A weekend facelift refers to a less invasive technique to attempt to elevate sagging facial tissues.
The procedure could refer to a variety of techniques, but overall will likely have less dramatic effects. For advanced facial aging, there is no replacement for a facelift.
Many patients notice that as they age their facial tissues descend. Their face decreases in volume and wrinkles become more pronounced. Folds develop and run from the nose down to the jaw line (nasolabial fold, marionette line).
Some tissues may descend below the mandible and cause jowling. A facelift involves making an incision around the ear, lifting the skin, and re-elevating these descended facial tissues. It treats the problem of descended tissue at its source.
Weekend Facelift Is Generally More Common Than A Full Facelift
A properly perform facelift should add volume to the cheekbone area, soften the nasolabial fold, improve jowling, and remove excess skin. Facelift’s are also typically combined with surgical rejuvenation of the neck. Excess fat from the neck is removed, cords of the platysma muscle are divided, and excess skin is removed.
Volume loss of the face is common in patients who would benefit from a facelift. At the time of the facelift, fat can be taken from the hip and injected into the face to provide long-lasting volume.
This fat is commonly injected into the malar area and nasolabial fold. Fat can also be injected into other areas of volume loss. This may include the brow area, temporal area, tear trough, etc. Other procedures can be performed at the time of a facelift.
Weekend Facelift Is Primarily Designed To Assist In The Correction Of Any Wrinkles And Sagging
These commonly include upper and/or lower eyelid surgery, brow lift, or full face laser. Regardless of which procedures are right for you, it’s important to meet with multiple surgeons to hear their opinions on how to obtain your goals.
A facelift is a great technique to rejuvenate the face and neck in properly selected patients. (Austin Hayes, MD, Portland Plastic Surgeon)
A weekend facelift is usually a skin only facelift (the SMAS is not worked on). Healing is faster, (but the longevity of the results and the extent of improvement is less). Consult in person with an experienced and expert board certified plastic surgeon so you can fully understand your options. (Kris M. Reddy, MD, FACS, West Palm Beach Plastic Surgeon)
This is a very old term that was developed in the late 1990’s that referred tio agressive liposuction of the neck combined with CO2 treatment of the undersurface of the skin. There were many complications with this procedure and it was abandoned.
Weekend Lift Addresses The Jaw Line And The Lines From The Corners Of The Mouth To The Chin
The term has now developed a generic meaning and is applied to any mini facelift procedure that is performed and has the potential for minimal downtime. The truth is that few effective procedures have a minimal down time. (Otto Joseph Placik, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)
The weekend facelift or mini facelift has been a term used to describe facelifts for the last 20 years. Initially, these lifts were ineffective skin only lifts where patients had modest improvements at best. However, not all evolutions of the minilift are ineffective.
Here are some versions which may be beneficial to your
- Deep plane lift with a short scar approach– Some surgeons have adopted techniques to include deep facelift principles to create a more robust lift with a limited scar. This allows for the patient to have a more robust facelift and can limit downtime. Most patients will not be healed over a weekend with this approach.
- Facetite/Necktite – This is a novel device from Inmode where patients can have visible contracture of skin by using a probe which is placed under the skin. While not as much lift can be created with such a device, the downtime can be minimal for some patients. The minilift is not going to go anywhere, anytime soon.
The goal for surgeon and patient alike is for patients who opt for less invasive approaches to receive enough benefits to coincide with less downtime. (Anil R. Shah, MD, Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon)
Many Any facelift that is associated with marketing describing how quickly the surgery can be done, or how fast the recovery is must be treated with caution.
Whilst there are a wide range of facelift techniques available, it is key that the most appropriate technique is chosen for the right person.
This should not be decided on speed alone !I would always recommend seeing a properly accredited plastic surgeon with experience of a range of facelift techniques, who can perform the right operation for you, giving you the best, most natural and longest lasting results. (Marc Pacifico, MD, FRCS(Plast), London Plastic Surgeon)
The weekend lift is referring to a quicker recovery. Typically a shorter recovery means a less invasive approach. You want a reasonable recovery but not no recovery since a shortcut approach leads to a shortcut result. (Justin Yovino, MD, FACS, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)
If the lift has an incision it can’t be a “weekend” lift.
Wrinkles And Sagging Around The Lower Portion Of The Face
Most “weekend” lifts have an incision of some kind around the ear with some minimal skin elevation. This is going to cause some swelling and bruising no matter what you are told. Usually it takes a week to heal, the results of these mini lifts are disappointing and short lived.
Some doctors do a filler only facial rejuvenation and call it a weekend lift. Fillers don’t really lift but they do have minimal downtime. (Ivan Wayne, MD, Oklahoma City Facial Plastic Surgeon)