DR. MATTIA COLLI SURGEON
0%
Close Preloader Screen
Logo-mattia-colli-web

FACELIFT

FACE LIFT – RITIDECTOMY

The facelift, whose technical term is ritidectomy, is the ideal intervention to rejuvenate the facial tissues and give that freshness and harmony that the face has lost with the natural aging process. The facelift eliminates skin laxity and wrinkles, facial features rejuvenate without changing the expression or its physiognomy.

Both in men and women, with the natural process of aging that determines a reduced production of elastin – a determining factor for the tone and elastic return of the tissues – there is a sagging of the cheek, neck and very often also of the temples, which determines numerous wrinkles and skin folds (the most evident is the one called nasogenian,  that is a long groove that from the side of the nose continues to the lateral part of the chin determining numerous folds and skin wrinkles near the mouth). Some factors then such as excessive sun exposure, an incorrect diet, weight changes and pregnancy accelerate the process of senile decay and the face takes on a weighted, tired, exhausted expression.

WHAT IS FACE LIFTING FOR

WHY CHOOSE DR. MATTIA COLLI

The face lifting surgery consists in repositioning the “sagging” and loose skin tissues following harmonic and natural traction lines, rejuvenating the face and giving a fresh and relaxed expression.  The technique involves a restoration of the correct position not only of the skin but also of a particular support tissue called in technical terms SMAS (superficial aponeurotic muscle system) which allows obtaining a softer and more harmonious traction and guarantees a lasting result over the years.

FACE LIFTING: WHO IS IT RECOMMENDED FOR?

FACE LIFT SURGERY IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL PATIENTS WHO HAVE A TIRED, WEIGHTED AND AGED FACE AS A WHOLE. IT IS PARTICULARLY INDICATED IN MEN AND WOMEN WHO PRESENT:

 
  • sharp and noticeable relaxation of the cheek or neck or temples
  • excess adipose tissue with soft and relaxed skin
  • sagging of the whole face due to weight loss or post-pregnancy
  • great discomfort in being aged and difficulty in liking oneself
  • self-realization and increased self-esteem

FACE LIFT – WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE SURGERY

PREPARATION FOR FACE LIFT SURGERY

 

Before the face lift surgery, all the blood and ECG tests listed and proposed during the first visit must be carried out. In all clinical cases, tailor-made garments are designed for the face made for each patient.  Numerous pre-operative images will be made for the planning of an increasingly personalized therapeutic path.

 

FACE LIFT – SURGICAL TECHNIQUE

 

There are numerous variations in the technique of performing face lifting. During the visit with the surgeon you will be shown the ideal technique to obtain the best result.

By Dr. Mattia Colli the clinical case is analyzed both in a static and dynamic position; the expression remains preserved and can be rejuvenated, without noticing surgery.

read more

This goal is achieved with a high level of surgery: anatomical lines are abandoned according to rectilinear tractions that make the intervention recognizable and only curvilinear, soft tractions are implemented and carried out, which allow the skin tissues to easily adapt to the profile of the jaw and the zygomatic area. In this way you will obtain a young and harmonious face.

The procedure is carried out by means of an incision that in the anterior side of the face remains hidden inside the ear and that extends into the upper portion inside the hair (temporal fossa); even the front side the incision remains well hidden behind the ear and inside the hair.

We place great importance on the millimeter placement of scars, so much so that it was decided to abandon the classic technique of incision in front of the ear because it is very visible and an indication of psychological discomfort for the patient as a sign of recognition of the surgery performed.

At this point the surgeon separates the tissues and repositions them in the correct place according to different tractions; the high level of natural results is due to the different surgical traction lines: the neck and the mandibular “C” (mandibular contour) are put into traction with a certain energy, while as you climb towards the zygomatic arch, the traction is greatly reduced to prevent the face from being in the “wind tunnel”. Very often, if the surgical indication proposes it and if it is appreciated and requested by the patient, in the pre-operative phase, the temporal region is also put in traction in order to give a more relaxed and open look.

 

FACE LIFT – MEDICAL SURGICAL EXAMINATION

 

The surgeon visits the patient explaining and showing the areas of sagging of the face to be repositioned according to different lines of traction and that give a harmonious result. Subsequently, it verifies the degree of elasticity of the skin: based on the changes required, the surgeon must evaluate the degree of skin retraction in order to explain in a completely transparent way to the patient what result can be obtained.

By Dr. Mattia Colli the patient is listened to in detail in order to draw up a program: in this phase the Surgeon, in addition to expressing in detail, responds to all the doubts expressed by the patient and limits, where necessary, unrealistic requests.

The skin with reduced elasticity due to rapid weight loss or natural aging, with wrinkles and skin folds, is led to obtain optimal surgical results, if the manual skill of the Surgeon acts on a deep plane (therefore more difficult for those who work) in order to put the superficial muscle band (SMAS) back into traction.

The face lift should not be understood as a procedure to change facial features in a radical way but rather the way for natural rejuvenation in those areas where hyaluronic acid fillers and tensor threads can no longer give satisfactory results and the patient wants something definitive and lasting.

If the patient’s expectations of the outcome sought by the surgery are unrealistic, the procedure will not be performed at all.

FACE LIFT – ANESTHESIA

Dr. Mattia Colli has decided to abandon general anesthesia with its dangers: surgical interventions are performed with the most modern anesthesiological techniques of deep sedation (local anesthesia + intravenous anesthesia), so that fear and the sensation of pain are completely canceled while the unconscious is invaded by dreams and pleasant images.

Local anesthesia occurs by introducing anesthetic into the anatomical areas to be treated in order to effectively eliminate the sensation of pain. The insertion of this solution, called tumescent, also takes place with a vasoconstrictor (adrenaline) to avoid bleeding, because it reduces the blood supply in the area to be treated allowing the operating surgeon to work at his best and in a delicate way, managing to eliminate a greater amount of fat.

read more

Another advantage is to have an immediate return to social life without having to endure classic situations of fatigue, dizziness and exhaustion typical of the disposal of general anesthesia drugs.

The time for an accurate and well-performed facelift surgery is about 2h. Usually the operation ends with the closure of the surgical wounds and with a compression dressing to be kept for at least 48 hours until the next change of dressings, planned by the Surgeon and his team. In rare cases, two drains are applied that remain in place for about 24 hours in order to drain the liquids more quickly. Both the technique performed and the anesthesia is  scheduled during the preliminary visit with the surgeon.

FACELIFT – POST-OPERATIVE

After removal of dressings it is normal to see swelling of the eyelids and other areas of the face. After the face lift surgery, a special compression dressing is applied with a bandage around the head to be removed about 48h later, exclusively by the Surgeon or his team. After this period of time, the patient will wear the custom-made bandage, specially designed for the next 24h – 48h, after which the Surgeon evaluates the healing of the tissues and can decide to leave the patient without bandages and dressing, but with the simple cleaning and disinfection of surgical wounds.

There is no pain in the face lift surgery, but the inflammatory discomforts it entails are concentrated at the level of the ears, which will appear red, hard and very sensitive in the first days of healing. At Dr. Mattia Colli, the patient is prescribed and provided with all pharmacological treatments, from antibiotic to anti-edema prevention and the indications that the surgeon provides at the time of discharge.

read more

Sports or particularly heavy activities should be avoided during the healing period because it is essential not to sweat to allow the surgical flaps to heal. The most significant swelling will go away within a week, and during this period it is best to omit stress on the areas of the face put under traction. Any bruising will stagnate in the lower neck but not in the face.

In this phase, however, it is possible to gradually resume work and normal light activities: intravenous sedation in fact allows, compared to general anesthesia, an immediate return to social life with the elimination of drugs from the body a few minutes after the end of the operation. In the first days, dark glasses and scarves are recommended to hide the slight swelling.

It is advisable to sleep in a straight supine position with two or three pillows under the head; the lying position taken at night in fact redistributes body fluids by transporting them from the legs to the face (which is why many people get up in the morning with swollen eyes and enlarged bags). In the first hours of the post-operative course, it should be avoided to further inflate the inflammatory tissues to facilitate excellent healing of the scars and not to tension the sutures.

SMOKING AND COSMETIC SURGERY OF THE FACE

If the patient smokes, they will need to eliminate or reduce smoking, at least one week before surgery and for at least the next additional 10 days to prevent nicotine-related risks. Smoking causes a decrease in the lumen of the blood vessels through which blood flows which carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, eliminating the waste products of cellular metabolism. Nicotine therefore reduces the normal blood supply to the skin of the face. Eliminating smoking allows a perfect healing; vice versa it is good to know that among chronic smokers, who do not stop in view of the intervention, necrosis (death) of the skin occurs near the incisions.

read more

SECONDARY FACE LIFT

 

A high-level facelift surgery lasts an average of about ten years, because human skin and tissues continue to age following the natural course of their genetic program. A second facelift surgery is not uncommon, and is often scheduled to correct areas of the face where you did not intervene the first time and which appear unnaturally more relaxed than in other neighboring areas. The second face lifting operation therefore serves to better balance the results of the first by configuring a harmonious set of the face without focal areas of tissue sagging.

The extension of the second facelift depends on the extension of the first and on how natural the outcomes are: a facelift of greater surgical difficulty such as the deep facelift, which sees the traction of the SMAS superficial muscular system, needs over the years only a retouching; those who have carried out a face lift only with the traction of the skin, after a few years will need a more complete intervention.

 

FACE LIFT REASSURANCES

 

It is good to remember that this type of surgical intervention is carried out on the face, an extremely delicate area.

It is good to be informed in depth by the surgeon of the technique used and also of his experience increased over the years and can be shown for this purpose of photos and surgical cases of surgical interventions already carried out.

 

FACE LIFT TIPS

 

It is important to keep in mind that an economic quantification for this type of intervention is strongly discouraged: it is very likely that the technique used is the superficial one and that in the following years it will be necessary to re-intervene to give a harmonious and natural balance in the areas of the face where it has not previously intervened in an optimal way. The sum of these small interventions is much greater than a high-quality deep face lift that lasts over the years. The combination of several techniques in a single surgical session guarantees a certain economy of time, since there will be a single post-operative period of recovery.

 

ALTERNATIVES TO FACE LIFTING AND COMPLEMENTARY METHODS

A complete plan of facial rejuvenation includes, in addition to the face lifting intervention, also other less invasive but complementary methods: the face lift in fact eliminates the relaxation of the skin along the neck and the margins of the jaw, along the “puppet lines” (also known as marionette lines)that descend from the corners of the mouth to the sides of the chin (labio-jugal furrows),  along the skin depressions that descend from the sides of the nose to the corners of the mouth), acts against the sagging and relaxed cheeks and the flattening of the zygomatic regions, but does not affect the eyebrows and eyes.

During the surgical examination, the surgeon evaluates the state of the tissues and their traction, making it clear and demonstrating to the patient the harmonious and natural result of a fresh and young face. Often many patients require a greater rejuvenation than the one proposed to them that obliges them to carry out other complementary techniques in order to balance the whole face in a natural and harmonious way: an example is blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) or eyebrow lifting.

At Dr. Mattia Colli, pre-operative planning is a fundamental part of the patient’s decision-making process together with the Surgeon: futile surgeries are never sold but always motivated by a focused and purposeful goal. The patient who wants a strong rejuvenation is free to choose to also undergo a blepharoplasty even after a certain period of lifting time, although it is not recommended.

The patient’s case is studied and programmed thanks to numerous HD and 3D images and usually the rejuvenation of the face involves the lifting of the central part and the neck, in order to make the whole face harmonious and balance as a whole without leaving focal areas of sagging. The detail of the small, but still present initial asymmetries, is exasperated in order to achieve an enviable result.

In the vast majority of cases, the face lift totally erases skin wrinkles caused by tissue sagging and gravity, but partly improves the qualitative appearance of those due to aging, sun damage and incorrect diet; this relaxes and minimizes the deep folds, while on the surface its action is largely limited, not acting on the structure of the dermis impoverished by age.

Necessary to improve and correct the quality of the skin are modern regenerative medicine techniques (PRP and stem cells from adipose tissue), biorevitalizing treatments with hyaluronic acid fillers, botox and peeling that can be performed after complete healing from the face lift surgery.

Peeling, reducing the layer of superficial dead cells (stratum corneum of the skin) leads to a smooth and even skin, attenuates small intra-epidermal scars and removes skin spots.  Hyaluronic acid fillers compact the skin making it more toned and can fill depressed or atrophic skin areas due to aging characterizing volume and roundness.

Botulinum injections (botox) smooth out expression lines destined to form from facial expressions.

The combination of all these complementary techniques to the face lift configures an optimal strategy to enhance effective and admirable results.

FACE LIFT — RESULTS

lifting-volto-risultati-1024x683

1 Step 1
Informativa Privacy
keyboard_arrow_leftPrevious
Nextkeyboard_arrow_right