What is a Mid-face Lift?

A midface lift is often added to a standard facelift with eyelid surgery.  It is basically an attempt to lift the cheeks in a vertical direction.  Plastic surgeons will often use the buzz words “negative vector.”  I have seen this performed and seen the results.  The results are really not so great.  At best it does very little and at worst it will lead to dragging down of the eyelid. I don’t buy into it at all and if it means adding thousands of dollars to a full facelift,  I would not bother with it.

The mid face is the area between the outer corner of the eye down to the outer corner of the mouth. Pulling this area up in a mid facelift helps rejuvenate the cheeks, but does little for reducing jowls. The two most common approaches are either through the temple or through the lower eyelid. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The traditional facelift is aimed at pulling the lower two thirds of the face up and, specifically, helps reduce jowls and improves the jawline. It is hard to comment on a "mini-facelift", since it could mean different things to different surgeons.

Thank you for your question. The differences between a midface lift and 'regular' facelift are often not clear to patients.The mid-face region roughly correlates with the area between the lower eyelid and the corner of the mouth. A mid-face lift, sometimes referred to as a cheek lift, can help to restore fullness to the mid-face by vertically repositioning the soft tissue of the cheek to a higher, more youthful position on the cheek bone. At the same time, lower eyelid appearance is often improved as the repositioned cheek tissue is more favorably redraped over the lower orbital rim, minimizing the unfavorable hollow appearance of the lower eye region. A well performed mid-face lift can be a powerful method for facial rejuvenation. Learn more about this procedure on our site.In contrast, what are commonly referred to as a 'regular' facelift or mini face-lift are used to rejuvenate the lower face. The greatest impact of a facelift and mini face-lift are seen in the region of the jowels, marionette lines and neck. The traditional approach to this procedure is by way of facial incisions concealed around the ears. I hope that helps. Warm regards.