Guide:

• What Is The Best Age For Mini Facelift?
• Signs You Need A Mini Facelift
• What Is The Best Age For A Full Facelift?
• How Many Years Does A Mini Facelift Take Off?
• How Do I Know If A Mini Facelift Is Right For Me?

What Is The Best Age For Mini Facelift?

The mini facelift, also known as the short-scar facelift, effectively addresses sagging skin in the chin, jawline, and neck areas, rejuvenating the lower face for a more youthful appearance. By repositioning the dermis and underlying soft tissues within the mid to lower face and along the jawline, the mini lift can benefit people experiencing early signs of skin laxity and jowls.

During this alternative to the traditional facelift, Dr. Kaplan creates shorter incisions at the hairline by the temples and around the ears. With shorter incisions and a less invasive procedure, the mini facelift involves about half the recovery time of a full facelift. The results are less dramatic, so the American Society of Plastic Surgeons says this procedure is only ideal for patients with minimal skin relaxation.

According to RealSelf, for most people, the best age for a mini facelift is in your mid to late 40s, as this is when sagging skin in the midface and along the jawline becomes more pronounced. People age according to their clock, so there’s no set age for someone to get any specific cosmetic procedure, including the mini facelift. Patients in their early 30s are having mini lifts recently to prevent aging or to tweak early signs of aging.

If you’re in your 20s and already noticing aging changes on your face, there’s likely no need to jump into surgical facial rejuvenation. You can improve upon superficial fine lines, mild volume loss, and early skin laxity around your jawline with noninvasive treatments like dermal fillers, Botox, and energy-based skin tightening treatments. 

You may be in mini facelift procedure territory if facial aging in your lower face is too minor to require extensive surgery but injectables or energy treatments are no longer effective in producing your desired result. If the sagging and volume loss is more advanced, you may be better suited for a traditional (SMAS) facelift. If you’re worried about skin laxity below the chin and along the neck, you may want to look into a full face and neck lift to achieve your goals.

Mini facelift candidates are typically in their late 30s to early 50s hoping to address early sagging in their jowls and other skin laxity concerns in the lower face. Best mini facelift results address mild to moderate signs of an aging face, so we usually reserve this less invasive face lift procedure for patients in their younger years who are just starting to notice facial aging signs.

Signs You Need A Mini Facelift

If you’re noticing any of the following aging changes, it may be time for a mini facelift:

• Early signs of saggy jowls
• Loss of definition along your chin and jawline
• Excess, sagging skin and fine lines around your mid to lower face
• Mild to moderate loss of youthful volume in your face that has progressed too far for fillers to address, but isn’t quite severe enough for a full facelift 

The mini facelift may be the perfect solution if you have some of the changes above but still have enough elasticity in your skin and want to rejuvenate your appearance without the downtime, cost, or recovery involved with a full facelift. 

What Is The Best Age For A Full Facelift?

The type of facelift someone needs at different life stages varies based on factors such as the extent of skin laxity, deep creases, and jowling they experience at each decade of life.

While the best age for a mini facelift tends to be when you’re younger, a full facelift is typically ideal for someone in their mid-50s, with a secondary lift in their mid to late 60s to touch up their results. While the traditional facelift usually lasts about a decade, results can last 15 years or more for certain patients, so it’s not uncommon for people to have a refresher facelift in their 70s.

The best age for a full facelift is different for everyone, as it depends on when and what signs of aging you experience, your goals, and at what age you feel comfortable undergoing cosmetic surgery.

While patients in the past waited until their 50s or 60s to get a facelift because there were no less invasive surgical alternatives, patients in their 30s and 40s can postpone the need for a full lift thanks to the innovation of the mini lift. The development of more advanced nonsurgical treatments has also helped patients go longer without major surgical interventions.

How Many Years Does A Mini Facelift Take Off?

You’re probably wondering, is this less invasive alternative to the full facelift worth it? How much younger will a mini facelift make me look? While the results differ for everyone depending on their plastic surgeon’s techniques, the degree of their concerns going into surgery, and their overall skin quality, most of Dr. Kaplan’s patients feel they look 5-10 years younger after their mini lift.

How Do I Know If A Mini Facelift Is Right For Me?

To help you decide if a mini facelift is right for you we’ve compiled a list of pros and cons of this short-scar facelift surgery.

Pros:

• As local or twilight anesthesia is used over general anesthesia in most mini facelift cases, you won’t have to worry about the risk of any complications associated with anesthesia. You should be able to leave your plastic surgeon’s office shortly after your procedure.
• Your recovery time after a mini facelift would be about half the time of a SMAS facelift. A traditional facelift requires a 3-4 week recovery period. For mini facelift patients, this may be less than a week. Some patients can get a mini lift on a Friday and resume work and their normal routine by Monday, hence the name some surgeons have deemed this the “weekend facelift.”
• While light bruising and swelling are normal, mini facelifts involve significantly less pain during recovery than a full facelift. 
• If you’re not ready to invest in the cost of a traditional facelift, the mini facelift is a less expensive option to restore your youthful face.
• Being a less complex procedure, the short-scar facelift has a lower risk of infection and other possible complications associated with facelift surgery.
• It can help you achieve a more youthful, sculpted jawline and lower face, tighten up slightly loose skin, diminish fine lines and wrinkles, and improve mild volume loss.

Cons:

• Results after a mini facelift don’t last as long as a full facelift. Mini facelift results typically last 5-7 years, while traditional facelift results last 10 to 15 years or more before you may need to consider a secondary procedure.
• The improvements after a mini lift are less dramatic than a more advanced procedure, so it may be more worthwhile for some people to proceed with a full facelift.
• The mini facelift doesn’t address aging changes such as drooping skin along the neck or any area above the midface.

To find out your best age for a mini facelift, request a consultation with NJ and NY board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Gordon Kaplan, who specializes in facial rejuvenation.