Mini Facelift
- Mini Facelift Overview
- Am I a Candidate for a Mini Facelift?
- Your Welcoming Visit
- Getting Ready for Your Surgery
- The Location of Your Surgery
- Anesthesia
Mini Facelift Overview
Short scar facelifts are a great alternative to the traditional facelift. In today’s day and age, minimally invasive techniques can provide great results with little downtime. The mini facelift removes excess skin and lifts sagging tissue with the following advantages:
- Shorter surgical time
- Smaller scars
- Less down time
- Return to work quickly
- Less bruising and swelling
If you are considering a short scar facelift, this page will give you a basic understanding of the mini facelift procedure: when it can help, how it is performed, and what results you can expect. Dr. Zemmel at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery will be pleased to answer all of your detailed questions during your consultation.
Am I a Candidate for a Mini Facelift?
The ideal candidate for a mini facelift is a man or woman whose face and neck have early signs of sagging. These individuals have the beginnings of excess skin: minimal jowls and mild marionette lines. Most patients are in their thirties to fifties, but mini facelifts may be indicated for those older than this. A mini facelift will make you look younger, fresher, and rejuvenated in little to no surgical time. It may enhance your self-confidence in the process, but it cannot give you a totally different face, nor can it restore the health and vitality of your youth. Also, it will not remove the fine lines or wrinkles; for this, the doctors at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery may recommend a facial peel or laser resurfacing treatments as an adjunct.
Before you decide to have surgery, think carefully about your expectations and discuss them with Dr. Zemmel at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery.
Your Welcoming Visit
In your initial consultation, Dr. Zemmel will evaluate your face, including the skin and underlying structures (muscle, bone, and fat quality) and discuss your goals for surgery and whether you are a candidate for a mini facelift.
Dr. Zemmel will check for medical conditions that could cause problems during or after surgery, such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, blood clotting problems, or the tendency to form excessive scars. Be sure to tell Dr. Zemmel at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery if you smoke or are taking any drugs or medications, especially aspirin or other drugs that affect clotting.
When you decide to have a mini facelift, Dr. Zemmel will explain his technique, the anesthesia he will use, the facility where the surgery will be performed, the risks, and costs involved.
Do not hesitate to ask any questions you may have, especially those regarding your expectations and concerns about the results.
Getting Ready for Your Surgery
Dr. Zemmel will give you specific instructions on how to prepare for surgery, including guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking, and taking or avoiding certain vitamins and medications. Following these instructions will help your surgery go more smoothly.
You should arrange for someone to drive you home after your surgery and to help you out during that night.
The Location of Your Surgery
Dr. Zemmel at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery performs mini facelifts at St. Francis Hospital’s Ambulatory Surgical Center. Facelifts are done on an outpatient basis. Frequently, Dr. Zemmel will admit patients overnight to the hospital for monitoring, depending on the patient’s ageing and the duration and complexity of the procedure.
The doctors at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery always call each patient personally at night to ensure their safety. You will be seen that next day at the office to take down the surgical dressing… and a first glance at your new look!
Anesthesia
Unlike most other facial procedures, mini facelifts can be performed under local numbing anesthesia alone. Occasionally, a mild sedation (“twilight”) anesthesia may be used.
The Surgery
A mini facelift takes Dr. Zemmel at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery about one and a half hours to perform.
Unlike the traditional facelift, a mini facelift incision is kept in front of the ears in the shape of an “S”. The incision begins hidden in the sideburn area and extends in a natural line in front of the ear. It then courses in back of the small cartilage at the front of the ear, and continues to just around the earlobe. All of these incisions are well hidden and concealed.
In general, Dr. Zemmel separates the skin from the fat and muscle below. Lastly, he pulls the skin back and remove the excess. Stitches secure the layers of tissue and close the incisions. Occasionally, he may tighten the underlying muscle and membrane by performing a SMAS plication. By doing so, he recruits the sagging fat and musculature and raise it back to its youthful position and volume in the cheek area.
A light dressing to protect and secure the skin and incisions is then placed carefully over the face.
Surgical Complications
When a mini facelift is performed by a qualified plastic surgeon, complications are infrequent and usually minor.
These rare complications include: hematoma (a collection of blood under the skin that must be removed by the surgeon), injury to the nerves that control facial muscles (usually temporary), infection, problems with skin loss and wound healing issues, and reactions to the anesthesia.
Dr. Zemmel at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery will instruct you how to reduce your risks of complications before surgery and will provide you with a full set of instructions after surgery as well.
Post-Operative Course
There is not usually much discomfort after surgery; if there is, it can be lessened with pain medication prescribed. Some slight numbness of the skin is normal and usually disappears in a few weeks.
After surgery it is important to keep your head elevated. Unlike traditional facelifts, the bruising and swelling from this surgery is limited but may still occur.
You will be seen in the office the next day, and your dressing will be removed. You may shower that day and clean your incisions. Finally, five days after the procedure, your stitches will be removed in the office.
Feeling Normal Again
One of the greatest benefits of a mini facelift is the lack of downtime; you will feel back to your usual self in a day or two. Dr. Zemmel at Richmond Aesthetic Surgery will give more specific guidelines for gradually resuming your normal activities.
Your New Appearance
You will be excited with the youthful transition to a new, younger, more rested you. With minimal swelling and bruising, your new look will be apparent within the first week!
You will have scars from your mini facelift, but they will be minimal and well hidden in the natural creases of your face and ears. In any case, they will fade within time and will be scarcely visible.
Having a facelift does not stop the clock, it just turns it back. Your face will continue to age with time. Years later, most individuals will have a touch up mini facelift or a traditional approach.
Contact Richmond Aesthetic Surgery
For more information on mini facelift treatment, or to schedule a consultation with our plastic surgeon, please contact Richmond Aesthetic Surgery.
Directions to Our Office
Dr. Zemmel is proud to provide his plastic surgery services to patients traveling from nearby cities. For your convenience, we have provided driving directions to our practice from the following locations: