As years go by, signs of aging of the skin and subcutaneous tissue become more prominent; they are most visible on the face. Reduced skin elasticity, tiny wrinkles, deepened natural folds of the face and changed contours of the face are recognized as the first visible aging signs. Apart from the natural processes, the influence of external factors, the most important being tobacco and the sun, is to be pointed out, as well. Of course, the way of living, and especially cosmetic care, can have a great impact on not only preventing, but also alleviating the first wrinkles and maintaining the skin quality. Facelift, that is, tightening of the face and neck skin, is performed when all other treatments of face and neck wrinkles by various cosmetic products and procedures have been exhausted.

Facelift is undoubtedly the central procedure in aesthetic surgery. It is the most common and the most important surgery on the aging face, and it belongs to rejuvenation procedures. Facelift is also the basis for any other surgical procedures on the face. As these changes are objective on the one hand, and subjective on the other, because each person perceives aging in a different way, it is very difficult to determine precisely on which person and when the surgery should be performed so that both the surgeon and the patient are satisfied. Extremely early requests for surgery are sometimes made by persons in their 20s, and those ones coming from the persons in their 70s and later are considered to be late, but not too late.

Facelift not only tightens the face, but also the neck skin, so this procedure changes the entire appearance of the face and neck. The best observed results are in the middle and lower third of the face, around the jaw line and on the neck. Wrinkles on the forehead and vertical lines above the upper lip cannot be successfully corrected by this procedure. If it is necessary to remove these changes, too, other surgical procedures are to be used.

The procedure lasts for 2-3 hours, depending on the scope of surgery. Bandages around the head and part of the face are removed 3-4 days after the surgery, and sutures are removed 5-7 days after that. Regular every-day activities may be resumed 7-14 days after the surgery. Sensory recovery of the face and ear skin occurs gradually over about one month, only exceptionally it takes a little bit longer. Typically, surgical scars are not noticeable, as they are hidden under the hair and behind the ears. Early results are visible already after 14 days, and final ones 6-12 months later.

Facelift is a very successful procedure today, and the rejuvenation effect lasts for about ten years or a little bit longer. After that period, the face still looks better than it would without the surgery. One must point out that, at the beginning, facelift was mostly performed on persons in their late 50s and 60s, so, in general, there was no need for another procedure later on. Today, however, facelift is performed on persons in their 40s more and more often, so that sometimes there is a motive to undergo another surgery 10 to 15 years later.