Facelift in Beverly Hills

How Are Facelift Procedures Customized?

In order to provide natural-looking, yet transformative results that blend perfectly with your unique features, Dr. Vallecillos carefully evaluates and balances a comprehensive range of factors. For example, your skin’s thickness and elasticity, fat distribution, muscle tone, facial symmetry, proportionality, and more are all unique to you and are crucial to consider when planning a facelift procedure. Experienced surgeons know how to adapt the procedure around these unique traits, which will affect the tissue depth at which the work is done, where the incisions are placed, where and how much fat grafting is required, and several other aspects of the procedure.

Finally, your input as the patient is just as important to our team at the office of Dr. Vallecillos as your presentation. As your partner and advocate throughout every step of the treatment process, we are here to deliver results that perfectly align with your vision, not cookie-cutter treatment plans. In order to maximize autonomy for each patient we work with, we establish that vision with you early on in the process by asking key questions. Are you looking for a more dramatic transformation or subtle refinement? Do you want your results to be obvious to others? How much downtime and recovery are you prepared for? Wherever you land on these points, Dr. Vallecillos will tailor the procedure to deliver the experience and the results you’re looking for.

Understanding Facelift Techniques: Deep Plane, SMAS, and More

Rapid refinement over the past two or three decades has dramatically increased both the options available to facelift patients and the results that facelifts can provide. What used to be a more simplistic skin-tightening procedure has evolved into an umbrella of multi-layered facial rejuvenation procedures.

For the most part, the two fixtures around which this evolution has occurred include SMAS and deep plane facelifts. While both of these approaches can provide striking, yet subtle results, they differ across several key dimensions, including the depth of tissue treated and the issues they address.

SMAS Facelifts Deliver Skin-Deep Rejuvenation

SMAS stands for Superficial Musculoaponeurotic System, which refers to a layer of connective tissue that lies between the more superficial layers of skin and the facial bones. The SMAS extends upwards from the neck (platysma muscle) to cover the cheeks and the forehead, dividing the superficial and deep fat layers.

An SMAS facelift operates at this tissue depth, tightening not only the skin, but this deeper layer of tissue to provide more effective, yet natural-looking results. One way to think of the SMAS facelift is as the middle ground between the more superficial “skin-only” approaches of the past and a deep plane facelift. Because the SMAS facelift approach reduces tension placed directly on the skin, patients enjoy minimal scarring and, comparatively, less downtime. As such, SMAS facelifts are ideal for patients looking to improve moderate signs of aging affecting the midface, jawline, and neck.

Deep Plane Facelifts Address More Advanced Signs of Aging

As the name implies, the deep plane facelift targets a deeper and more comprehensive range of tissues than the SMAS facelift. This approach lifts and rejuvenates the entire facial structure as a unified unit by repositioning muscle, skin, fat, and more. Patients with more significant volume descent, deeper facial folds, and other aging-related issues affecting the face benefit greatly from a deep plane facelift.

Though the deep plane facelift is regarded by most authorities as the gold standard in facial rejuvenation, it demands a high degree of surgical precision and dynamic understanding. Successfully implementing this approach requires the surgeon to not only understand each patient’s unique facial harmony, but how the patient’s unique facial expressions affect this harmony. Mastering this dynamic muscle-mapping component is one of several keys required to provide comprehensive, long-lasting, and effortlessly natural-looking results.

Other Facial Rejuvenation Techniques

As covered in more detail below, mini facelifts offer a less invasive option that typically targets earlier signs of aging affecting the lower third of the face, jawline, and neck areas. This procedure is often implemented as an early intervention for younger patients and/or those with less advanced skin laxity or other aging-related issues.

While not technically a “lift,” facial fat grafting is often integrated into various facelift techniques to restore lost volume for that full, refreshed, and youthful appearance. The amount of fat to be grafted and the location vary based on the patient’s presentation. Common fat grafting sites include the under-eye areas, the temples, and various locations within the midface area.

Who Is a Candidate for Facelift?

Though facelifts address a range of highly common aging-related issues affecting the mid-face, lower face, and neck, this doesn’t mean every patient presenting with one or more of these aesthetic concerns will be an ideal candidate. Facelifts treat moderate to advanced sagging skin, creases around the nose and mouth, volume loss, skin laxity, and more, but health status, skin type, and patient expectations must all be assessed and managed before moving forward with a treatment plan.

For example, patients with active skin infections, certain autoimmune disorders, poorly controlled chronic disease, or a history of low tolerance to anesthesia may not be well-suited for a facelift. Skin type also plays a pivotal role in how incisions heal, including the initial appearance and eventual fading of scars. Both skin elasticity and bone structure can affect both your eligibility for this treatment and the approach that Dr. Vallesillos takes to your tailored treatment.

Finally, establishing realistic expectations of what rhytidectomy can and can’t do is a vital part of the treatment process. In a one-on-one consultation, Dr. Vallecillos will provide both the information and the assurance you need to feel completely confident about your upcoming procedure.

“Dr. Vallecillos provided the assurance I needed to feel at ease. His pleasant demeanor and sense of humor, as well as his obvious professional passion and superior surgical acumen, made my overall experience one that exceeded all expectations.”

• – Joyce M.

How Is the Facelift Combined With Other Procedures?

While the facelift is one of the most comprehensive facial rejuvenation procedures available, it doesn’t address every single concern. Complementary surgical and nonsurgical procedures like Fraxel Laser, Fractora RF Microneedling, Blepharoplasty, and several others can significantly enhance and broaden your results when carefully integrated into a customized anti-aging treatment plan.

Fraxel Laser and Facelift

The Fraxel Laser Treatment platform uses fractional laser to gently, yet efficiently treat a variety of aesthetic concerns affecting the superficial and mid-dermal skin layers, including sun spots, age spots, fine lines, and more. For people who experience these issues alongside skin laxity and volume loss, pairing Fraxel with a facelift allows for a powerfully transformative approach. The facelift tightens and repositions underlying tissues, while the laser improves the quality and appearance of the superficial skin layers through collagen stimulation and other healing mechanisms.

Fractora RF Microneedling and Facelift

Already an innovative combination within itself, Fractora combines microneedling with radiofrequency energy to stimulate collagen production and the many benefits that come with it, including skin tightening, scar reduction, and rebalanced texture. Fractora tightens and firms up skin at the dermal level, smoothing out etched-in lines and other superficial concerns, while the facelift typically addresses deeper tissues. Fractora can also reach some areas that the facelift doesn’t treat as effectively, such as the under-eye regions.

Blepharoplasty and Facelift

The technical term for eyelid surgery, blepharoplasty can significantly enhance the ability of a facelift to produce a more refreshed, alert appearance. Upper blepharoplasty targets sagging skin and drooping eyelids, while lower blepharoplasty dramatically reduces the appearance of under-eye bags. The more pronounced these issues are, the more patients stand to benefit from combining blepharoplasty and facelift, as facelift alone may leave an unwanted contrast between the eyes and the treated areas.

Facelift and Other Procedures

Finally, facelifts can also be paired with neck liposuction, submental contouring (double chin liposuction), brow lift, and a number of other treatments to provide more tailored, comprehensive benefits. Whatever the plan entails, pairing treatments requires both the patient and the provider to revisit several key considerations, including timing, cost, follow-up scheduling, and downtime. If you’re considering a combined approach, Dr. Vallecillos will work with you to best accommodate all of your needs while delivering powerful, yet effortlessly natural results.

Facelift Recovery, Downtime, and Aftercare

It takes time for the results of facelift surgery to be fully visible. This surgical procedure comes with a gradual, multi-phase, yet increasingly short-lived recovery process. While every patient is slightly different in how their body responds to the procedure, knowing what to expect throughout each step of the recovery process provides a crucial confidence boost while empowering you with what you need to aid in your own recovery. Dr.

The Typical Facelift Recovery Process

In the 1-3 days immediately following your procedure, you will likely have a bandage and, possibly, a small surgical drain to prevent fluid accumulation. Typically, post-operative swelling peaks within the first two weeks and gradually subsides from there. Mild to moderate discomfort, tenderness, and tightness are also expected during this acute 2-week phase. Prescription or over-the-counter pain medication should be sufficient to keep any discomfort under control.

Towards the end of the second week, sutures and staples will likely be removed, and you may be encouraged to engage in very light activities, including walking. As swelling continues to resolve throughout weeks three and four, your results will begin to take shape. Any sensations of tightness you had will continue to fade, and many patients return to work or other public-facing activities during this middle phase.

As you progress through and beyond the second month of recovery, your results will continue to improve, and the swelling will completely resolve. By month six, your results should be finalized, and your rejuvenated contours settled. Incision lines may continue to fade for several months afterwards.

Facelift Aftercare

Always defer to your provider when establishing and updating your aftercare routine, as Dr. Vallecillos will provide you with personalized instructions to ensure you are comfortable and confidently informed about your own treatment and recovery, just like Isabel.

“I was afraid of the surgery and pain, but Dr. V assured me that he would take care of me. I followed the before and after care instructions and the recovery time was quick: within two weeks I was back to work.”

• – Isabel Rodriguez

To provide a general blueprint for context, the typical facelift aftercare routine includes the following steps:

• Sleep positioning – Most patients are recommended to sleep with their head elevated for at least 1-2 weeks following the procedure.
• Wound care and hygiene – This includes guidance on keeping incisions clean and dry, avoiding submerging your face in water, and only using approved topical products until cleared.
• Activity modification – Avoiding bending, heavy lifting, and high-intensity exercise for at least 3-4 weeks after your procedure is vital for safeguarding your results.

Additional aftercare practices commonly recommended to facelift patients include sun protection, scar management, and guidance on follow-up or complementary treatments.

Schedule Your Facelift Consultation With Dr. Vallecillos

Dr. Vallecillos is passionately committed to providing every patient with a truly meaningful, personalized facelift experience. This requires not only getting to know each patient’s aesthetic concerns, but to share in their vision for a more confident future. With that goal in mind, our team at the office of Dr. Vallecillos strives to establish a strong relationship with each patient.

When you’re ready to commit to a confidence-boosting treatment from an internationally renowned plastic surgery expert, contact us for a facelift consultation today.