Deep Plane Facelift

Conveniently located to serve the areas of Atlanta, GA

A deep plane facelift (aka a deep plane rhytidectomy and a deep plane lift) is a plastic surgery procedure that aims to restore a more youthful appearance to the face and neck. One of the main benefits of a deep plane rhytidectomy is its natural-looking results. With a deep plane lift, the plastic surgeons at ME Plastic Surgery in Atlanta can address the signs of aging without concerns related to a tight, overdone, or windblown-looking result.

Contents

Before and After Photos

Facelift Before & After Patient #870
Facelift Before & After Patient #870
Facelift Before & After Patient #881
Facelift Before & After Patient #881
Facelift Before & After Patient #871
Facelift Before & After Patient #871
View More Photos

Patient story

This is a very fit female patient in her 60’s who wanted to look refreshed. She exercises daily and had lost a lot of volume in her face. We performed a deep plane face and neck lift to sharpen the jawline and rejuvenate the face and the neck. We also did upper and lower blepharoplasty with a lateral brow lift to open up her look. To improve more her facial volume, we added fat grafting to the eyelids and cheeks. She looks refreshed and completely herself after the surgery, including the same smile.

What to expect

A deep plane lift usually takes from three to five hours to complete.

Anesthesia

ME Plastic Surgery’s deep plane facelift patients typically receive general anesthesia, which means they remain fully asleep during their facial enhancement procedure. Following a surgery that involves the patient receiving general or twilight anesthesia, the patient must refrain from driving for at least 24 hours. As such, patients need to bring a driver with them on the day of their surgery. Patients who arrive without a driver will need to reschedule their surgery. Patients also need a caregiver for at least 24 hours following their surgery. Patients should choose someone that they fully trust and feel completely comfortable with to serve as their caregiver.

For-hire transportation

For the patient’s safety, for-hire transportation is not feasible following any procedure that requires general or twilight anesthesia.

Surgical Area Sanitization

Once the patient is asleep, the surgeon’s team sanitizes the incision areas.

The surgeon creates an incision within the patient’s hairline, extending it to the skin crease directly in front of the ear. Placing the incision in this area helps camouflage it, thus, minimizing its appearance.

The SMAS layer

Following the creation of the incision, the surgeon separates the skin on the face and neck from the deeper tissues. This allows visualization of the SMAS.

Separating the SMAS

After identifying the superficial musculoaponeurotic system layer, ME Plastic Surgery’s surgeon begins separating the SMAS from the deeper facial tissues (i.e., the deep plane).

Anchoring the tissues

The surgeon gently lifts the deeper tissues of the face and neck before strategically placing stitches in several areas to anchor this layer of the patient’s neck and face. By suturing different regions of the face and neck, the surgeon can target the common areas that show signs of aging (e.g., the cheeks, sagging neck skin, and jowls).

Contact Us

Removing excess skin

After securing the facial tissues, the plastic surgeon places the skin back over the neck and facial structures before trimming away any excess.

Closing the incisions

The surgeon uses very fine sutures to close the external incisions.

Post-operative appointment

The Patient Care Coordinator schedules the patient’s initial follow-up appointment for the day after surgery. Since patients are unable to drive for 24 hours after surgery, they need to ask someone to drive them to this appointment.

Recovering

Patients receiving narcotics must refrain from driving until these medications are no longer necessary.

Following surgery, deep plane facelift patients should elevate their head with two or three pillows. By elevating their head, patients help reduce inflammation, which improves their comfort level.

Generally, patients experience peak inflammation and bruising four days after their deep plane lift. At the seven-day mark, visible healing becomes evident.

Having a low energy level after surgery is normal and typically results from the body working to heal itself. Therefore, patients need to minimize their activities for a few days after their procedure. Participating in unnecessary activities encourages inflammation, bleeding, and discomfort. The best way to ensure the smoothest recovery possible is to follow the surgeon’s post-surgical recommendations.

The surgeon removes the patient’s sutures about a week after the deep plane rhytidectomy.

After their deep plane facelift, most patients need about two or three weeks for the inflammation and bruising to subside. During this time, patients must avoid participating in strenuous activities (e.g., heavy lifting and intense exercise).

About two weeks after surgery, 20% to 30% of a patient’s visible healing is complete. It is at this point that most patients plan to return to work or spend time in public. Although there will still be signs of surgery, they are easy to hide. Most patients just apply facial concealer or use their hair to camouflage them.

The majority of patients can return to their normal activities within three weeks of their surgery. However, for at least six weeks, patients must avoid strenuous activities.

Results

Patients can expect to see their final results about three months after surgery. They can expect to have a more youthful-looking neck, a contoured jawline, firmer skin on their face, a smoother skin surface in the areas where wrinkles used to be, and beautifully enhanced facial features.

How long do deep plane facelift results last?

Typically, deep plane rhytidectomy results last from seven to 12 years. Nonetheless, each patient is unique, and personal factors will affect how long a patient’s facelift results last.

Factors affecting the length of facelift results include

  • Skin quality.
  • Genetics.
  • Sun damage (cumulative).

Although a facelift cannot stop the natural aging process, it does offer patients a way to essentially reset their aging clock. Nonetheless, following a healthy lifestyle and implementing a proven anti-aging skincare routine can help prolong facelift results.

Consultation

During their initial consultation, patients need to provide information about their medical history, including which medications they take on a regular basis, previous surgeries, current health conditions (e.g., diabetes), as well as their herbal supplement and vitamin use.

In addition, the surgeon wants to know what the patient would like to accomplish with a deep plane lift.

After evaluating the patient’s neck and facial characteristics, the surgeon can determine if he or she is a good candidate for a deep plane facelift. If the patient would benefit more from a different procedure, the surgeon may recommend something else.

Preparing

There are several things that patients must do in the days leading up to their facelift procedure in Atlanta.

Patients must

  • Discontinue taking aspirin at least seven to 10 days before surgery. Patients who take aspirin due to a recommendation from their cardiologist should ask their surgeon about continuing this daily regimen before surgery.
  • Avoid taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for five days before their surgical procedure. These drugs include Motrin, Aleve, and ibuprofen. Patients who need to take medication for pain during this time frame can take acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol).
  • Stop taking vitamin E at least 10 days before their deep plane facelift.
  • Avoid alcohol consumption for at least seven days before and seven days after surgery. Alcohol promotes inflammation. Therefore, drinking these types of beverages can lengthen a patient’s recovery time and cause unnecessary discomfort.
  • Stop smoking, vaping, and using chewing tobacco for the four weeks leading up to surgery and the four weeks after. Nicotine causes blood vessels to contract, which inhibits blood flow. This negatively affects the body’s ability to heal. A longer healing time increases the risk of developing an infection, open wounds, and necrosis (i.e., tissue death).
  • Discontinue taking certain herbal supplements for at least 10 days before their deep plane facelift in Atlanta. Following this recommendation is vital because, just like aspirin, these herbs can increase the incidence of bleeding. In addition, herbal supplements can cause an increase in heart rate and elevate blood pressure. Furthermore, some herbs can cause a patient to have a negative reaction to anesthesia.

Herbal supplements to discontinue taking at least 10 days before surgery include

  • Feverfew
  • Garlic
  • Goldenseal
  • Echinacea
  • Fish Oils
  • Ephedra/Phentermine
  • Ginkgo Biloba
  • Kava-Kava
  • Saw Palmetto
  • Licorice
  • Valerian
  • St. John’s Wort

Patients who take prescription medications have to ask their surgeon whether they should discontinue taking them before they have their deep plane lift.

Patients who need to have lab tests before their facelift procedure must complete these tests at least a week before their surgery. This ensures that the surgeon receives the results before the day of the procedure. If the surgeon does not receive the lab test results in time, the patient must reschedule his or her surgery.

Are there any side effects following a deep plane facelift?

Following facial surgery, patients typically experience some inflammation and bruising. These symptoms subside gradually and usually dissipate within a few days to a few weeks of surgery. Some pain and discomfort may also be present.

Potential risks

Although rare, as with all surgical procedures, there are risks that patients need to recognize before choosing to move forward with a facelift in Atlanta.

Potential risks include

  • Excess bleeding.
  • The development of an infection.
  • A hematoma.
  • Pain.
  • Nerve injury.
  • Scarring.
  • Numbness (temporary or permanent).
  • A delay in healing.

The best way to reduce the likelihood of experiencing these complications is to choose a highly skilled facial plastic surgeon to perform your deep plane facelift, and then follow the post-surgical instructions and recommendations the surgeon provides.

How much will a deep plane facelift in atlanta cost?

The cost of a deep plane rhytidectomy in Atlanta varies from one patient to the next. Therefore, the only way a surgeon at ME Plastic Surgery can determine how much a procedure will cost is during an initial consultation.

If you are considering a facial enhancement procedure like the deep plane facelift, and you are in the Atlanta area, contact ME Plastic Surgery today. Let our skilled, highly experienced, and caring surgeons help you bring your aesthetic goals to fruition.

Dr. Gabriele C. Miotto is a Brazillian-American plastic surgeon specialized in aesthetic surgery and minimally invasive procedures, specially of the face, eyes, nose, breast and liposuction. Call (404) 446-0738 for your consultation.

FAQ

Which issues can a deep plane facelift in atlanta address?

A deep plane lift helps define an individual’s natural facial features, corrects eye droop, improves skin elasticity, and decreases the visibility of sagging jowls, wrinkles, and hollow-looking cheeks.

Who should consider a deep plane facelift?

Most deep plane rhytidectomy patients are in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. However, every patient is unique. Therefore, ME Plastic Surgery’s surgeons disregard the age of the patient, and instead determine a patient’s eligibility during the initial consultation.

They usually recommend a deep plane facelift for patients who have:

– Hollow-looking temples and cheeks.
– Deep marionette lines and nasolabial folds.
– A sagging jawline.
– Wrinkles and loose skin in the neck.
– Drooping skin in the mid-to-lower areas of the face.

Certain issues may make a patient ineligible for a deep plane facelift.

These issues include:

– Bleeding disorders.
– A history of parotid surgery.
– Liver disease.
– A history of radiation treatments to the face or neck.

At what age do the signs of aging become apparent?

Once we reach the age of 40, some signs of aging become visible. These early signs typically affect the mouth, eyes, and neck.

Why do people choose to have a deep plane facelift?

As the skin on the neck and face loses its elasticity, the tissues beneath begin to fall. Since these fallen tissues are responsible for holding the skin in place, the signs of aging begin. Many times, patients choose to have cosmetic surgery procedures to improve their appearance and increase their self-confidence level.

What causes the signs of aging?

A gradual descent of facial fat is one of the main reasons for the signs of aging. The areas of the face that this falling fat impacts are the upper and lower cheeks.

How does a deep plane lift, a traditional facelift, and the imbrication technique lift differ?

The Traditional Facelift

While performing a traditional facelift, the surgeon focuses on lifting the skin and pulling it taut. Unfortunately, the results of this procedure can provide an overdone or windblown look, which makes the face appear somewhat unnatural.

The Imbrication Technique

The imbrication technique involves lifting the skin and tightening the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) that lies just beneath.
The SMAS layer of tissue consists of collagen, elastin, and fat cells. This superficial layer extends from the forehead to the neck, draping over the muscles and organs of the face.

During a superficial musculoaponeurotic system facelift, the surgeon tightens and repositions the patient’s skin and SMAS layer beneath. Although the superficial musculoaponeurotic system facelift offers a more natural-looking result than the traditional skin-only lift, the ligaments underneath the SMAS layer remain untouched. Therefore, they continue to anchor the facial skin and muscles, aging the appearance of the face and neck.

Although the SMAS technique provides better results than the traditional facelift, there are areas of attachment (i.e., ligaments) beneath the SMAS that the surgeon must reposition to reduce the signs of aging.

The Deep Plane Lift

The deep plane lift releases the ligaments beneath the SMAS, allowing the surgeon to gently reposition the skin and the muscles as a single unit. This repositioning process frequently improves the longevity of a patient’s results.

In addition, when compared to the other facelift options available, the deep plane lift is the most effective because, after recovering from this procedure, most patients look 12 to 15 years younger.

What benefits does a deep plane facelift in atlanta offer?

During a deep plane facelift, the plastic surgeons at ME Plastic Surgery in Atlanta, restore the upper cheeks by moving the fallen fat and muscles back to their natural positions. By moving these fallen tissues back to the upper cheeks, and removing excess skin from the neck and face, the lower portion of the patient’s face appears more youthful. In addition, restoring volume in the upper cheek helps reduce hollowing and improve drooping beneath the eyes.

Since the deep plane rhytidectomy requires a high level of skill, it is vital that patients choose a highly experienced plastic surgeon in Atlanta to perform their deep plane facelift.

Following a deep plane facelift in atlanta, when will a patient be event-ready?

When a patient is having this facial enhancement procedure before a special event, the surgeons at ME Plastic Surgery recommend that they schedule their deep plane facelift at least eight weeks ahead of time. This ensures that residual inflammation has subsided. Moreover, at the eight-week mark, 70% to 80% of the visible healing is usually complete. However, everyone is unique; therefore, it is difficult to predict the amount of bruising and swelling a patient will experience. A patient who would like to be nearly completely healed should have their facelift about three months before their big event.

Does a deep plane facelift hurt?

Since patients remain asleep during their procedures, they are comfortable and feel no pain. After surgery, patients should expect to experience mild discomfort. This discomfort results from the inflammation and bruising that develops following surgery.

Some of the other common facelift recovery symptoms include a sore and tight feeling in the face and neck. These post-surgical symptoms can last anywhere from several days to a few weeks. However, to help patients remain as comfortable as possible during recovery, the surgeons at ME Plastic Surgery will recommend pre-operative and post-operative supplements and medications, as well as provide information about using cold compresses to reduce inflammation.

Is any scarring present after a deep plane facelift?

Since the surgeons at ME Plastic Surgery are experts, they create deep plane rhytidectomy incisions in areas where they will be well hidden. As long as patients follow their surgeon’s recommendations, the resulting scars diminish greatly within the six months following their facelift procedure.

What is the best procedure to address the jowls?

So, jowls are a very common and frequent concern that patients have as they age. So, it’s basically excess skin and fat in this area of the jawline that starts building up. Depending on how tight the skin is, we can address jowls sometimes by disguising the jowl along the jawline by placing fillers before and after the jowls or even a PDO thread, which is a temporary solution to improve the contouring of the jawline. If there is already moderate laxity and the skin and muscles are also coming down, the best procedure is a lower face and neck lift. Or even a full facelift, depending on whether there are also changes in the cheeks. Depending on the solutions that the patient is looking for, we can try to do something temporary with fillers and threads or a surgical procedure.

How long will it be before facelift scars diminish?

Facelift scars can be very visible up to three months after surgery. Why? Because this is the time that the scar takes to become white or a lighter color. So, in the beginning, the scars are more visible because we have sutures and because the healing process makes the scar red. Then, over the first three to six months, the scars start softening and becoming white. But the most important thing is actually the way the incision was closed. So, we use very fine sutures and do not put tension on the skin, and that makes the scar heal very well and look very good from very early in the post-op period. But I would say that most scars would be white and non-red at about six to 12 months after surgery.

Is there a particular age that is ideal to start having facelifts?

There is no particular age at which we will think about having a facelift. A facelift is basically decided, and the time for the surgery is decided when the patient starts seeing signs of aging. So, the age itself is not as important; what is important is what we see on the face. For example, we start seeing some loose skin or loose muscle and sometimes loss of volume in the face. So, there are several things we can think about to improve facial aging. But sometimes a facelift is the best, the most durable, and also the option that will give the patient what they are looking for. So, don’t pay much attention to the age; I pay attention to what the patient desires to achieve and what we can do with surgical or non-surgical procedures.

What is a pdo lift?

A PDO lift is a suture suspension lift that is done in the office, so it’s not a surgical procedure; it’s a non-surgical procedure that we use to create a mild lift mostly of the cheeks and of the jawline with these threads. So, PDO is an absorbable suture. It lasts for about a year, and it is usually placed under local anesthesia. So, we can get a little bit of lift in the cheek and a little bit of lift in the jawline. It’s not like a surgical facelift. It doesn’t give you the same effect as a surgical facelift, but it’s very good for younger patients with good skin quality, and they are seeing a little bit of loose skin. It’s not to be compared with a facelift, so it’s a very mild thing done in the office under local anesthesia.

Which treatments work best on facelift scars?

The treatment that works best for facelift scars are usually topical treatments that we, uh, recommend after the sutures, uh, come off. So, they include silicone creams with sunscreen because, uh, the sunlight or the UV light can pigment the scar, so we want to keep that light color protected. We can also sometimes use compression with tapes and silicone tapes, and if the scars stay red for a while or longer than we want, sometimes we can also do chemical peels or lasers to soften the color of the scar and make it look as good as possible.

Is a facelift the only way to address jowls and marionette lines?

A facelift is not the only way to address the jowls or the marionette lines. We can address these areas also with fillers or with a suture suspension, such as a PDO thread. It’s not as durable or a permanent solution as a facelift, but we can get very good results with injectables and with non-surgical treatments in the areas. It will always depend on how much aging the face has or the quality of the tissues. But we can have good results with other procedures, besides a facelift.

Is there a long-lasting and effective procedure for lifting the jowls?

The longest-lasting and most effective procedure for lifting the jowls is still a lower face and neck lift, or a facelift associated with this. Why? Because during a facelift or even a lower facelift, we will address the deep tissues that are causing the jowls on the surface level, which is usually the muscle that falls and slides down, and even the soft tissue, the fat in the face. The skin is always attached to this area, so when we leave the deep tissues and the skin with it, we really reposition that jowl in a very stable way, and therefore this is a very long-lasting solution, so it’s years instead of months when we do something non-surgical.

After i have a lower face neck lift, can the jowls return?

So, after a facelift or lower facelift, we will reposition the tissue of the jowls in a more permanent way. However, a facelift or a lower facelift does not stop the patient from aging. If there is further aging, sometimes increases in weight, or a lot of sun damage to the skin, the jowls can return because they’re part of the face and part of the body. So, we age as a whole. It’s very likely, though, that if it returns, it will be much more mild than it was before the first surgery. But no facelift or neck lift will stop the aging process. So, that will be the determinant in knowing if the jowls will return or not in the future.

Should i lose weight before or after my facelift?

Every time patients are thinking about having a facelift and they are losing or gaining weight, the best is to have a stable weight by the time of surgery. Why? Because when we gain weight, we will also increase the volume of the face. So, if you gain weight after a facelift, certain areas where you do not have fatty deposits may show up. Or, if you lose a lot of weight after a facelift, you will likely have skin laxity. So, there is loose skin after the facelift. So, ideally, the patient should be at a stable weight for at least three months. And will be able to maintain this weight after surgery. Those are always the best and most stable results after surgery.

I am 40 years old, am i too young to have a facelift?

I have a lot of patients in their 40s that start thinking about having a facelift. Why? There are many reasons; uh, some of them are really tired of just doing fillers and threads and having temporary solutions. They’re wanting a more permanent, more durable solution for skin laxity jowls, uh, and also fatty deposits under the neck, which are sometimes caused by muscle laxity, so we will offer patients a facelift in their 40s, and they are very, very pleased with the result because it really frees them for a long time, uh, from having to do constant injectables and other procedures that are non-surgical but require maintenance, so yes, it’s a common thing to have a facelift in your 40s.

Contact Us