Facelift vs. Mini Facelift: Which Should I Choose?

As we get older, the appearance of the face and neck are the areas where we typically see the first signs of ageing. The face may appear flabby or drooping due to thinning skin and loss of muscle tone. Your skin dries out, and the fat layer beneath it shrinks, causing your face to lose its smooth, plump shape.

The protein called collagen is responsible for keeping our skin firm and youthful-looking. As we age, our collagen levels decline, leaving our skin vulnerable to drooping and wrinkles. Some lifestyle choices can also result in premature ageing. These include smoking, excessive drinking, eating poorly, spending too much time in the sun, getting too little sleep, and overexposure to air pollution.

At the Cadogan Clinic, we offer a number of surgical and non-surgical procedures that can help you turn back the clock and keep your youthful appearance for longer.

The goal of a facelift (Rhytidectomy) is to make the face appear younger and more refreshed. Rhytidectomy is a very effective cosmetic procedure for both men and women that can give the face a more youthful look and refresh an individual’s overall appearance.

The procedure involves tightening both the skin on top and the muscle underneath, called the platysma, and removing extra skin from around the ears. We often do this lifting along with treatments that add volume, such as fat grafting to the chin, jawline, lips, cheeks, and temples.

To reduce and conceal scars, incisions are done in front of and behind the ears. Sometimes, the cuts go all the way to the scalp. From there, the surgeon will reach into the deeper layers of the face to move and lift the skin and soft tissues of the face and put the facial muscles back into a more youthful position.

Most of the time, a facelift is done under general anaesthesia and takes between 1 and 3 hours. Procedures that are more difficult or take more time can sometimes take longer. After the surgery, you'll spend 2 to 3 hours in our ambulatory recovery rooms getting better.

A rhytidectomy gives long-lasting results. Even though the face will continue to age with time after the procedure, it will do so from this newly rejuvenated point.

The mini-facelift is a modified version of the traditional facelift, and there are many reasons to choose this treatment. A mini facelift is much less invasive than a traditional facelift. It also has fewer incisions, which are usually hidden and hard for an untrained eye to spot. The results are still very powerful, and this facelift technique can make a huge difference.

Most of the time, this procedure is used to tighten loose skin in the lower part of the face, such as the chin, jaw, jowls, and upper neck. Most of the time, these problem areas are the first to show signs of ageing.  To maintain your youthful appearance after a mini facelift, you may want to undergo non-surgical procedures such as Botox, dermal fillers, lasers, chemical peels, or stem cell treatment on a regular basis.

The surgeon will make a few tiny incisions during a minor facelift that are subtly concealed in the natural skin folds in the hairline and behind the ears. These will leave few, if any, scars that you can see. The surgeon will then cut away the sagging skin and any extra fat, lift your face's soft tissues, and sew them back into place where they were before. It takes between 1 and 1.5 hours. After the surgery, you will stay in our ambulatory recovery rooms for 2 to 3 hours to recover.

People in their 40s and 50s will benefit most from this treatment. A successful mini facelift can easily turn back the clock about ten years, giving you a younger but still natural look. If you are older, you may want to talk to your consultant about other treatments.

A non-surgical facelift is a great way to deal with signs of ageing like wrinkles, loss of volume, and looser skin. The benefit of a non-surgical facelift is that it may be customised to address your unique facial issues.

This procedure can involve a combination of fat transfer to the face and dermal fillers to add volume, as well as injections to freeze the muscles or treatments like Morpheaus8, lasers, or radio-frequency to tighten the skin.  Depending on the quality of your skin, your consultant may also suggest a series of facial peels or other skin-rejuvenating treatments like microneedling.

The best results come from a non-surgical facelift if the patient is showing early signs of ageing. If you have deep wrinkles or a lot of loose skin, surgery may be the better choice for you. People in their 30s or 40s who want a quick, effective, non-surgical alternative to a surgical facelift are the best candidates for this type of procedure. Furthermore, it is an effective method for keeping the results of a previous surgical facelift.

In order to maintain the overall results over time, the non-surgical facelift procedure must be repeated because the technique only has temporary effects.

The duration of the procedure will depend on which treatments the patient and surgeon choose. Downtime is very short, and most people can get back to their regular lives right away after treatment.

Whatever facelift you choose will ultimately be up to you, but before you decide on surgery, your consultation is the ideal time to ask your physician any urgent questions you may have. It is an essential step in the education and decision-making processes since it is crucial that you are fully informed before making your final decision.

 During the consultation, you will be able to discuss with your surgeon, at length, your expectations for the procedure as well as the specifics of what may or may not be feasible given your current anatomy. Your surgeon will walk you through your alternatives and which, given your stated goals, is the best choice for you. You are free to return to the Cadogan Clinic as often as you like during this time to speak with your surgeon about your future procedure(s).

All these facelift procedures are performed regularly at the Cadogan Clinic, and our specialist surgeons are leading experts in their respective fields. If you’re considering undertaking any of these procedures, get in touch with us today for a consultation with an experienced surgeon.