What Patients Should Know About a Facelift

A facelift is a technique in cosmetic surgery that gives individuals a younger look to the face. Men and women both have rhytidectomy or facelifts to give themselves a better appearance. 

Daniel Q. Richardson, MD, with offices in both Gulfport, MS and Biloxi, MS, is a Plastic surgeon that performs facelifts on patients to tighten hanging or loose skin around the jowls or jawline. The procedure will take care of the deep creases or wrinkles around the mouth and nose. It will also take care of any loose skin in the neck, and fat under the chin.

What a Patient Can Expect

Before surgery, Dr. Richardson will talk to you about your medical history. He needs to know if you have any allergies, what medications you are on, and a lot more about you as a person. He needs to know if you have a blood pressure problem if you are a smoker, your skin condition, and your previous drug use. He will also look over any previous scarring you may have on your face.

He will discuss with you what the surgical procedures are and what is involved. He will explain the type of anesthesia that will be used, where the surgery will take place, the recovery, and any complications that patients may face. 

Procedure for a Facelift

Patients would have the facelift procedure as an outpatient. Dr. Richardson would use sedatives and a local anesthetic or general anesthesia. The facelift would take anywhere between two and five hours. Most people would normally go home after about an hour or so in recovery. 

Dr. Richardson uses well-concealed incisions where scarring will be virtually unnoticeable. One would be from the front of the ear and move up towards the hairline and the other would be behind the ear and move up towards the hairline or scalp. Each person’s face is different, and the lines for the incisions will be different on each person.

He would then lift the skin off muscles and tissue. The skin would be drawn upward and the excess skin would be removed. The deeper tissues of the face would also be tightened for a smooth appearance.

Dr. Richardson might also make another small incision under your chin to tighten the skin. This incision would also tighten the tissues of the neck for a facelift/neck lift combination. 

Some New Surgical Techniques

There are always new developments in the surgical field, making some procedures easier for a faster recovery for the patient. Some doctors will use a laser for a neck-life procedure. The laser melts fat under the chin and can tighten the skin. 

Endoscopy

For brow and facelifts, an endoscopy can be used. It is a small camera that is inserted into a small incision to replace the larger incision that is requored in a traditional procedure. With smaller incisions comes minimal scarring and less discomfort. 

Dr. Daniel Richardson can discuss all the different cosmetic procedures that you may want to have done, and which ones can be done at the same time. Contact our office today to learn more and to schedule your facelift procedure. 

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