Procedures
Midface Lift

Lifting the Middle Third of the Face to Restore Natural Youthfulness - The Weekend Lift

One of the earliest signs that men and women are maturing is that the middle third of the face droops with gravity. A less vibrant, sad, or mad look results as the cheek fat pad droops over the folds that travel from the nose to the mouth and from the mouth to the jaw. The face seems to thin out, and cheek structure is lost.

Before After

Patients are perceived as tired, angry, or depressed--even though they are active and happy. Often, patients note that people treat them differently, both at work and in a social environment.

These changes are stubborn and resistant to treatment, and begin in the 30's. Collagen, fat transfers, and even facelift techniques do not fully correct these changes. Often treatments and surgery to reduce this middle third sag produce a stretched or unnatural look. Or there  are risks that are significant.

Now an easy method to naturally correct this middle third of the face sag is available. Four suture loops--two on each side of the face--are placed through needle holes into the sagging cheek fat pads. These suture loops are then passed with a needle into the temple and adjusted.

The sagging fat pad is lifted upward, carrying the face with it. The cheek is restored and the sagging folds are reduced with this simple procedure, performed under local anesthesia.

The procedure may be performed alone, or it may be performed in conjunction with other larger or minimally invasive procedures. Often, it is all that a younger patient, a patient with good skin and/or high cheekbones, or a patient who needs a facelift tune-up requires. Patients may wish to change this aspect of their appearance and address other concerns at another time as well.

The Weekend Lift can produce significant improvement. In the more mature patient (48-75) with a great deal of mid face sagging, the result can appear dramatic.

The quick recovery makes these patients some of the most enthusiastic for the procedure.

Younger patients (38-52) will notice outstanding changes. There is usually a more subtle result in these patients because they have not aged as much. However, these patients age first in the mid face area and are quite happy that something short of a facelift can dramatically improve their problems with sagging in the nose to lip folds and from the mouth to chin folds. Often these patients have used collagen or other fillers (softform, Gore-tex, fat). They have passed the first milestone in the aging process and wish to appear as they did prior to that milestone.

Older patients (62-85) who have had previous facelifts (or who have good skin elasticity and have not had a facelift) may find that the Weekend Lift fits their needs for facial rejuvenation. The improvement in the face can achieve the desired goals without the need to repeat the full facelift process.

Often patients who have "lost their cheeks" with aging are advised to have fat injections or cheek implants. Many of these people can avoid repeated fat injections or implants and achieve better results with less recovery with the 72-hour procedure. The 72-hour procedure can also improve the results of the implants or fat injections in patients who have had or are considering these procedures.

The weekend Lift may be performed in a way that there are only needle mark insertion areas in the visible skin and small (2 cm.) incisions in the hair of the temple.

It produces a natural, "restorative" type of improvement.

For patients who wish to extend the indications for the long weekend facelift to include more extensive jowl removal and some neck work, an "open technique" may be used. In this instance, the closed technique is combined with a neck lift or a mini lift. Often the combination of the closed technique and these more limited procedures can produce a result that is superior to a skin and muscle style of facelift (SMAS facelift) without the longer recovery.

If there is a great excess of sagging skin, more extensive facelift procedures  may be performed. The combination of the suprafibromuscular facelift with the closed technique procedure can produce a result that is dramatically superior and longer lasting in the mid face than the previously used "deep plane techniques" that were formerly used to maximize the result in the mid face.

If you have questions about your suitability for these procedures, please contact us for a free consultation.

We will describe more about this dramatic technological advance which enables us to provide better results with less risk and recovery time at your consultation.