We understand that undergoing surgery might cause you anxiety and worry, even commonly performed procedures like this one. Our experienced and caring clinical staff will be there with you every step of the way. As well as delivering excellent care and treatment, they’ll answer your questions and provide reassurance if you are worried at any stage.

Having had a general anaesthetic, you’ll be asleep while the surgeon and clinical team perform the surgery.

There are a number of different facelift techniques. Your surgeon will explain the options available to you and the best method to achieve your goals. For a typical facelift, your surgeon will make a surgical cut right around your hairline, past the front of your ears. Cuts may also be made under your chin, if the operation includes lifting a sagging jaw line. Your skin will then be carefully separated from the underlying muscles of your face. Excess fat will be removed and the muscles will be tightened. The skin will then be lifted up, pulled back and any excess will be trimmed off. It will then be stitched back to the line where the cut was initially made.

At the end of a facelift operation, your face is tightly wrapped in bandages. Depending on the exact procedure carried out, these may run under your chin, around your ears and/or over your head.

Another type of facelift surgery is called minimal access cranial suspension (MACS). Shorter cuts, compared to a traditional facelift, are made in the temple and in front of the ears. Fibrous tissues under the skin are tightened with permanent stitches that are fixed to tissue close to the cheekbone or the fibrous connective tissue under the skin. MACS has the advantage of smaller scars and usually a shorter recovery time.

Typically, a facelift takes around four hours.