Definition of Facelift

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Facelift: A surgical procedure designed to make the face appear younger by pulling loose facial skin taut. With age or excessive sun exposure, wrinkled creased skin can develop on the face, neck or forehead along with fat deposits and folds around the jaws and jowls. While a facelift cannot stop the aging process, it may "turn back the clock" in appearance. Recovery time is usually 1 week, and the results last approximately 10 years. Additional procedures to supplement a facelift -- including necklift, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), liposuction, autologous fat injection, removal of buccal (cheek) fat pads, forehead lift, and browlift; chemical or laser peel; and malar (cheek), submalar, or chin implants -- may be necessary to achieve the desired results. Although they are infrequent, risks and complications of facelift surgery include bleeding; hematoma; bruising; infection; neurological dysfunction (loss of muscle function or sensation), which is usually temporary; widened or thickened scars; loss of hair around the incision site; asymmetry (unevenness between two sides); and skin necrosis (loss of skin due to tissue death).