Skin aging, exposure to sunlight and other harmful environmental factors have undesirable effects to the face. Some of these effects are the sagging of the facial skin, development of age lines, and general dullness of the skin. Facelifts, also referred to as Rhytidectomy, produce remarkable changes in the features of the face. It gets rid of skin aging effects while honing the face to near perfection.

Facelift treatments target problematic skin areas such as entrenched cheek folds along the jaw, and sagging skin by the neck. The operation entails several hours. In some cases, more than one procedure is done, making the process last longer. Acute cases, such as facelifts for serious feature restoration requires several separate sessions.

A facelift is generally administered with a local anesthesia. The type of sedation depends on the severity of the operation. Plastic surgeons offer the choices of having a general anesthesia or an intravenous or twilight sedation. It is the patient’s choice to remain awake or fully asleep during the entire procedure. In some procedures, the patients are awake but numb to the pain.
Patients are sedated to make them relaxed and drowsy.

Safety remains a goal for facelift operations. It is done with monitoring equipment that regularly checks on the blood pressure, pulse and heart rate, and oxygen circulation of the patient.

Facelifts are done by making specific incisions in the skin. Each incision as well as the sequence of the next incisions, is a calculated move that depends on the plastic surgeon’s method.
Surgeons may have different approaches to a facelift procedure. In general cases, the first incision is made along the hairline and the temples. This extends to the ears, either behind the cartilage and t earlobe, or by the front of the ear. Facelifts that remove excess skin by the neck are done by making a minute cut below the chin.

Facelift operations carefully take apart fatty tissues from the outer layer of the skin. Some procedures entail honing the facial muscles to enhance the contour of the skin. After making the necessary incisions and skin removals, the surgeon pulls together the incised skin. These parts are attached tighter with careful stitches. Post operation touches are done such as attaching a temporary tube behind the ear to drain excess blood, and bandages.

Like other operations, possible side effects are swelling and bruising of the affected areas. However, these effects vary on the patient’s body and tolerance.