Facelift
Vancouver, BC
Facial aging is a comprehensive structural process that extends far beneath the surface of your skin. Over time, gravity, environmental stress, and a natural loss of deep fatty tissue cause the facial tissues, cheeks, and underlying muscles to shift downward. This structural descent can create prominent nasolabial folds around the mouth, deflated sagging cheeks, and heavy jowls that obscure your natural bone structure.
At Dr. Jennifer Prince Plastic Surgery in Surrey, BC, we approach facial plastic surgery as a true anatomical restoration. Dr. Jennifer Prince targets the deeper facial structures, lifting and repositioning underlying tissues to secure a beautifully crisp jawline and a soft, naturally youthful appearance that honors your authentic expressions.
Outpatient surgical procedure
10-14 days for initial social recovery; 4-6 weeks for full tissue settling
Immediate structural lifting, with an elegant, more youthful look maturing beautifully over 3-6 months
Performed in 3-5 hours under general anesthesia
A facelift is a comprehensive surgical procedure designed to correct advanced signs of aging in the lower face, cheeks, and jawline. While minimally invasive cosmetic procedures like thread lifts or injectables offer mild, short-term changes for early signs of aging, they cannot structurally repair heavy tissue descent.
Natural, long-lasting facelift results require addressing the root cause of facial aging by adjusting the deeper tissues. During your consultation, Dr. Prince analyzes your facial anatomy, skin quality, and bone structure. Her primary goal is to establish harmony, performing meticulous adjustments without ever making you look overdone or "pulled."
Your surgical experience is designed for safety and comfort and performed at our state-of-the-art surgery center under general anesthesia. To achieve an enduring restoration, Dr. Prince utilizes advanced facelift techniques that manipulate the deep muscular aponeurotic system (SMAS) or employ a deep-plane facelift approach.
The procedure begins with small incisions placed discreetly along your natural skin creases, wrapping carefully around the front of the earlobe and extending upward into the hairline or behind the ear to minimize visible scars. Dr. Prince gently releases the bound, deeper facial structures, lifting the sagging facial muscles and underlying muscles vertically back to their original position. Once this structural foundation is anchored, the remaining facial skin is gently draped over the new, crisp contours, and the loose skin is cleanly trimmed away.
To achieve optimal results, true facial rejuvenation requires addressing both structural position and lost facial volume. Dr. Prince frequently combines facelift surgery with targeted fat grafting (fat transfer) in a single operation. After using liposuction to collect living fat cells from another area of the body, she purifies the harvested fat and administers precise injections to rejuvenate hollow areas around the midface, cheeks, and lower eyelids for a natural approach to volume restoration.
While surgery removes excess skin and lifts sagging tissue, it does not alter the actual texture of the facial skin, which may show signs of sun damage, fine lines across the upper lip, or loss of elasticity.
To maximize results and make them last, Dr. Prince may recommend combining surgery with advanced non-surgical skin-tightening and skin-resurfacing modalities. These energy-based options—including laser and light therapies, chemical peels (such as deep croton oil peels), and microneedling RF—can be incorporated at strategic intervals:
A personalized facelift surgery provides elegant, long-lasting structural correction for common signs of aging:
Investing in a comprehensive surgical procedure provides profound aesthetic rewards, aligning your outer reflection with your internal energy.
A Rested, Naturally Youthful Look: Takes a decade off your appearance by repositioning the deeper anatomical foundations rather than simply tightening skin.
Profile Confidence: Enjoy a razor-sharp, elegant jawline profile from every single camera angle and in formal portraits.
Long-Term Structural Permanence: Unlike temporary non-surgical options, advanced deep-tissue releases deliver stable results that endure for years.
Seamless Scar Discretion: Placing incisions directly along the ear's natural contours ensures the scars remain discreetly hidden.
If you are noticing significant sagging across your lower face, jowling along the jawline, or skin laxity through the neck, you may be an ideal candidate for this surgery. Ideal candidates are healthy individuals who maintain a stable weight, do not smoke, and have realistic expectations about facial procedures.
During your initial consultation and exam, Dr. Prince will review any medical conditions and medications you are on. To ensure a safe and smooth healing process, patients must temporarily pause blood thinners and certain herbal supplements before treatment. If you are experiencing early signs of aging and still have relatively good skin elasticity, Dr. Prince may discuss less invasive options such as a mini facelift to target specific areas.
When you wake up from surgery, your face and neck will be wrapped in a soft, supportive compression garment designed to cradle the deeper tissues and minimize swelling. Most patients experience temporary tightness, mild bruising, and localized changes in skin sensation. Discomfort is managed with medication and good at-home aftercare.
Most patients feel comfortable returning to public settings and light social activities within 10 to 14 days, once initial swelling subsides, and residual bruising can be easily camouflaged with makeup. You will need to avoid strenuous exercise, heavy lifting, or vigorous bending for 4-6 weeks, until cleared by Dr. Prince.
You will notice an immediate improvement in your jawline definition and cheek position. Over the first few weeks, the swelling will recede, and your tissues will soften into natural-looking, sculpted contours. Your final, beautifully integrated, and refreshed appearance will emerge fully between the 3 to 6-month mark.
Dr. Prince's facelift techniques focus on tightening the underlying muscles to reset the clock of facial aging by roughly 10 to 15 years. While your face will continue to age naturally from that new, youthfully elevated baseline, you will always look significantly more refreshed than if you had never undergone the surgical procedure. Committing to a healthy lifestyle, avoiding sun damage, and reinforcing your results with targeted medical-grade skin resurfacing can help preserve your most refreshed appearance for years to come.
Restoring youthful contours in a way that looks natural and endures requires a sophisticated understanding of facial anatomy. Dr. Prince brings decades of reconstructive and cosmetic surgical experience to her private practice in Surrey. Her background in complex trauma, microsurgery, and facial reconstruction allows her to navigate near delicate nerve networks with extreme technical skill, eliminating the risk of nerve injury while maximizing structural enhancement.
As a female plastic surgeon, Dr. Prince understands that a successful facelift should never alter the authentic traits that make you who you are. She dedicates ample time to sitting down with you during your consultation, listening to your personal rejuvenation milestones, and crafting a transparent, multi-modality surgical plan that elevates your natural vitality and unlocks next-level confidence.
A traditional facelift focuses on lifting the superficial skin and tightening the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) along the lower face. A deep plane facelift goes significantly deeper, releasing the natural retaining ligaments beneath the muscle layer itself. This allows the surgeon to lift the deep fat pads of the cheeks and jawline together as a unified unit. The deep plane technique delivers a profoundly natural-looking result, eliminates any risk of a "windswept" appearance, and offers the greatest longevity.
While a facelift beautifully corrects jowls and sagging cheeks across the lower face, it does not automatically resolve severe loose skin or structural muscle bands running down the throat. For most patients experiencing full-spectrum facial aging, Dr. Prince will combine a facelift with a comprehensive neck lift. This involves extending the incisions slightly behind the ear to tighten the platysma muscles of the neck and clear excess tissue, creating a smooth, youthful transition from the jawline to the collarbone.
An individual facelift surgery is specifically engineered to rejuvenate the lower two-thirds of the face: from the cheeks down to the jaw. It cannot lift a heavy forehead, clear out hollow under-eye circles, or fix droopy eyelids. However, to achieve comprehensive facial rejuvenation, Dr. Prince frequently pairs a facelift with a conservative brow lift or an upper eyelid surgery during the same operative session.
There is no single "perfect" age for facial plastic surgery, as people experience facial aging at different rates depending on genetics, lifestyle, and sun exposure. Most patients who seek out a full facelift are in their late 40s, 50s, or 60s, when structural jowling becomes prominent. However, younger patients experiencing early tissue descent can be excellent candidates for a less invasive mini lift or customized volume restoration using fat grafting alone.
