The benefits of a facelift last an average of 8 to 10 years. After that, some men and women begin to see signs of aging. Drooping skin, creases, and wrinkles are the most common complaints. As you age, skin loses its elasticity, so even if you’ve had a facelift in the past, you’re going to eventually see sagging skin and loss of volume in the cheeks, temples and around the mouth. It’s important to remember that while the facelift can make you look years younger, it cannot stop the clock or the aging process. Nevertheless, years after your facelift you will look younger and better than if you hadn’t had the lift at all. Of course, that doesn’t preclude you from wanting a touch-up down the road.

The Facelift Procedure



If you’ve undergone one facelift, you know that it is a surgical procedure that tightens and restores the cheeks, jawline, and neck to a more youthful appearance. Incisions are made at the temples in the hairline, extending down in front of and behind the ear and ending in the lower scalp. Through these incisions, excess fat may be removed, tissue is altered to restore a youthful appearance, and skin is draped over the new foundation. Any extra skin is excised and the incisions are sutured. The goal is to create a youthful face, not create an overly tight appearance.

Following a facelift, patients need approximately 10 days to heal at home. Expect three weeks of healing before you can resume light exercise. Usually, people who undergo a facelift are 40 or older, but some younger men and women undergo the procedure. Ten years later, some patients opt for a touch-up.

Post-Facelift Options

If you’re bothered by the signs of aging years after your first facelift, you have a couple of options. You can undergo a second facelift. In some cases, this may be a more minimal surgery than the first. Another option is to seek a facial plastic surgeon who specializes in fillers. Fillers help add volume to sunken areas and can lift the cheeks and sometimes drooping skin related to volume loss. Sculptra is an ideal filler when it comes to adding volume to large areas.

What is Sculptra?

Sculptra Aesthetic is a means for replacing collagen stores within the skin. It takes approximately three injections over a span of a few months for results that last two or more years. By replacing the collagen, folds and wrinkles fill out. The changes occur subtly, so you don’t have to worry about people asking if you’ve had plastic surgery.

Made from poly-L-lactic acid, Sculptra is safe and biodegradable. The only side effects are pain at the injection site, mild bruising, redness, and swelling. Sculptra has been in use since 1999 and contains the same material used in dissolvable sutures.