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Key Points
- Small lifts or "shortcut facelifts" may not be sufficient for advanced aging, surgeon says
- Techniques that do not include posterior auricular incision can result in less favorable results and longevity, according to surgeon
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Dr. Niamtu
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There is an ever-growing popularity among physicians and their patients in the use of minimally invasive facelift surgery techniques. However, these supposedly new and innovative techniques will often prove to be insufficient in achieving comprehensive and lasting results in patients. In fact, one surgeon says the majority of patients would benefit most from traditional facelift procedures.
"In my opinion, the vast majority of the purported new and innovative facelift techniques, which are frequently used today and touted as 'miracle facelifts,' are mostly just hype, and I have yet to see any of these 'new' facelift techniques to be truly an innovation in facelift surgery. More often than not, they are, in fact, a step backwards," says Joe Niamtu III, D.M.D., F.A.A.C.S., a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon with a practice limited to cosmetic facial surgery in Richmond, Va.
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A 63-year-old female patient before (left) before and 90 days after a traditional facelift procedure that included SMASectomy and platysmaplasty, as well as an upper blepharoplasty. (All photos credit: Joe Niamtu III, D.M.D., F.A.A.C.S.)
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Facelift surgery has been around for a century, and most of the variations in the techniques have come and gone without making a significant impact in the art or the outcomes of the procedure, Dr. Niamtu says. Though it is not impossible for a surgeon or corporate entity to develop an advancement in the procedure, more often than not, the newer techniques are simply a rehashing of older techniques, and they hardly ever achieve the results that they claim, he adds.
