Procedure Description:

Is 80 Too Old for a Deep Plane Facelift? Gail’s Answer

Gail summed up her attitude when she said, “Age is just a number, and mine is unlisted.” And her outcome bears this out.

I met Gail more than ten years ago, in 2013. Then, her main concerns were her lower face and neck. She had a SMAS facelift and was very pleased with the result. But a SMAS facelift or traditional facelift doesn’t really move that layer, just fold the SMAS over itself. And over time, aging in her deep tissue led to descent of her midface, lower face and neck beyond what this procedure could correct.

This time, after looking at her skin and tissues, I did a Preservation Deep Plane Facelift and Neck Lift. I released some ligaments holding the deeper tissues of her neck, lower face and cheeks and moved them as a unit vertically. And I did it all under twilight sedation, without the need for general anesthesia.

This makes a difference for patients in their 70s and 80s. In general, a modern facelift combined with twilight sedation puts much less stress on the body than general anesthesia. With general anesthesia there is risk of cardiovascular stress, lingering fatigue and other complications in someone her age, a factor we weigh carefully given there’s no strict age limit for facelift surgery. So in many cases, this would be a better option for Gail than general anesthesia.

Five months after surgery, and at nearly 80, if you look at her before-and-after photos from age 67, they could just as well be taken in reverse order.