Facelift

It’s a gradual process, but suddenly you notice it.  A glance in the mirror, a look at a photo: sagging skin on your cheeks and neck. You see wrinkles and folds, and the formerly smooth contour of the lower jaw is slack and sagging.

It’s the most aggravating and noticeable change to the face with advancing age. And it can be difficult to endure. It gives you a sad and tired look. You stand in front of the mirror and smooth back the skin of your face. That’s how it should look again, shouldn’t it? A cream can’t help. The only way to turn back time is by smoothing the skin and contouring the face with a facelift. A skillful facelift by Prof. Gress in Munich will let you once again look the way you actually feel: Fresh and young…

You can think of a facelift as facial tightening with the help of surgery. There are many variations of facelift surgery; each procedure is based on the individual needs of the patient. Examples include a neck lift, forehead lift, removal of excess skin and thus skin tightening, wrinkle treatment and much more. It is essential for your face to be smoothed while retaining its characteristic features and naturalness without appearing mask-like. You won’t see a good facelift! It will make you look fresher, rejuvenated and thus younger; under no circumstances should you appear “lifted”.

The preliminary consultation will take place with Prof. Gress at his practice. He will take pictures and decide on the ideal surgical technique for you based on your expectations for the results.

Men and women have different expectations. There are different principles to consider with a facelift for a man. The procedure can make the male face appear more striking, while the female face is usually more feminine, softer.

The procedure is performed under general anesthesia. You should avoid drugs that increase the tendency to bleed (such as aspirin or Marcumar) for 14 days before the facelift procedure.

Stop smoking four weeks before the operation, since smoking is known to promote circulatory problems and wound healing disorders! If the operation is performed as an outpatient procedure, please make arrangements for someone to pick you up from the practice and look after you at home.

The skin incision runs along the temple starting at the front of the ear, around the earlobe and outer ear back up to the hairy scalp area. Therefore, scarring from the procedure is hardly visible.

Then, the both the facial skin and the structures underneath, such as the SMAS (Superficial Musculo Aponeurotic System), a net-like tissue layer running under the subcutaneous fatty tissue, are lifted, smoothed and tightened in various directions.

Along with the facial skin, the SMAS, a fibrous layer under the facial skin, is also tightened in order to achieve lasting, beautiful results.

Tightening of sagging muscles and facial skin

Excess tissue is removed. Padding of the tissue with the patient’s own fat (lipostructure) can be useful during a facelift to plump unpleasant edges and flattened or sunken regions of the face and to reduce wrinkles. As an additional or independent treatment, a double chin can be removed by means of a liposuction procedure in Munich. A neck lift is performed to treat wrinkles on the neck, and the SMAS is also tightened.

You will receive a “roadmap” that outlines the next steps, set appointments for follow-up checks, discuss special directions, etc.The bandage is removed after a few days. Drainage tubes are removed at our practice in Munich after one or two days, stitches after 5 to 10 days. No sports for four weeks. You can wash your hair after four days, but only in the shower so you can remain standing and don’t need to move your head too much.Follow-up checks will be more frequent soon after the procedure. A repeated visit after several months is sufficient later. We maintain long-standing contact with our patients and will even invite them back to our practice in Munich years later to discuss the healing outcome and assess the procedure’s results.

The presentation of before/after pictures on the Internet is prohibited in Germany for aesthetic operations. Please understand that we may only show you pictures during a personal consultation.

After general anaesthesia, you should stay at the hospital until you have mostly recovered. The time needed to recover varies greatly from patient to patient. Some leave the hospital after only one day, while others take a bit longer. We recommend that you stay at the hospital for two nights.

There is no definite answer to this question, since various factors, such as the patient’s age and lifestyle, external influences, the employed surgical technique, etc. play a role.

Put simply, it can be said that the rejuvenating effect of a facelift will make you look about 10 years younger and that you will keep this advantage for life.

• Intense pain after a facelift occurs relatively rarely; by contrast, a feeling of tension in the face is more common.
• Your face may be swollen directly after the surgery. The visible swelling will subside within 2 to 4 days. The hardly noticeable residual swelling will take somewhat longer to disappear, which is why the final result will only become visible after a few months. Any bruises will disappear after about 10 to 20 days.
• Your face may temporarily feel numb or fuzzy, which may last for half a year or even longer in extreme cases.

You will receive a sort of “timetable” for the further procedure, in addition to scheduling appointments for follow-up examinations and discussing special rules of conduct, among other things.

The dressing will be removed after a few days. Drains will be removed after one or two days, sutures after 5 to 10 days.

In the beginning, the follow-up examinations take place more frequently. Later on, an interval of several months is sufficient. We maintain long-term contact with our patients and ask them to come to our practice for a follow-up examination even years later.

A facelift is commonly performed under general anaesthesia, which means that you are put into a medically induced sleep by an anaesthetist. Less commonly, the procedure is performed under local anaesthesia, which means that your face is made numb by injecting analgesics. This method is often combined with the administration of a sedative substance that reduces anxiety and fear of the procedure while additionally inducing a twilight sleep. This is also done by the anaesthetist.

Most facelifts are performed at the age of 50 to 70 years, but younger women and men also increasingly decide to undergo this procedure.

The reason for this may be the increasing awareness of our body and appearance. Another major factor is the growing realization that, in younger patients, optimum results can be achieved with comparatively little surgical effort due to their favourable physiological tissue conditions, such as greater elasticity and tension of the skin.

However, the decision in favour of a facelift should be made based on the patient’s specific needs rather than age. Excessive weight loss can lead to premature ageing of the face even in young persons, when the previously strongly stretched skin is unable to contract to a sufficient extent, leaving excess skin behind.

After a facelift, varying degrees of swelling and bruising are to be expected, which will, however, completely subside after a few days in most cases. Postoperative bleeding may occur as well, but surgical intervention is only required in rare cases. Injuries of essential anatomical structures, such as the facial nerve (Nervus facialis), involving temporary failure of the mimetic muscles as well as circulatory disorders of the skin (occurs more often in smokers), are very rare complications of a facelift. The scar in front of the ear will fade a few weeks after the surgery and is then hardly visible.

• Lie and sleep on your back with your chest in elevated position and cool your face and eyes.
• Avoid any physical effort. Speak as little as possible and avoid exaggerated facial expressions. Eat liquid or soft foods.
• Wash your face carefully. During the first few days, only use clear water or mild shampoos for washing your hair.
• Avoid direct sunlight and sun beds for at least 3 months.
• Take at least 2 weeks before returning to work.
• Avoid any sporting activities, sauna and strenuous activities for 8 weeks after the surgery.

• Avoid medications that increase the tendency to bleed (e.g. medicines containing acetylsalicylic acid, such as aspirin or ASS) 15 days prior to the surgery.
• Stop smoking 2 weeks prior to the surgery! Smoking contributes to circulatory disorders and poor wound healing!
• If the surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, arrange for someone to pick you up at the hospital or practice after the surgery and to stay with you at home.
• Get a cooling mask or cold packs for use after the surgery.
• Wash your hair shortly before the surgery.

The surgery takes about 3 to 4.5 hours.

The fees range between 9,500 and 13,000 € plus anaesthesia and two days of inpatient stay, depending on the scope of the procedure. If the surgery is purely cosmetic (no medical indication), VAT of 19% is added to the costs.

Please understand that we are unable to provide any financing ourselves. However, MEDIPAY has been our reliable partner on this matter for many years now. You can find all the relevant information on our information page or by visiting www.medipay.de.

A cheek lift involves in particular smoothening the nasolabial fold and lifting the cheek contour. This procedure is particularly suitable if no excess skin needs to be removed.

This procedure is particularly suitable in the case of sagging excess skin or fatty tissue hanging down the chin, the corners of the mouth and the neck.

A facelift is not suitable to remove small wrinkles around the mouth. In this case, a laser treatment, exfoliation or dermabrasion can be helpful (for further information, see wrinkle treatment).