Mini face lift or soft face and neck lift
The mini face Lift (mini-lift, soft-lift or French Lift) is a minimally invasive, gentle and modern cosmetic surgery technique.
It is intended for patients with an onset of sagging skin on the face, lower face or neck.
A mini face Lift makes it possible to obtain spectacular results in terms of facial rejuvenation while retaining a natural appearance (the features are not drawn). The appearance is that of a rested face, without signs of cosmetic surgery, and the features and personality of the face are preserved.
The scars are minimal, the intervention short, convalescence and resumption of activities quick. We are a long way from the facelifts of 20 years ago leading to drawn, frozen features, and an expressionless face at the cost of a very heavy operation. The principle is more to put back under tension the muscles and the aponeuroses (membranes) which are located under the skin (this entity is called the SMAS or superficial musculoaponeurotic system) than to pull on them. Instead of pulling on the skin horizontally or vertically, we pull the deep structures obliquely upwards, which produces a natural result on the face. The main target of this soft lift is the oval region of the face and the jowls.
The mini facelift in practice
For patients aged 40 to 60 with moderate sagging skin.
Effect: look 5 to 10 years younger.
Duration of the operation: 1h30.
Duration of stay at the clinic: a few hours.
Anesthesia: local with light sedation or general anesthesia.
Pain: very moderate, 48 hours duration.
Possible association with blepharoplasty, eyebrow lifting, lipofilling, botox, and hyaluronic acid injections.
Scars: very discreet, in front of the ear, hidden in folds and by the hair.
Swelling and bruising: 7 days at most, often nothing after 48 hours.
Objective of the mini face lift: natural rejuvenation of the oval of the face, jawline and neck by intervention on the skin and muscles.
Possible additional use of tensioning threads.
Price: from 6000 euros for the mini facelift in Paris (see complete pricelist here).
There is not just one standard mini facelift but as many mini facelifts as there are patients. Each facelift has be unique and adapted to the face and, especially, to the patient’s facial expressions.
The mini facelift can rejuvenate all the different areas of the face
- The forehead, where a forehead lift can be performed or, more often, botulinum toxin injections (botox).
- The eyebrows, which descend with age and accentuate the tired aspect of the face whilst weighing on the upper eyelids. We perform a temporal or brow lift or mannequin lift, most often under local anesthesia with a small scar hidden in the hair.
- The eyelids, which have an excess of skin or pockets of fat. We perform an upper or lower blepharoplasty (upper or lower eyelids) which consists in opening the eyes and then removing the excess skin and bags.
- Dark circles under the eyes, which are difficult to treat but can be improved by injections of fat (lipofilling) or hyaluronic acid.
- The cheeks, which are empty or sagging. They can be raised using a concentric malar lift or mid-face lift. They can also be re-inflated if they are empty with silicone implants or lipomodelling.
- Wrinkles and furrows (upper lip, bitterness folds, frown lines, nasolabial folds etc.) are treated with injections or lipofilling.
- The upper lip is made plumper and more sensual by injections of hyaluronic acid, the placement of a silicone implant (permalip) or lifted with an upper lip lift.
- A mouth which has developed in an inverted U shape (a “sad mouth”), can be treated without scaring by sectioning of the depressor anguli oris muscles.
- The neck, the jowls, the cervical bands, and ptosis of the cheek tissues can be treated by a cervico-facial lift.
- All of these procedures can be combined with one another.