A 45-year-old shouldn’t immediately think of a face lift
Q. I’m 45 and I feel like my face has dropped with all this COVID stuff. I think I need a face lift! Am I too young for a face lift?
A. You might need a face lift, but I would caution you to take a more conservative approach. When I approach patients who are young and want face lifts, I take the top-down approach.
As patients age, they lose volume in the mid-face. When mid-face volume is lost, the nasal labial folds appear more prominent. Once the nasal labial folds appear more prominent, the jowls appear even worse.
So, I often see patients who feel like they need a face lift when, in fact, they need more volume. People look young because of the roundness of their face. When you look at youthfullooking people, that is what gives them that look.
You can always have a face lift after you’ve first tried non-surgical approaches or less invasive approaches.
Often, patients will be ecstatic when a mid-face filler such as Voluma or any other hyaluronic acid is used. It lifts the mid-face and, as a consequence, improves the nasal labial fold and makes the jowls appear better. If this is not enough, surgery may proceed in a measured manner.
Potentially, you can do an anterior face lift or a “mini“face lift, which is less invasive.
If you have lost a lot of weight, have significant jowling and are just plain droopy, you may require a full face lift. In my 30+ years experience of doing face lifts, I have found that patients who have surgery at a younger age have longer and better results with their actual surgery.
The great part of modern plastic surgery is that there are many alternatives that can be used without surgery and should be considered prior to undergoing a face lift.
Dr. Carlos Wolf is a partner in Miami Plastic Surgery and is board certified. Email questions to him at Cwolf@miamiplasticsurgery.com.