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  • Is A Short Scar Facelift a Reasonable Substitute for a Traditional Facelift?
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Is a short scar facelift a reasonable substitute for a traditional facelift? In my opinion, in most cases, no. Ironically many patients with short scar facelifts end up with surgical scars that are much more noticeable than those from a traditional facelift and in general the overall rejuvenating effect tends to be much less dramatic. I see quite a number of patients who have had short scar facelifts performed in other practices and they tend to be frustrated with two issues.

Number one, they have scars in front of their ears and in the temple or side burn area, they are easily noticeable and very difficult for them to conceal. Secondly, they tend to have very little improvement and sometimes a complete lack of improvement from the contour of their jaw line and neck. Philosophically, the short scar facelift tends to transfer the primary area of skin mobilization and removal from the area behind the ear with scars that are actually very easy to conceal to the area in front of the ear with scars that are much more difficult to conceal.

If one is attempting to produce a dramatic enhancement of the jawline and neck contour that absolutely requires re-draining of skin into the area behind the ear. When a surgery is planned by and performed by a surgeon who is experienced and skilled, this results in surgical scars that are essentially invisible once they've healed and they allow a patient to wear her hair up in a ponytail without feeling self-conscious.

The proof really is in the pictures. Look at as many as you can and when you are looking at the results of short scar facelifts, look at the side burn area, look at the scars, look to see if the surgeon is attempting to conceal scars with side burn hair and look at the jawline and the lateral neck for skin folds that are a tell-tale sign that there's been inadequate skin re-draping in the area of the lateral neck.

Is A Short Scar Facelift a Reasonable Substitute for a Traditional Facelift?

Dr. Michael Law explains why he believes that a short scar face lift is not a reasonable substitution for a traditional face lift.