Facelifts: Sooner Rather than Later?
In the January issue of Vogue Magazine, Contributing Editor, Dodie Kazanjian writes her personal account titled “About Face†to discuss whether she is ready for a facelift. Prompted to scan the article by my wife Lindsay, who is also the editor of our blog, I decided to post my ideas about when it might be appropriate to consider having a facelift.
Conventional thinking is to consider having a facelift when changes in your face begin to bother you. The author quotes Dr. Patricia Wexler, the New York dermatologist to the stars as saying, “If you do a facelift in your 40’s, you are thrilled. If you do it in your 50’s, you wonder why you waited. But if you have a facelift in your 60’s, you say, ‘Why did I bother?’
There is actually some science behind those comments. Patients that opt to have a facelift to address facial aging in their 40’s are generally very pleased with the subtle change, often described as looking refreshed. Facial anatomy responds well to the surgery and healing requires minimal downtime. More of my patients seem to fall into this category lately.
Some of my patients choose to go the filler and Botox route to buy some extra time before considering a facelift. Most of these patients quickly tire of the repeat injections and consider a more permanent fix after a couple cycles, but some are quite satisfied with the routine.
Bottom Line: When is the right time for a facelift?
More tomorrow.
