MACS Lift Mini Face Lift
MACS Lift Mini Facelift is one of the facial aesthetics procedures performed to remove skin sagging in the lower half of the face to improve the cheek and lower jaw contours in particular. This facial aesthetic operation group, also known as mini facelift surgery or simply mini face lift, involves the use of a variety of surgical techniques. The common feature of these surgical techniques is that the skin incisions made on suitable candidates for facial rejuvenation are shorter than those made in classic full facelift techniques.
What Is MACS Mini Facelift
The mini facelift technique called MACS is an acronym for “Minimum Access Cranial Suspension. In this technique, skin incisions are made only in front of the ear, without involving the lower area or back of the earlobe. An important difference from other techniques is that the sagging tissues of the cheek skin are not pulled sideways, but are lifted up with the help of suture, that is, towards the places where they used to be.
Advantages of MACS Mini Facelift
- Since it is intended for cases where there are no signs of advanced aging on the face, it can be performed starting from the 40s, that is, at younger ages compared to a full face lift operation.
- It does not leave scars behind the ear and on the neck. The scars in front of the ear can be easily hidden in areas such as the inside of the ear and the hairline. The red lines in the image show the incision lines.
- Sagging skin problem in both cheekbone areas and the cheeks are eliminated by making a shorter incision.
- It is possible to treat saggy skin on the cheeks with even shorter incisions.
- It also corrects mild sagging in the jowl area.
- It gives more natural-looking aesthetic result, as the sagging tissues are not pulled sideways, but are lifted up with the help of sutures, that is, towards the places where they used to be.
- Since the cheek skin is lifted less than in the classical full facelift procedure, the risk of possible complications such as circulatory disorder in the skin and subcutaneous accumulation of blood is lower.
- The surgery time is shorter
- It causes less postoperative edema and swelling.
- It allows for a quicker return to normal life after surgery.
- Since it is performed at earlier ages, it enables people to spend their 40-60 age period with a younger and more dynamic appearance.
- The rejuvenation of the face is perceived more natural by the people around the patient.
How Are Facelift Operations Performed?
In the MACS lift technique;
- An incision of 5-7 cm extending from the sideburn into the ear and from the front of the ear to the earlobe (not reaching behind the ear).
- The facial skin on the cheekbone and cheek is lifted in a more limited area than in full facelift, and the neck skin is not lifted.
- The sagging tissues on the cheekbones and cheeks are not pulled sideways, but are lifted up with the help of sutures and fixed to immovable points.
- If necessary, liposuction is performed on the jowl area. Pulling the corners of the chin and the cheeks upwards with sutures on both sides also eliminates the sagging skin problem in the jowl area.
- With this technique, the cheekbones look fuller, a kind of mid-face lift effect is achieved, the deep grooves between the wings of the nose and the lip (nasolabial sulci) are eliminated, the laxity of the cheeks is improved, and the jowl and neck areas are rejuvenated.
- All these operations are performed in a shorter time with less risk of complications.
- It causes less postoperative edema and its full recovery period is shorter than those of full facelift procedures.
- This procedure that takes 2.5 hours on average can be performed under intravenous sedation and local anesthesia, but it is often performed under general anesthesia in conjunction with the blepharoplasty and fat injection procedures.
- Candidates for MACS lift are generally younger than those for full facelift procedures, or they have not severe facial sagging.
Before Mini Face Lift Operation
- Taking blood thinners such as aspirin, green tea, vitamin E and nutritional supplements should be discontinued 15 days before the operation.
- Circulatory disorders and poor wound healing problems in the face are more common in smokers, so smoking should be stopped at least 1 month before the operation. Some surgeons do not perform the full facelift procedure on smokers.
- There should not be any problems with the general state of health.
- COVID-19 precautions should be taken; preferably vaccinations should be made in full dose.
- For more detailed information about the dos and don’ts before surgery you can visit our webpage.
What Can Be Corrected with Mini Facelift
- Sagging cheek skin is corrected
- Deep grooves between the wings of the nose and the lip (nasolabial sulci) are eliminated
- A flatter lower jaw contour is obtained by eliminating sagging skin on the corners of the lower jaw
- Mild sagging and excess fat problems in the jowl and neck are eliminated
Can Mini Facelift Be Combined With Other Surgical Procedures?
Removal of eyelid bags and facial fat injection are the aesthetic procedures that I most often combine with mini facelift in the same surgical session.
After Mini Facelift
- Four hours after the surgery, you can start eating soft foods, get up, and walk.
- You need to stay in the hospital overnight.
- You should lie in a semi-sitting position, and apply cold to the surgical sites.
- It is recommended to avoid movements that increase the blood pressure such as excessive straining on the toilet and leaning forward.
- The next day, the drains are removed and the patient is discharged.
- In the postoperative period, as in the preoperative period, you should definitely not smoke, and you should not take blood thinners, whether it’s medication or food.
- Especially in the first postoperative week, you should only rest without doing housework.
- All sutures are removed 3 to 7 days after surgery.
- Two weeks after the operation, you can go out and return to work and social life in a controlled manner.
- You can start sports activities 6 weeks after the operation on average.
- The subsidence and naturalization process of the postoperative swelling progresses every week, and full recovery time varies from 1 to 6 months depending on the combined procedures and the wound healing characteristics of the patient.
- In the first months, it is natural to have loss of sensation in the cheek, which will return to normal over time.
- In the first weeks after surgery, women can conceal the incision scars by combing their hair over them. Concealer can be applied to the scars. It takes an average of 1 year for the scars to take their final forms.
- Active sunbathing should be avoided for at least 2 months after the operation.
- Since edemas are likely to subside a bit unsymmetrically, it is natural to observe facial asymmetries during the subsidence of edema in the first postoperative weeks. You must wait patiently.
Risks and Complications of Mini Facelift
- Blood accumulation under the cheek skin (hematoma)
- Infection
- Circulatory disorder and loss of tissue in the cheek skin, especially in smokers
- Irregularities and asymmetries on the cheek skin
- Poor wound healing in the form of scar expansion or blistering
- Temporary or permanent damage to the nerves in the face
- Persistent edema, stiffness and pain in the surgical sites
- Asymmetry in the face
- Unsatisfactory aesthetic result
At What Age Should Face Lift and Mini Face Lift Operations Be Performed?
The most important factor in deciding on facelift surgery is not age, but the degree of the signs of aging on the face and the person’s expectations. From 35 to 40 years of age, the signs of aging begin to appear in the face.
Some people apply for full face lift surgery after the age of 60 when the deformations on the face become more noticeable, while some others prefer having surgery at a younger age, when they are more active in their business and social lives, and the signs of aging have not progressed too far yet. In operations performed at earlier ages, the deformation that needs to be corrected is not severe and requires a small-scale surgical treatment.
If you have started to simulate a facelift on your cheeks by stretching your skin with your hands in front of the mirror and if the nonsurgical methods you have tried no longer satisfy you, it is time to visit a plastic surgeon.
Does the Surgery Leave a Scar?
When a surgical incision is made on the skin, it definitely leaves a noticeable or barely noticeable scar. However, if a person with normal wound healing characteristics has not developed any complications, there will be no noticeable scars. Since some of the scars will remain on the scalp border and some will remain in the ear, they will be less likely to be noticed.
How Long Does The Effect Of Mini Facelift Last?
The effect of the facelift procedure lasts for a period of 2 to15 years, depending on the facelift technique used as well as your skin structure, age and lifestyle.
Can Mini Facelift Be Repeated?
Yes, mini facelift can be repeated at later ages.
Will It Be Noticeable That I Have Had a Mini Faceift Operation?
Because there will be a change in your face, it will be noticed by the people around you. However, if you have had a successful surgery and have achieved a natural-looking result, their reactions will be positive. In particular, the mini facelift procedure gives more natural-looking results.
My Primary Purposes in a Mini Facelift Operation
- I aim at completing the process without encountering a general or local complication.
- While eliminating facial problems, my aim is not to give my patient a completely different face that will be difficult to recognize for those who see it, but to give him/her back the old facial appearance he/she had at younger ages, that is, to achieve more natural-looking results.
Is Non-Surgical Facelift Possible?
A real facelift with a long-lasting effect is only possible with surgical procedures.
Do You Perform Thread Face Lift?
I don’t perform it because its effect doesn’t last long.
Mini Facelift Prices In 2024
Surgery prices vary depending on the hospital where the surgery will be performed, the surgery date, whether the surgery will be combined with additional facial aesthetic procedures, and the degree of deformation. You can contact our office to get information about the surgical procedure to be performed and its current price.
