Deep Plane Facelift

The procedure for a deep plane facelift itself is not painful because it’s performed after being fully numbed and while you are asleep under anesthesia. However, it is common to experience mild to moderate discomfort during the first week of recovery. You’ll have some swelling, tightness, and bruising, as well as numbness in different areas of the face. You will be provided with non-narcotic pain medications for ongoing use and narcotic pain medications for intermittent use, as well as steroids and anti-nausea medications for your comfort. Head elevation, ice packs, a soft diet, and pain relievers can significantly help alleviate this discomfort. If you have any concerns, be sure to ask Dr. Compton or his staff. He will leave you with detailed instructions for recovery and can provide additional guidance if needed.

There are several key appointments required for a deep plane facelift: a consultation, a pre-operative appointment, the surgery itself, and multiple follow-up appointments.

The initial consultation is an opportunity for you and Dr. Compton to assess your needs and develop a personalized treatment plan to address all of your problem areas. The pre-operative appointment focuses on preparation for surgery, prescribing medicines, and reviewing detailed instructions. Dr. Compton’s staff will take detailed before photos and provide you with pre-surgical instructions. After your surgery, follow-up appointments ensure you recover well and heal properly.

If you are traveling from out of town, please arrive for an in-person visit the day before the surgery and plan to stay in town for a minimum of two weeks after surgery.

Immediately after a deep plane facelift, you will experience swelling and bruising, which can temporarily obscure the results. Most patients experience significant changes immediately, but noticeable swelling, asymmetry, and irregularities may persist for 4-6 weeks. Most patients are comfortable being seen in public by 3 to 4 weeks after surgery. By the three-month mark, your face will appear more refined, with its natural contours becoming more visible. The final results typically take 6 months to a year as residual swelling fades and the tissues fully heal. Since the deep plane technique repositions the deeper layers, the downtime is greater, but the outcome is long-lasting and continues to improve over time.

A facelift typically involves lifting the skin and deeper facial structures, including the face, neck, and jawline, through an incision around the ear. Much of the excess skin in the neck is caused by the face sagging downward, so lifting the face is the best way to tighten the neck skin. Suppose there is excess fat, enlarged submandibular glands, prominent muscles, or platysmal banding present; a small incision is made under your chin to correct this. Contouring these deeper structures is known as a deep structural neck lift and can provide jaw-dropping results. This is an area that many surgeons avoid due to the anatomic complexity and tight working space. Dr. Compton is very comfortable in this area due to his training as a head and neck cancer surgeon and his years of experience performing this surgery. The benefits of this deep plane neck surgery are evident in the profound shape change that can be obtained by removing contour bulges of the submandibular glands, elevating the voice box and neck angle, and removing the deep fat. This is achieved by keeping the fat directly under the skin intact, ensuring the skin appears healthy, smooth, and taut.

Due to these significant benefits, it is more common to perform a deep plane facelift and deep structural necklift together than either one separately. A facelift without a central neck lift may be appropriate for patients with mild to moderate skin laxity who do not have significant contour issues in the neck. The discussion of these options and choosing what is right for you is one of the goals of the initial consultation.

A preservation facelift is a deep plane facelift with the added goal of leaving as much of the skin attached to the underlying muscle as possible. Over time, it has become evident that the facial and neck skin function as a unit, and more natural results and quicker healing times can be obtained by leaving them together as much as possible. The areas in which this connection has been preserved are the area in the facelift right in front of the ear, and the area directly under the angle of the jaw. This allows the pull of the lift to be directed at the deeper structures for greater strength and keeps these key areas healthier, leading to improved outcomes. Dr. Compton employs this strategy in his facelifts to maximize the benefits and minimize the downtime associated with surgery.

Absolutely! The most common way we perform the vertical vector, deep plane facelift is in a full-face rejuvenation package. This combines all indicated facial and neck surgeries into one convenient package price, allowing for a comprehensive and cohesive change. The surgeries typically included are deep structural neck lift, browlift, upper and lower eyelid surgery, buccal fat reduction, lip lift, and fat grafting to restore lost facial volume. Non-surgical treatments, such as CO2 laser resurfacing and Morpheus 8, can further enhance skin texture and tone. Combining procedures can maximize results while reducing overall recovery time compared to undergoing them separately.

Expected consequences of surgery include swelling, bruising, and numbness in areas of the face and neck. Potential complications include excessive or prolonged swelling, hematoma/ fluid collection, bleeding, burns, infection, poor scar appearance, or hair loss. Short-term facial asymmetries are common for a few days but resolve quickly during recovery. Infrequently, short-term motor nerve dysfunction can occur, resulting in an asymmetric smile for 1-2 weeks. Rarely, a more serious motor nerve injury could occur, and this may take weeks to months to improve. Proper post-operative care and following Dr. Compton’s instructions will help reduce risks and ensure a smooth recovery. Choosing a board-certified facial plastic surgeon in the Detroit area with expertise in deep-plane facelifts significantly lowers the likelihood of complications and ensures optimal results.