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  • Scars After a Facelift Should Be Minimal and Unnoticable
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Male: So your scars really look good. The incisions run from up in the hairline, down around inside the ear and around the ear, and you can see how these blend in, so it's hard to tell that there's ever been any surgery done in this area. Her face has healed well from the laser, and the contour's improved the fine lines as well as the pigmentation. And from the lateral brow lift, her brow - bring your chin down just a little bit and look straight ahead - her brow is in a better position. And the micro-fat injections, I think the only suggestion that she had, she wished her lips were a little fuller. I always worry about making them too full, and it's not uncommon for patients to come back and say, "You know, I wish my lips were a little bigger" but anyway, it's improved the contour as well as helping some of the fine lines around here.

We know that women lose, men and women, but women more than men, lose fat volume down in this area, so we added fat down here as well as along this area, the idea being that if you improve the fat distribution in the face, then the unnatural pull of the lateral corner of the mouth and the abnormal appearance that people can get after a face lift doesn't occur because you're tightening the deeper structure, the SMAS, the sup musculoaponeurotic system, to get the base foundation for support, and then you simply lay the skin back over that, so there's no tension on the skin.

Is there anything from the whole process you would say you didn't expect, you didn't like, or you wished that had been done differently?

Female: I think...no, I've been happy with the process. I am...I was startled...startled was the wrong word...I'm pleased with the faced that the scars are so minimal. I wear my hair back all the time, and I have no hesitation about pulling my hair back into a ponytail because there's such a small scar and it's just not evident. I think I would have liked to have had more fullness, I think, around here as I get older - I'm almost 60 now - but I still feel that this is the only area that still shows wrinkling around my mouth, and I don't know if we can go back and do something at a later date and fill this in with fat, or will that start to distort my facial features?

Male: It's a good question because I agree with you. You could use a little more volume down here, and as long as we have fat as a donor site, you can go back and inject more fat in there. And the process is the same as far as taking the fat and then the recovery time is probably 10 to 14 days to get over the bruising and swelling, but it's certainly possible to go back in and add more fat in that area.

Female: Would you do, or could you do the same thing with an injectable material?

Male: Yes, you could use Juvederm, you could use Restylane, you could use Radiesse. I use Sculptra overall for adding volume back to the face. All those things are possible. So as a measure before doing more fat, that's something else you could do.

Female: That way I could see if I really do like it or not?

Male: Right. And the other thing, probably the most important thing for you right now is sunscreen because we know that the sun damages the skin, as well as not smoking, but those things keep free radicals from forming in the skin. It will age better and less likely to get skin cancer, but you've done a great job. You look terrific and...

Female: Well, thank you. I think you're the one who did a great job.

Male: Thanks.

Scars After a Facelift Should Be Minimal and Unnoticable

Dr. William Adams discusses what scars a patient will have after a facelift, using a patient model who had a facelift three months ago.