Face and Neck Lift

Restoring balance to the face is key to the rejuvenation process. The youthful face has projection of the cheeks with a fat pad being situated near the cheek bone prominence. The jaw line is sleek and sculpted with an acute line angle with the neck and chin. It has been described that the face in youth has a pyramid shape with the base at the cheek bone region and the apex at the chin point. With aging and gravitational descent of the fat pads, atrophy of subcutaneous fat below the cheek bones and drooping of the skin overlying the jaw line, the pyramid changes by 180 degrees with the base at the sagging jaw angles and the apex at the nose with loss of volume around the cheek area.

The process of restoring balance to the face is dependent on the individual face, skin quality, and the underlying skeletal features of the face. Frequently the neck lines need to be corrected with tightening the underlying support mechanism of the neck and lower face. Traditional face lift techniques tend to have a more lateral vector of repositioning the skin and fat. Deeper plane techniques may help to improve the overhang of skin and fat around the nose and lips. A midface lift which releases the full thickness of skin and muscles off the facial skeleton at the level of the cheek bone can allow the appropriate vertical vector to restore the pyramid of youth to normal proportions often times in conjunction with endoscopic brow lifts.