Procedure Description:

Am I Too Old for a Facelift?

Anita knew age was no barrier for her. At 69, recently retired, she still had plenty of energy from her earlier life, but increasingly her own reflection let her down. “No exercise that I know of will improve my turkey neck,” she said. As a result, strangers would often assume she was tired, even though that wasn’t the case.

For many patients in their 70s, it doesn’t matter which lift they choose. More important is whether they could safely have one. And here, twilight sedation is key. With general anesthesia, the heart, lungs and cognitive function are all under stress. And as we age, this stress increases. With twilight sedation, however, the patient can breathe for themselves during the surgery. More importantly, they would not be left feeling drowsy for hours afterward (often a side effect of general anesthesia in older patients). And they’d recover more quickly. In some patients over 70, whether they could safely undergo extensive facial rejuvenation would depend on whether they had general or twilight sedation.

Dr. Sadati performed a deep plane face and neck lift, fractional CO2 laser resurfacing, lower blepharoplasty and facial fat grafting. All were done under twilight sedation. She was candid about the recovery: the first week was more intense than she’d anticipated, but with adherence to our recovery regimen, difficulties resolved within a week and she was ready for public exposure within two weeks. Six months later, in this before and after facelift photos, she looks rejuvenated, heart-shaped, with an undetectable facelift.

And for the first time in a while, her eyes shone. “I don’t think I look pulled or overdone,” she says. “I just feel refreshed. And I think I look like the person I feel on the inside.” She thinks she looks more like 20 years younger.