Are You a Good Candidate for a Facelift?

Reviewed by Scott R. Miller, MD, FACS

Aging can create the appearance of sagging lax facial skin. Creases can appear and deepen in certain places, especially between the nose and mouth. Aging, gravity, sun exposure, and stress contribute to these processes. Facelift surgery (rhytidectomy) can refresh your appearance in all of these areas by reducing sagging and laxity in the facial area.

Best Candidates for Facelift Surgery

The best facelift candidates are patients whose skin appears to be lax or sagging. A strong jaw line or well-defined bone structure may also help improve the results of a facelift. Patients in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are the most common facelift patients, but others in their 70s and 80s have had successful surgeries as well. Alternatively, younger patients may want to consider less invasive skin lifts or mini facelifts.

Expectations of Facelift Surgery

Facelift surgery can make you look younger and fresher by improving the appearance of the face. A facelift, like any cosmetic plastic surgery, may also boost your self-confidence and improve the way others interact with you, but that is not the purpose of the procedure. A healthy facelift procedure is designed to make you "look good for your age" and provide a rejuvenated facial appearance.

Some degree of facial rejuvenation will be permanent, improving laxity and sagging of the face, but some wrinkles may not be resolved with surgery. Particularly, more superficial wrinkles are less likely to be improved by the facelift procedure. (See the section "Facelift Does Not Affect All Facial Areas" for more on these difficult areas.) Results will vary with age, race, sex, weight, type of skin, previous exposure to sun, and other factors.

Consult a Facelift Surgeon

The best candidates for facelift plastic surgery fully understand the procedure and have talked about their goals and expectations with a board-certified plastic surgeon.

The surgeon can show you photos of other patients who have had facelift surgery to give you a better idea of what to expect.

It is important to understand what the surgeon proposes to do and why the proposed technique is the right choice for you. Discussing risks, goals, cost, and other treatment options will help you and your surgeon decide if you are a good candidate for a facelift.

[page updated May 2008]