The term facelift still has people retreating. We have visions of dreadful wind swept faces, staring at us from expressionless eyes. Poor Mickey Rourke, or if you’re a rocker – Axl Rose!
They have the money to choose the best, but they look like they’ve had a facelift (badly!). This just goes to prove that it is not how much you pay for your surgery! It’s choosing the right surgeon.
Dr McGovern has been performing facial rejuvenation surgery on men and women since 1994.
Facelift surgery was once the domain of movie stars and rock stars, but these days facelift surgery for men has become more widely accepted and more commonly performed.
A good facelift is one that is not recognised as such. An experienced surgeon can help you to look “refreshed” rather than “operated on”.
A facelift (technically known as rhytidectomy) can’t permanently halt the ageing process, but it can lift those sagging soft tissues back to a more youthful position.
Facelift surgery effectively removes excess fat, tightens underlying muscles, and redrapes the skin of your face and neck. A facelift can be done alone, or in conjunction with other procedures such as a forehead lift, eyelid surgery, or nose reshaping.
With the advent of ” Extreme Makover” and similar television programmes, more and more men are choosing to have multiple procedures performed at the same time. We are all time poor these days, so this is a time efficient way of looking at surgery.
If you’re considering a facelift, this web site will give you a basic understanding of the procedure, when it can help, how it’s performed, and what results you can expect. It can’t answer all of your questions, since a lot depends on the individual.
If you have further questions, feel free to e-mail your enquiries or freecall us on 1 8000 8000 1 to take advantage of our free consultation.
In General
The best candidate for a facelift is a man who is fit and healthy but whose face and neck have begun to sag. Most men are in their forties to sixties, but facelifts can be done successfully on people in their seventies or eighties, as long as you are fit and healthy.
A facelift can make you look younger and fresher, and it may enhance your self-confidence in the process. But it can’t give you a totally different look, nor can it restore the health and vitality of your youth.
Before you decide to have surgery, think carefully about your expectations and discuss them with Dr McGovern.
When a facelift is performed by a qualified plastic surgeon, complications are infrequent and usually minor. Still, individuals vary greatly in their anatomy, their physical reactions, and their healing abilities, and the outcome is never completely predictable.
Complications that can occur include haematoma (a collection of blood under the skin that must be removed by the surgeon), injury to the nerves that control facial muscles (this is temporary in 1 in 150 cases and permanent in less than 1 in 1000 facelifts, according to the plastic surgical literature), infection, and reactions to the anaesthesia. Poor healing of the skin (and even death of part of it) is most likely to affect smokers. Numbness of one ear occurs in about 1 in 100 facelifts.
You can reduce your risks by closely following Dr McGovern’s advice both before and after surgery. We strongly recommend preparing yourself prior to surgery with nutritional supplements. We are happy to give you more information on this as it makes an enormous difference to recovery times and outcomes.
Facelifts are very individualised procedures. In your initial consultation Dr McGovern will evaluate your face, including the skin and underlying bone struture, your pattern of facial ageing, and discuss your goals for surgery.
He 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 him if you smoke or are taking any drugs or medications, especially aspirin or other drugs that affect clotting.
Dr McGovern performs facelift procedures at the Sunshine Coast private Hospital. You will be given a general anaesthetic and will require one to two nights in hospital.
Don’t hesitate to ask Dr McGovern any questions you may have, especially those regarding your expectations and concerns about the results.
You will be given specific instructions on how to prepare for surgery, including guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking, and taking or avoiding certain vitamins and medications.
If you smoke, it’s especially important to stop at least three weeks before and after surgery. Smoking inhibits blood flow to the skin, and can interfere with the healing of your incision areas.
If your hair is very short, you might want to let it grow out before surgery, so that it’s long enough to hide the scars while they heal. If you colour your hair, have this done just before surgery as you won’t want to do so for some weeks afterward.
Changing your hairstyle radically after your surgery will help to disguise your recent facelift. This can be as simple as growing your hair longer prior.
You should arrange for someone to drive you home after your surgery, and you will need a hand at home for at least the first week.
Temporal lift
This procedure is a variation on a facelift and uses incisions placed in the hairline at the temples only. The tissues are moved to the side and diagonally up and away from the centre of the face.
Temporal facelift is suitable for men who have jowling in the upper face and heavy lines running from the nose down to the side of the mouth, but do not have a problem with their neck.
Temporal Facelift surgery is performed under general anaesthetic and may be performed as a day procedure. The procedure takes around 2 hours and can be combined with other procedures.
A facelift on its own takes about four hours and longer if you’re having more than one procedure done.
Every surgeon approaches the procedure in his or her own way. The exact placement of incisions and the sequence of events depends on your facial structure and your surgeon’s technique.
Early facelifts simply pulled the skin tight, giving an unnatural “wind-swept” look to the face, but taking only two hours or so to perform.
Many “cosmetic clinic” general practitioners use these simple techniques. Modern plastic surgeons elevate the “SMAS” (fat and fibrous tissue) layer to correct jowling. Dr McGovern uses an “extended SMAS flap technique”, as described by James Baker and Jim Stuzin of Miami, Florida.
Incisions are hidden in the hair wherever possible. These usually begin above the hairline at the temples, extend in a natural line in front of the ear and just inside the cartilage at the front of your ear, and continue behind the earlobe to the scalp.
If the neck needs to be addresses, a small incision will also be made under the chin and any fat will be removed using direct excision and liposuction, depending on the extent of the problem.
Facelift recovery times are longer than other procedures. You should be up and about in a day or two, but plan on taking it easy for the first week after surgery. Be especially gentle with your face and hair, since your skin will be both tender and numb, and may not respond normally at first.
Your surgeon will give you more specific guidelines for gradually resuming your normal activities. Avoid strenuous activity, for at least two weeks ,walking and mild stretching are fine, but you won’t be back to the gym for three weeks. Above all, get plenty of rest and allow your body to spend its energy on healing.
At the beginning, your face may look and feel rather strange. Your features may be distorted from the swelling, your facial movements may be slightly stiff, and you’ll probably be self-conscious about your scars.
Some bruising may persist for two or three weeks, and you may tire easily. It’s not surprising that some patients are disappointed and depressed at first.
By the third week, you’ll look and feel much better. Most men chose to take three weeks off work following facelift surgery.
You may find that you have to shave in new places – behind the neck and ears where areas of beard-growing skin have been repositioned. This problem is easily adressed, once you are fully healed, using our state of the art hair removal laser.
You’ll have some scars from your facelift, but they’re usually hidden by your hair or in the natural creases of your face and ears. In any case, they’ll fade with time and should be scarcely visible.
Having a facelift doesn’t stop the clock. Your face will continue to age with time. But the effects of facelift are lasting.
Plastic surgeons today are well versed in the concerns of men seeking cosmetic surgery. They recognise that men demand strict confidentiality and inconspicuous results.
Dr McGovern is more than willing to answer any questions you may have.
For more information please call our helpful staff on 18000 80001. We offer free consultations with our nurses to help you to understand facelift in more detail.
