A growing number of patients are choosing to get a traditional facelift to help correct the effects of aging. If you are considering a face lift, make sure you investigate all of your options and choose a surgeon who you can trust.

Many men and women choose to get a face lift to stop the effects of aging. They choose to get a facelift to treat severe skin laxity, sagging, fine lines, wrinkles, age spots, loss of volume and loss of elasticity. Facelifts last for more than ten years while injectables and fillers last for several months.

Although you can minimize fine lines, wrinkles and age spots with skin resurfacing, chemical peels or microdermabrasion, or injectables such as Botox, Restylane or Juvederm, you can only fix the loss of elasticity and the effects of gravity with traditional facelifts.

Good candidates are people with a strong jaw line or good bone structure. Most get face lifts in their forties, fifties or sixties but others are getting the procedure done in their 70s and 80s as well.

Most candidates begin with a consultation with the doctor to determine if you are a good candidate for a facelift. During this consultation period, the surgeon will ask about your medical history. He or she will also evaluate your skin elasticity and bone structure.

The patient will also take before photos. From there, the surgeon will schedule your procedure and list some instructions that you must follow. The plastic surgeon will tell you to stop taking medications such as aspirin.

Tell your surgeon everything you are taking. You should also quit smoking before the facelift because it reduces the blood flow to your face which can increase skin death.

Most facelifts requires general and local anesthesia and certain mild sedative. Although the specifics of the facelift will change depending on the surgery, most plastic surgeons will cut an incision in front of and behind the ear and may extend into the scalp area.

The doctor places incision in the natural crease of the skin for camouflage. Remember than longer hair will hide certain incisions than shorter hair. Deeper layers of the face are lifted up and the doctor separates the skin and muscles of the face and the tissues. The skin and the fat is then removed and reshaped and the muscles may be tightened and excess skin is removed.

The procedure should take from three to five hours and is usually done as an outpatient procedure. Many times the patient must stay overnight and there could be discomfort or swelling afterwards. Most of the time the doctor will prescribe pain medications. The doctor will apply dressing after the surgery which can be removed and replaced with an elastic wrap within a few days. Drainage tubes are put in place to reduce swelling and remove excess blood.
By two months, your new face will be healed.

Before getting a facelift, make sure you consult with a plastic surgeon who has years of experience in the field. If you research the procedure and choose a qualified plastic surgeon, your facelift should be a success.

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