Facelift

As we age, our facial features will inevitably begin to change and become affected by the natural aging process. A facelift can help bring back a more youthful appearance, and help to eliminate lines and wrinkles.

With smoother and more youthful facial contours, you will look more like the best version of yourself. Dr Bachelor practices only the most modern facelift techniques that provide natural-appearing rejuvenation, avoiding the more obvious older style “cosmetic surgery face.”

For anyone located in the Pleasanton and Danville, California, areas, Dr. Eric P. Bachelor, MD, FACS, is the board-certified plastic surgeon you want to see to get the results you desire. But before you come in for an appointment, read on to see what exactly the facelift procedure entails to make sure it’s right for you.

What is a Facelift?

As we age, facial skin will begin to lose elasticity and start to droop, resulting in the look of lines and wrinkles. This can be due to a number of factors, the first being the natural course of aging, but also because of things such as heredity, stress, and exposure to the sun and elements. When the skin becomes more lax, giving the facial skin a more sunken or deflated appearance.

A facelift is a cosmetic procedure that can give your face a more youthful, attractive appearance. The surgery, also known as a rhytidectomy, reduces the appearance of lines, wrinkles, and many of the other signs of aging on the face that appear as time goes on. Dr. Bachelor will tighten your underlying facial muscles, remove excess skin and pull the remaining skin taut to restore a more youthful aesthetic and help increase one’s overall confidence.

As a board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Bachelor will be careful not to pull the facial skin too tight or remove too much skin, as this will give an appearance resembling shock, and may look unnatural. Through his years of experience and talent as a physician, he understands what it takes to help his patients attain satisfying, yet natural-looking results.

What Does a Facelift Treat?

There are several different techniques used for a facelift, and which is chosen for your procedure will determine what areas of your face are treated. During your consultation, you will determine your areas of concern, and Dr. Bachelor will pick out the best technique for your needs. Facelifts can treat several areas of concern, including sagging and excess skin, lax facial muscles, wrinkles and folds, deep lines, and fat deposits.

The facelift procedure only addresses issues related to your face, and additional procedures, such as a neck lift, may be necessary to help with sagging skin in the neck, chin, and jowls area.

Facelift Benefits

Types of Facelifts

There are four different facelift techniques that Dr. Bachelor performs. The technique chosen will depend on your individual circumstances. Sometimes, multiple techniques can be used in combination with one another if multiple areas of your face need to be addressed.

Mid Facelift

This procedure will address the middle region of the face, between your eyebrows and nose. During a mid facelift, lax skin is removed from the areas around your eyes and cheekbones. Incisions will be made along your hairline so that the scars will be hidden from view.

Lower Facelift

Targeting the lower third of your face, the facelift will address concerns from your nose down to the jaw. In particular, the lower facelift addresses smile lines, also known as nasolabial folds, to treat sagging skin around your mouth and restore the definition to your jawline.

Brow Lift

A brow lift, or forehead lift, targets the upper portion of your face, from your eyes up to your hairline. The forehead skin will be pulled taut, excess skin will be removed, and your eyebrows will be lifted to a more youthful position, while still achieving a very natural look.

Traditional Facelift

This procedure combines all three aforementioned facelift techniques, and is ideal for anyone who significant amounts of excess skin, wrinkles, folds, and deep lines on multiple areas of their face. The traditional facelift gives you a full facial rejuvenation rather than targeting one specific issue to provide a comprehensive anti-aging treatment.

Ideal Candidates

What makes a person a good candidate for a facelift? Candidacy will be determined on an individual basis, but typically, most patients are between 40 and 70 years of age and are both men and women. However, patients can be younger and still be a good candidate. Most of these individuals will have some sagging skin and muscle laxity that has created unwanted wrinkles and lines on their face, resulting in an aged appearance.

Dr. Bachelor will ask about any existing hefacelifterns and previous procedures to help determine candidacy for a face lift. Contact the office of Dr. Eric Bachelor today and schedule a consultation!

Consultation

During the initial consultation, Dr. Bachelor will conduct a thorough examination of your medical history and discuss with you any medications you are currently taking. He will also perform a physical examination of your facial structure and determine which technique will be used based on your needs and goals. If deemed a good candidate, patients will be given a chance to schedule their facelift procedure, if they desire to do so.

If Dr. Bachelor suggests additional procedures to help you meet your goals, you will also make these considerations during your consultation. You will get a quote for the procedure and go through every step from preparation to recovery, to help ensure that patients are fully informed through the entire procedure process.

Preparation

To prepare for a facelift, Dr. Bachelor will ask that you stop taking anti-inflammatory medications, and quit smoking at least three weeks before treatment if you are a smoker. Dr. Bachelor may also make some other recommendations based on your individual circumstances. You will also need to arrange for a ride home the day of your procedure.

Facelift Surgery Process

The surgery will take somewhere between two and five hours, depending on the extent of your treatment. Dr. Bachelor will mark your face at the exact points where he will make incisions and work carefully to ensure minimal scarring.

Your face lift surgery can be performed with general anesthetic or local anesthetic with intravenous sedation. We make an incision around the ears, which extends into the hairline. Next, we elevate and tighten the deep tissues to correct sagging skin and wrinkles. Within the deep layers of tissue, internal sutures are put in place before the skin is stretched back into position. Once the incisions are closed, bandages will be applied to the neck and lower face.

Before and After Photos

View More Photos

Recovery

After the surgery is complete, you will be monitored by staff in a recovery area for a couple of hours before you will be released to go home. Expect some swelling, bruising and discomfort after the surgery. These temporary side effects are normal, and you can manage them with prescription medication which will be provided by Dr. Bachelor.

Typical recovery time is 7-10 days after facelift surgery. You’ll come back to have the stitches removed in about one week, and bruising should resolve within two weeks. Some minor swelling may persist for up to eight weeks.

Like all cosmetic surgical procedures, a facelift has risks. Potential adverse events include infection, pain, and changes in facial sensitivity. During your consultation, we’ll review risks and detailed safety information about facelift surgery.

Results

You will be able to see your final results as soon as the swelling has fully subsided, which may take as much as four to six weeks. Your facial skin should be more firm, restoring a youthful appearance, and reversing the effects of aging. Results of facelifts are typically very long-lasting, but it is important to note that this procedure does not prevent the natural signs of aging from appearing on the face in the future. Dr. Bachelor can discuss routine treatments that patients can undergo to maintain the facelift results.

Additional Treatments

In some cases, patients may require additional procedures combined with a facelift to help further the results. A neck lift procedure is commonly combined with a facelift to ensure the best anti-aging results.

Neck lift

A neck lift addresses excess skin in your neck. Dr. Bachelor will tighten the muscles and skin and remove sagging skin. This procedure is commonly performed in addition to a facelift to address the neck area and provide you with more comprehensive results.

Cost

Learn More

If you’re interested in a facelift, we encourage you to visit our Pleasanton and Danville area plastic surgery office for a personal consultation. During a consultation, we can answer your facelift questions and discuss alternatives that may interest you. Call our Pleasanton or Danville offices at 925-462-3700 to schedule your visit today.

We see patients from all over California and the U.S. Many of plastic surgeon Dr. Bachelor’s patients come from the Pleasanton, Danville, and Bay area, but also as from the Tri valley area and beyond, including Lafayette, Alamo, Walnut Creek, Dublin, Livermore, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Jose.