Mini Facelift
The mini facelift is a new surgery with many names and variations all with the purpose of creating a rejuvenated lower face and neck with minimal downtime, lower expense, and less of the typical signs of facelifting. The mini is performed using local anesthesia which also has the advantage of little-to-no bleeding, less swelling and bruising, and no drains.
In full facelifting, or rhytidectomy, there is deeper dissection which runs a greater risk of nerve damage and usually the under tissue is pulled very tightly causing the typical obvious look of a face lift. The mini facelift procedure does not go through this deeper tissue, but calls for purse-string sutures into the outer portion while the excess skin is removed. This gives a nice upper neck and jawline and softens the cheek fold while avoiding the risk of nerve damage and the stigmata of the typical facelift.
There are no dressings required, no drains and since the procedure is performed without knockout anesthesia, the patient can walk out of the office fifteen minutes after the surgery. The expected recovery time to reasonable activity is about five days.
