Over time, with the effects of the sun, gravity and aging, your tense, energetic and healthy skin changes and turns into an old, tired and wrinkled appearance. By removing the wrinkles, eliminating loose skin in the folds of neck and cheeks, as well as tightening up skin all over the face, face lift surgeries not only help you to regain what time has taken from you, but give you a younger and healthier appearance as well.

Since facial wrinkles are aesthetically unpleasing, and one of the biggest aging concerns, facelift is one of the most preferred and applied aesthetic surgeries, especially in developed countries where life expectancy is increased and the welfare level is high.

Various factors such as facial bone structure, skin type, ethnicity, the severity of the changes in the skin tension, and the tissue healing speed that changes from patient to patient, may affect the surgery at varying degrees, and each of these factors need to be discussed and evaluated in detail with your doctor before surgery.

In What Cases is Facelift Surgery Applied?
With chronological aging, the skin of the face and neck loosens; lines and wrinkles are formed and get deeper over time. Fat tissues in the cheeks start sagging down, the transition from the face to the neck becomes indistinct, and the sharp borders of the jaw disappear. Due to the jowl and fullness beneath the lower jaw, almost a second chin is formed. Although the person typically still feels young and energetic, he/she usually looks tired or sad. Facelift surgery is among the procedures that are considered effective in the treatment of age-related facial changes, especially if there are changes in the neck as well.

What are Face Lift Surgery Techniques?
Facelift surgical techniques have changed dramatically in the last two decades. Facelift techniques that were used previously made it obvious that the person had undergone a facelift surgery as the skin was overstretched so as to cause an unnatural appearance. Nowadays, techniques with undesirable results have been replaced with modern facelift techniques that provide a natural rejuvenation and give a more youthful facial appearance without creating an apparent tension on the facial skin and have long-term and predictable results. Different rejuvenation techniques are used to correct different parts of the face. For this procedure, the patient's personal wishes and expectations are just as important as the anatomical features of his/her face and neck. Upper and lower eye-lid surgeries, stretching forehead skin and eyebrow lifting procedures, which are among the methods that are frequently used in conjunction with facelift surgery, can help to achieve more effective outcomes. Although a facelift surgery can involve the removal of excess skin, smoothing out folds or wrinkles, and tightening facial tissue, fat removal from the neck is often included in the surgery to ensure a youthful appearance by disguising the signs of aging. The incisions are made in such a way that they blend with the hairline and facial structure. In other words, the incisions are made around the contours of the ears in such a way that they will be covered by your hair. Thus, incision scars from a face-lift are concealed by the hairline and natural contours of the face and ear. Even if the ears are not covered with your hair, the incisions are almost unlikely to be seen.

What Are Pre-Surgical Preparations?
Suggestions regarding the pre-operative and post-operative care may differ according to the surgeon performing the procedure. Your surgeon will provide you information about what the most appropriate and effective methods are for you, to what extent these methods can meet your expectations, as well as the short- and long-term results and possible risks. The effects that might be encountered after the surgery in conjunction to the anaesthesia type, which will be selected according to separate evaluation between the anaesthesiologist and the patient, are discussed. Before and during the operation, photos are taken for reference.

Face Lift Surgery
Deep plane facelift surgery is usually performed under general anaesthesia. However, the patient can prefer deep sedation anaesthesia, in which he/she is deeply asleep but able to breathe without assistance. If excess fat in the neck needs to be removed, liposuction is applied under local anaesthesia. For this procedure, a 5-10 mm incision is made under the chin for the entry of the liposuction cannula to remove the excess fat and sculpt the neck contour. The incisions made around the contours of the ears during the facelift surgery are camouflaged in front or behind the ear with your hair, and, once healed, are generally not noticeable.
Camouflaging these incisions causes no hair loss and allows you to have any hairstyle of your choice. The location of the facelift incisions in men can be changed to preserve the location of the sideburns. During a face-lift, a flap of skin on each side of the face is pulled back, and tissues below the skin are surgically altered to return the contour of the face to a more youthful shape. Then, the skin of the face is carefully placed on the reshaped soft tissue to ensure a tension-free skin closure, the hairline is aligned, and before the flap is sutured closed, excess skin is removed. A facial bandage that provides gentle pressure to minimize swelling and bruising needs to be worn during the healing period. The patient can be discharged from the hospital on the same day or the next day after surgery.

Post-operative Recovery Process and Recommendations
The day after surgery, the drainage tube is likely to be removed, the loose dressing or facial bandage is replaced with elasticized facial sling, and the patient is asked to use it for a few days. Incisions should be kept moist with ointment for 10 days. Antibiotic treatment should be completed in 5 days. It is recommended to contact the doctor immediately in case of rash, pus, or pain that do not appear normal. Stitches are usually removed in 4-7 days. The patient should not move around a lot for up to two weeks and avoid prolonged exposure to the sun for six weeks. Makeup can be applied two weeks after the facelift surgery, which is also a reasonable period for the patient to feel well enough to resume his/her physical and social activities. Regular follow-up procedures are continued until the patient is fully recovered. Early postoperative care is completed with a three-month and one-year postoperative control.