Loose skin and wrinkles are a natural part of getting older, but some people may struggle with these signs of aging more than others. Genetics, weight fluctuations, sun exposure, and lifestyle habits, such as smoking or excessive drinking, can speed up aging and make you look older. Short-scar facelift focuses on mild to moderate loose skin in the lower face and neck to provide a more youthful appearance. Our board-certified plastic surgeons in Sacramento offer traditional and short-scar facelifts.
What Is Short-Scar Facelift?
Short-scar facelift is often best for patients in their 40s or 50s with loose neck skin, jowling, and other skin concerns. The procedure focuses on the mid-face, lower face, jawline, and neck and can smooth lines and wrinkles in the cheeks, around the mouth or upper lip, and chin. Jowling happens when fat deposits descend lower in the face, and skin loses elasticity, causing an undefined jawline. Short-scar facelift improves jawline and chin definition. The procedure is used for the mini facelift approach.
What’s the Difference Between Short-Scar Facelift and Traditional Facelift?
As the name suggests, the short-scar technique for facelift involves a shorter incision. The traditional facelift makes an incision in the sideburn of the hair that stretches down the front of the ear and curves around the ear lobe into the hairline and may create a second incision under the chin to refine the neck. Short-scar facelift forms an incision in the sideburn that only extends in front of the ear.
Short-scar facelift is best for patients with moderately loose skin tissue and may be combined with liposuction to improve a double chin and fat accumulation in the neck. The downtime, which is similar for both facelift techniques, involves about one to two weeks away from work to allow bruising and swelling to improve.
Traditional facelift takes around three to four hours in the surgical suite because of additional incisions and more intensive work on the jawline and neck. Some variations of the short-scar facelift may take less than one hour or up to three hours.
Is Short-Scar Facelift the Same as Mini Facelift?
Short-scar facelifts may use the SMAS surgical technique, which alters the superficial myoaponeurotic system (SMAS) tissues. This approach repositions or removes the fat pads under the jaw and requires general anesthesia. Mini facelift uses the same incisions and may or may not involve the SMAS tissue layer, but only requires local anesthesia and may be performed in an office setting. Mini facelift is often combined with other office-based procedures, such as neck liposuction and upper blepharoplasty.
Contact The Plastic Surgery Center in Sacramento and Granite Bay
If you’re interested in short-scar facelift, schedule a consultation with one of our board-certified plastic surgeons. Contact The Plastic Surgery Center in Granite Bay, California, at (916) 773-5559 or Sacramento, California, at (916) 929-1833.
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