusion is caused by plastic surgeons themselves, as we are not consistent in our terminology. Nevertheless, a facelift implies a procedure where the skin and underlying support tissue (the SMAS) is elevated and redraped. Perhaps the gold standard in facelifting procedures is the high SMAS procedure, a technique that is safe and effective at rejeuvenating the face. It also has a reputation of having a prolonged recovery, and attempts have been made minimize the incision and scope of the procedure. Minilifts of various sorts are minimal incision lifts and go by many names. Quicklift is a trademarked procedure that addresses the lower face, jawline and neck and is marketed through participating practices. Most surgeons offer a comparable procedure. Because of the confusing terminology, make sure you know what type and extent of facelift surgery your surgeon plans to perform.

Quick Lifts, LiteLift™ and Lifestyle LiftsPart of the problem is that many of these procedures are actually done quite differently by all of the doctors involved. Since only Dr Nichter and myself (Dr Horowitz) at Pacific Center for Plastic Surgery currently do the LiteLift™, it is done very much as shown on our website. The Quick Lift, if done correctly, should be similar by each surgeon as described by Dr Brandy.You would have to call Lifestyle and ask how each doctor in your area specifically does their procedure.

The LifeStyle Lift is a proprietary heavily branded type of mini lift.  It is a mini-lift under my reasoning that it is focused on the lower face, does not require general anesthesia, and has abbreviated incisions, takes a shorter time to perform and recover from in comparison to a traditional facelift. But then again there are lots of mini-lifts that offer similar claims.
The mini-lifts may be tough to choose from because of all the brand names such as LifeStyle Lift, S-Lift, Quick Lift, LiteLift, MACS and others.
There is however, a need for traditional facelifts. For example, if you have a large amount of redundant neck skin and fat or turkey waddle deformity, you may benefit more by liposuction and a traditional facelift which does better with lower neck skin redundancy.

Probably most important is the skill and experience of the surgeon. Always check out his/her before and after photos and ask to see long term results and most of all that he is trained and a  Board Certified Plastic Surgeon  or Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon with extensive experience over many years.
Remember it is the skill and experience of the surgeon that counts not the name !!  Great surgeons get great results, period. The best way to find one is to start with a  Board Certified Plastic Surgeon  or Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon with extensive experience over many years. Ask to see before and after photos, especially long term ones. and ask the number of times you will be seen afterwards by the surgeon rather than a medical assistant. A good place to start is "find a doctor" on the American Society of Plastic Surgeons or American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons web sites.

The QuickLift procedure addresses the muscular layer beneath the skin.  We can address each patient individually, offering them a very customized procedure tailored just for their specific needs.  The QL is not a one-size fits all approach. With the QuickLift we can customize a plan for all patients which will optimize their chance for a pleasing outcome.  By utilizing a special incision we can maximize the effect of the procedure, allowing both horizontal and vertical lift in the area - leaving an almost undetectable scar.

 Mini lifts tend to give mini results.  In our practice, a comprehensive facial rejuvenation is accomplished with a full face /neck lift performed so that the patient's look very natural. The facelift  procedure involves tightening  the SMAS and neck muscles, a platysma plasty is performed after the fat is removed above and below the platysma muscle in the neck, tightening the jowls, and conservatively tightening facial and neck skin. For many before and after facelift examples, please see the link below to our face lift photo gallery

The Lifestyle Lift 'Procedure' has never really been written and documented in the surgical literature.  Having spoke with surgeons that I know who perform the Lifestyle Lift, they all seem to do different procedures.   The Quicklift Procedure has been written in Cosmetic Dermatology Journal 6/2004 vol 17 # 6 pg 351-360.   All facelifts should involve tightening of the SMAS which is a component of the facial muscles and skin tightening, which the QuickLift does.  The direction of skin pull does vary between the S-lift and the QuickLift.  I like the bidirectional pull of the skin that the QuickLift offers.   I feel the results are more natural and address the jowels more completely, ultimately giving a better jawline.  All facelifts, if done correctly, should last 5-15 years.    Hope this helps.

Dr McFadden's response is comprehensive and I agree with all - apart from the lifestyle lift (which I have not seen but heard the stories!) - being the domain of facial plastic surgeons alone!

I perform the quicklift and think the results are as good as any other SMAS tightening lift. I operated on a patient 2 weeks ago who slept that night in her own bed, was lunching with friends by day 3, shopping at day 5 and started a new job on day 7 post lift.

The only thing quick about the lift (it takes me 3.5 hours with platysmaplasty) is the recovery which is extraordinary in my opinion.

I did perform Quicklift surgeries in the past and I was never involved with Lifestyle lift.  For disclosure, purposes, I have no direct or indirect affiliation with either of them at this time.

In my practice Quicklift type (MACS lift) successfully replaced traditional facelifts especially for younger patients because of shorter recovery, comparable durability and effectiveness with improvement of face, neck, jowls, cheeks.  Despite popular belief, Quicklift method can improve cheeks also by adding another suture. 

I would not put Quicklift in the same category as other skin only minilifts. It is not skin only based and therefore more durable. It is not based on skin tension and therefore does not create un-natural pull on the face. It takes about 1-2 hours and recovery is about 5-10 days with proper post - operative recommendations. I performed well over 100 every year with very high level of patient satisfaction.  It is similar to SMAS flap lift and the advantage that I see is that the muscle is attached to a fixed bone structure.

However, it is not for everyone either.  Some patients will require more aggressive procedures especially if they desire more significant improvement of cheeks or nasolabial folds.  Undermining under skin in Quicklift is not much smaller than in SMAS lift either.  That is why I do not do it on smokers.

Based on recent articles by other plastic surgeons, Lifestyle lift is a SMAS based procedure. The recent description in our professional journal describles a technique most plastic surgeons would use to lift the face.  As it was described, it is not a minilift per say. 

As any surgery, there are happy and unhappy patients.  Satisfaction rate from traditional facelift is in mid 70 per cent.  As with any other surgery, there are different case scenarioes and different outcomes.  Some patients will develop thicker scars and more bruising. 

Because of aggressive marketing, Lifestyle lift has more patients then other companies or surgeons and as such more unhappy patients by numbers.

However, at the end of the day, there are some very qualified plastic surgeons performing Lifestyle lifts, Quicklifts and other variations of procedures.  The results are not dependent on the name of the surgery but on experience of surgeon performing it.

 

Quicklift is a modified facelift. It can be customized to fit a patient's needs. The lifestyle lift is a proprietary procedure that generally does not work on the SMAS.  If your Quicklift works on the SMAS, the duration can be longer and the price more cost effective than a lifestyle lift.