These days, women and men who want to look younger have plenty of small-scale surgical options that can get very good results without the need for a full-scale traditional facelift. A mid-face lift creates targeted improvements around the cheeks and jowls, lifting tissues vertically, softening smile lines, refreshing facial hollows, and lifting loose tissues around the mouth to create a natural, fresh appearance. And unlike traditional facelift, most mid-face lift procedures are fairly quick in terms of surgery time and recovery.
Mid-face lift techniques vary depending on the surgeon, but the main focus of this procedure is the fat pad in the cheek, which naturally falls over time, creating sagginess below and hollows above. Surgery lifts this pad back into place, restoring fullness to the upper cheeks and smoothing out formerly saggy areas, resulting in a rejuvenated appearance. And unlike injectable options to restore facial fullness, a mid-face lift gives more permanent results.
Candidates for Mid-Face Lift
This technique is usually most effective for middle-aged and younger patients who want to correct early signs of aging but don’t yet have dramatic wrinkling at the neck or upper face, and don’t require more extensive correction for loose excess skin.
You may be an ideal candidate for a mid-face lift if you:
- Have heaviness below your cheeks
- Have hollowness beneath your eyes
- Seek moderate improvement in the mid-face area, such as nasolabial “parenthesis” lines around the mouth
- Want to avoid the downtime and recovery involved in a full facelift
One benefit of a mid-face lift procedure: it involves minimal incisions around the ear and hairline, and can typically be completed in around 2 hours of surgery time. The two-hour procedure involves tightening just the muscles of the mid-face, repositioning the natural fat deposits around the cheekbones, and trimming away a small amount of excess skin. Stitches and incisions are minimal, but the procedure still targets some of the top-priority areas of a normal facelift, even though healing and recovery are typically much faster than with a full facelift.
Dr. Berkowitz is a board-certified, fellowship-trained oculofacial surgeon focusing on advanced cosmetic surgery procedures to enhance and restore the face. With over 16 years of experience in facial surgery specifically, Dr. Berkowitz has an extensive background in both cosmetic and reconstructive procedures to correct an extensive range of concerns ranging from the natural damage of aging to highly specialized procedures to correct for burns and injuries.
