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Facelift in Pittsburgh & Wexford, PA | Aesthetic Plastic Surgery of Pittsburgh

Experience your ultimate beauty with a facelift tailored completely to your needs by our board-certified plastic surgeon. The facial plastic surgery specialists of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery of Pittsburgh bring a high standard of excellence to every patient and procedure, crafting natural-looking results designed around your unique needs. With an unwavering commitment to safety and patient satisfaction, we are honored to provide transformative treatments that help our patients embrace their most confident selves every day.

Supple Skin + Sculpted Contours

What is a Facelift?

With a facelift Pittsburgh patients can restore their youthful facial appearance by addressing the individual problem areas. Medically reffered to as a “rhytidectomy”, the term comes from the Ancient Greek rhytis, meaning “wrinkles,” and the suffix -ectomy, meaning “removal”. However, a facelift goes far beyond simply correcting wrinkles, with modern surgical techniques focused on lifting and redraping various planes of facial tissue for comprehensive yet natural-looking smoothing, lifting, and sculpting. While a facelift does not stop the natural processes of aging, it sets the clock back years by lifting and reducing sagging skin, sculpting subcutaneous fat deposits, and smoothing away wrinkles and fine lines in the mid to lower face.

The Deep-Plane Facelift

For patients with moderate to advanced sagging, jowling, or deep wrinkles, we may recommend the deep-plane approach to the facelift. This sophisticated technique involves lifting and adjusting tissues at a deeper level, underneath what is known as the superficial musculoaponeurotic system. Working on this plane allows comprehensive adjustments such as repositioning descending fat and smoothing the underlying tissues responsible for deep creases like nasolabial folds. This approach creates a more rested, youthful appearance while maintaining the natural softness and mobility of the facial features.

Pittsburgh facelift model with brown hair

The Ultimate Reset

What are the benefits of a Facelift?

A facelift offers the most comprehensive method of facial rejuvenation, with results tailored to address your unique signs of facial aging. Our board-certified surgeons specialize in advanced facial plastic surgery techniques, delivering results that naturally lift and sculpt the features while retaining the natural softness and suppleness of your skin tone and facial contours, providing the ultimate way to turn back time and unveil a more youthful appearance. Common complaints of the aging face that a facelift can address include:

Sagging Skin: Targets a sagging mid-face, particularly lax skin in the cheeks, jawline, and neck, by tightening and repositioning the underlying tissues and muscles.
Wrinkles and Fine Lines: Reduces the appearance of wrinkles, creases, and fine lines, particularly around the mouth, eyes, and forehead.
Jowls: Lifts and smooths out the jowls for a more defined jawline.
Loss of Facial Volume: Addresses mild volume loss, such as lack of volume of the cheeks, by repositioning tissues to improve facial contours.
Deep Creases: Diminishes deep creases forming in the mid to lower face, such as nasolabial folds (smile lines) and marionette lines (lines that run from the corners of the mouth to the chin).
Loose Neck Skin: Addresses loose or sagging skin in the neck area, improving the overall profile and reducing the appearance of a "turkey neck."

Additional Information

Additionally, a facelift may be combined with other procedures, such as a brow lift to refresh a drooping brow, blepharoplasty to lift and smooth sagging eyelids, rhinoplasty to reshape the nose, or a neck lift to counter bone resorption along the jawline, jowls, and fat deposits on the neck and under the chin. Many patients also require fat grafting to restore youthful volume to the face. Some patients benefit from incorporating an in-depth chemical peel or laser resurfacing into their treatment plan for holistic skin resurfacing.

There are several types of facelifts available, including the traditional, mini, and lower facelift. At the time of your consultation, Dr. Liang will examine you to determine which procedure would benefit you the most.

The Art of Aesthetics

Your Facelift Procedure

Your surgeon will go over the steps of your facelift with you to ensure you are prepared for a smooth procedure. You will be comfortably asleep throughout the surgery and then closely monitored as the anesthesia wears off. Our surgeons use precise techniques to create discreet incisions, usually beginning at the temples, extending around the ears, and ending at the lower scalp. More limited procedures, such as a mini facelift, may require shorter incisions.

The surgeon then carefully lifts the skin and underlying tissues, repositioning them expertly to sculpt the facial contours while retaining natural softness and tone. They may remove excess skin, tighten facial muscles, or reposition or remove fat to enhance the facial dimensions. Facelifts include fat redistribution, or facial fat grafting, to improve volume and contour. The fat is harvested from the site of your choice, the most common is the abdominal area. After adjusting the deeper facial tissues, the skin is redraped over the uplifted contours, and any excess skin is excised before the incisions are meticulously closed and the recovery phase begins.

Unleash Your Beauty

Facelift Results

A facelift can bring about transformative and positive changes in your appearance, revitalizing facial contours and restoring a more youthful aesthetic. By addressing sagging skin, wrinkles, and loss of definition, the procedure unveils smoother skin, tightened facial tissues, and a more defined jawline. With a natural-looking outcome that enhances your natural features, a facelift doesn't just reverse signs of aging but unveils a refreshed version of you, instilling a sense of satisfaction and renewed self-assurance.

Committed to Your Care

Facelift Recovery and Aftercare

Our Pittsburgh Facelift patients recovery period involves attentive care and adherence to specific instructions for optimal healing. Our surgeons will see you at multiple follow-up visits and remain available to answer questions at any time, offering ongoing support for an outcome. Initially, patients can expect swelling, bruising, and discomfort, managed with prescribed pain medication and cold compresses. It's important to keep the head elevated, avoid strenuous activities, and follow the customized care plan provided by your surgeon. As bruising subsides over the next few weeks, patients gradually resume normal activities. Post-operative care includes gentle cleaning of incisions, avoiding direct sun exposure, using recommended skincare products, attending follow-up appointments for progress checks, and following your surgeon's guidance for optimal healing and long-term results.

FaceliftFrequently Asked Questions

Am I a candidate for a Facelift?

Men or women with moderate to severe signs of facial aging—such as sagging skin, deep creases, loss of volume, jowls, and fat deposits under the chin—may benefit from the comprehensive mid-face rejuvenation offered by a facelift. Facelift candidates are often in their 40s to 60s, but older adults may benefit, too, depending on the patient’s health and the condition of their skin. We carefully assess each patient’s medical history and general health to ensure that surgery can be performed safely and achieve the results desired.

Are there alternatives to a Facelift?

There are many minimally invasive facial rejuvenation treatments that can improve the appearance of the face by reversing signs of aging and skin damage. These include dermal fillers, injectable neuromodulators like Botox, light and laser treatments, chemical peels, microneedling, and other med spa treatments. While these methods can offer impressive improvements in skin texture, tone, and contours, surgical methods like a facelift may be a better choice for those seeking to address moderate to advanced signs of aging.

Can a Facelift be combined with other procedures?

Yes, a facelift may be combined with other surgical procedures such as a brow lift, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), rhinoplasty (“nose job”), or a neck lift. Our surgeons often incorporate fat grafting into their facelift technique in order to add volume and definition to the cheeks for more youthful contours. Non and minimally invasive techniques like a chemical peel may also be incorporated into a facelift treatment plan in order to provide deep and surface rejuvenation.

How long does the Facelift recovery process take?

While patients typically return to low-exertion activities within a couple of weeks, the healing process continues for several months. By weeks four to six post-surgery, most residual swelling and bruising will diminish, and results become more visible. Scar maturation and subtle improvements in skin texture continue over time, with optimal results taking several months or a year to manifest as the facial tissues settle into position.

How long will the results of a Facelift last?

Facelifts typically provide long-lasting results that can last around 7 to 10 years. Some individuals may experience results that endure longer, while others might see a gradual return of aging signs. Over time, factors like gravity, sun exposure, and lifestyle choices can affect the longevity of results. Maintaining results involves good skincare, sun protection, and possibly periodic touch-up procedures or non-surgical treatments to complement the facelift's outcomes.

Facelift