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Facelift

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	Before & After Photos
	Dr. Kridel talks about Natural Facelifts
	Dr. Kridel in Vogue Magazine, where he was the only facial plastic surgeon noted for Texas. Dr. Kridel voted top doc for women by H Texas Magazine. Dr. Kridel named as a Super Doctor in Texas Monthly Magazine.

You don't have to be a movie star or politician to have a face lift. Nor is this facelift procedure reserved for narcissists.

If you're on track with today's reality, you know that plenty of everyday people try to stay looking young, and that means that many folks you know have probably already had face lifts.

Due to exposure to the elements, gravity's force, and the passage of time, it's inevitable that facial skin will show signs of aging.

Good genes will keep you looking young longer, of course, but eventually, you'll succumb to the clock. Your facial skin loosens, thins, and sags, and wrinkles and pouches form in the cheeks, jawline, and neck.

Questions & Answers

• What does a face lift actually do for me?
• What should I expect?
• What's the advantage of having other procedures along with a face lift?
• What should I expect following a face lift?
• What does Dr. Kridel do when he performs a face lift?
• Do you have to keep having face lifts--or else?
• How do you know if you need a face lift?
• How much improvement can I expect and how long will it last?

Typically, a face lift is combined with some sort of wrinkle-removing procedure like laser resurfacing so that you won't end up with a sleeker face with old-looking skin.

Some people today choose to have a face lift at a relatively young age as a form of preventive maintenance. Having your first lift before the signs of aging are pronounced will translate to more suble results, but you'll be able to maintain a youthful appearance with "tuck-up" procedures over the years, and you'll never look like you're really aging ( that's what movie stars do .)

Friends may notice a 'refreshed' look, but they probably won't zero in on cosmetic surgery unless you tell them about it.

"The main thing that surprised me was that there wasn't any pain from my facelift," says a recent patient, "but I did feel knocked for a loop, and that was because of the anesthesia."

When the face lift procedure is over, Dr. Kridel will wrap a bulky bandage around your face, head, and neck. Small rubber tubes will drain excess fluids. The following day, the doctor will remove these and apply a chin-strap-like bandage. Three days later, Dr. Kridel's office staff will wash your hair. Ten days after surgery, Dr. Kridel will remove your sutures and you can start wearing makeup again. Two weeks after the face lift, you will be back to your normal routine.

Other procedures lift sagging eyelids, droopy brows, and deeply wrinkled foreheads. Fine facial wrinkles may require laser resurfacing .

• This is no small procedure so it's something you should plan for. And that means you need to build in about 10 days of recovery time. You won't be ready to go back to work or social activities for 10 to 14 days. Expect a low energy level.
• Don't worry that people will see scars. Dr. Kridel hides incisions in natural skin lines and creases, and any visible scars will fade until barely noticeable.
• You'll have swelling and bruising, which will disappear in a few weeks.
• While you're waiting for the swelling and bruising to subside, use camouflage makeup and creative hairstyling. In three to four weeks, you'll be ready to show off your new face, which will remind you of the way you looked 10 years ago.

The face lift has three parts: eyebrow lift, cheek lift, and neck lift. At your consultation, Dr. Kridel will project your face on the computer imaging machine screen so that you can see the results of surgery that he projects as possibilities.

Dr. Kridel takes extra time to hide incisions around the ear and back into the hair, while preserving the hair in front and behind the ears. Not all surgeons are meticulous about camouflaging scars so this is a good thing to ask about during your consultations with surgeons.

You should be able to wear your hair postoperatively in any style you want and no one will be able to see scars from the face lift.

"That's not true," says Dr. Kridel. "The excess skin removed during a face lift never returns, but your remaining skin will continue to age normally, of course, So, if the lift makes you look 10 years younger, you'll always be 10 years more youthful-looking than if you'd never had it."

One patient notes, "You'll look back on the days of bandages and bruises as minor annoyances that you endured for a major benefit--a rejuvenated appearance."

The procedure resupports the neck, jawline, and cheeks. Today, they are done in layers, and the underlying musculature beneath the skin is resuspended with permanent sutures to make the lift last longer. Dr. Kridel removes fat and resculpts deeper tissues.

"Skin is redraped in an upward and slightly posterior direction to give a natural look to the face--no Hollywood 'wind-tunnel' stretched looks in this office," says Dr. Kridel, who has written chapters on face lifts for medical textbooks.

Using painstaking thoroughness, Dr. Kridel makes incisions in inconspicuous spots, which means your face-lift scars (inevitable with incisional surgery) will be in the hair or in natural facial lines. Soon after surgery, you can hide these with makeup. Although some people have a tendency to scar more than others do, the much feared "keloid" is extremely rare on the face and eyelids.