The answer is depends on the individual patient:  the degree of facial aging present (deflation and sagging of the cheeks and jowls), as well as the patient's tolerance for surgery and recovery. Dr. Albright may recommend pursuing less invasive procedures like chemical peels, laser treatments or fillers (neurotoxin or fillers), if your aging is relatively mild or if your goals are to create a more subtle change with less recovery time. Alternatively, he may recommend surgical intervention as the most effective means to achieve your cosmetic goals. At this point, the discussion will be guided by your tolerance for facelift recovery.

In general, most facelift patients are in their 50's - 60's.

There is no particularly special time of year to get the face lifted. Common questions regarding timing for facelift are:

1. When will I be presentable in public with makeup? Two weeks, but will still have swelling and bruising. You may want to be able to wear a light scarf to hide the neck during this period.

2. When will I be presentable in public without makeup? Depends on the amount of bruising. Bruising is common after facelift because the face has a robust blood supply. Usually this is about 2-4 weeks after the procedure.

3. When will most of the swelling be resolved? Most of the swelling has resolved between 3-5 months after the procedure, although some swelling will still be present beyond this point. This is the minimum time to expect to see your true result.

4. When can I reliably expect to see my final result? If you are planning on having your facelift result for a special occasion, Dr. Albright recommends having your surgery at least 6 months before the engagement. In fact, because scars are still maturing out to 8-12 months, the longer time for recovery the better.

Facelift patients should be able to tolerate general anesthesia. Additionally, they should have their blood pressure well controlled because of the risk for bleeding. One of the complications from facelift surgery is bleeding underneath the skin, creating a hematoma. The hematoma may then compress and compromise the blood flow to the overlying skin on the face, potentially damaging it which can cause unsightly scarring. Therefore, controlling the blood pressure is critical with this surgery.  Dr. Albright does not perform facelift surgery on patients with active nicotine use, as this will also compromise blood flow to the skin risking skin necrosis and scarring. Finally, if you have had a major skin resurfacing procedure such as laser or deep chemical peels within the last 1 year, it is safest to wait until 1 year after that procedure, to make sure that the skin has had a chance to completely heal.

Dr. Albright will carefully assess for these risks involved with face and necklift before providing recommendations.

Yes. Ideally, after an initial facelift surgery, patients will try to maintain their results with basic skin care precautions and "up keep". However, the process of aging is a biologic process, and will continue. Typically, patients will get a "secondary" facelift about 10 years after their first surgery. Secondary facelifts are typically more difficult due to the scarring that is present.

Yes. It is very common to combine other cosmetic procedures with a facelift. These include facial volumization with fat graft injections to the cheeks, as well as cosmetic eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty). By combining facial procedures, the patient is combining the recoveries, and only has to care for one area of the body (the face). The efficiency gained by also only operating on one area of the body, limits operative time which decreases cost and risk for complications. Occasionally, Dr. Albright will consider performing cosmetic surgery on other areas of the body (such as a breast augmentation), depending on the patient's goals and circumstances. Come in today to discuss your individualized treatment plan with Dr. Albright!