In a person’s early to mid-thirties, the cheek tissue begins to sag and droop by the constant pull of gravity. The result is that the area below the eye appears hollow, the bone of the orbit may become visible, and folds that extend from the corner of the mouth up toward the corner of the nose thicken. These folds are called “naso-labial (literally, nose-lip) folds.” Doctors refer to the entire sagging/drooping process as the “descent of the mid-face” with the term “mid-face” describing the portion of the face that lies above the mouth but below the eyes (middle of the face).
The Mid-Facelift is a procedure generally considered the biggest advance in facial plastic surgery in 15 years. The mid-facelift requires a true understanding and knowledge of facial anatomy and advanced surgical training. Not all surgeons offer the mid-face lift. Prior to the mid-facelift, surgeons had nothing to offer patients to help address aging in the middle of the face but tried to achieve improvement through a traditional facelift, a procedure best suited to rejuvenation of the lower face and neck. In someone with a lot of mid-facial aging, a traditional facelift creates somewhat of a mismatch if they have a youthful neck and jaw-line but the middle of their face is aged. In a patient with both mid and lower facial aging, a better approach is to combine a mid-facelift with a traditional facelift to achieve harmonious and total facial rejuvenation. In a younger patient with just mid-facial aging and maybe early lower facial aging, a mid-facelift may achieve the desired result, even correcting mild jowling, without the need for a lower facelift.
Targeted Areas of a Mid-Facelift
Every patient who desires a mid-facelift has their own personal reasons for wanting to improve the appearance of their face. Some of the most common reasons patients decided to have a mid-facelift include:
- Deepening crease lines that extend from the sides of the nose to the corners of the mouth; these are called nasolabial folds.
- Hollowing of the area below the eye.
- Sagging cheeks and early jowling.
How a Mid-Facelift Procedure is Performed
At our facility, the anesthesia for a mid-facelift is deep sedation. A mid-faceift may take several hours or longer depending on whether other cosmetic procedures are completed at the same time. It is most frequently combined with an endoscopic forehead lift and/or a facelift. Dr. Firouz is able to perform a mid-facelift endoscopically using a camera and incisions that are entirely hidden behind the hairline. The mid-facial cheek tissues are restored to their natural (higher) position using absorbable sutures. As these sutures dissolve, the cheek tissues naturally adhere to the underlying bone and remain in a youthful position. In many cases, Dr. Firouz will also utilize fat transfer to add volume back to the mid-face. The loss of volume is one of the main reasons a face begins to look aged, so using the patient's own fat from another area of the body provides beautiful and natural looking results.
Recovery After a Mid-Facelift Surgery
Immediately after surgery, your face will be fitted with bandages and surgical drains in order to speed recovery and reduce swelling. The bandages and drains are removed on the first postoperative visit. We recommend head of bed elevation and light activity in the immediate postoperative period. Patients generally report little pain with mid-facelift surgery, but may have some mild pain with chewing that lasts for a few days. You will have frequent postoperative visits with Dr. Firouz to monitor your progress and remove the stitches. Facial swelling is more pronounced with a mid-facelift than with a facelift alone and may persist a bit longer. Most patients return to work after two weeks with makeup easily covering any residual bruising.
Contact our office to schedule an appointment to discuss your options with mid face-lift plastic surgeon Dr. Firouz.