The patient is a 52 year old woman who thought she had lost definition over her face, that her chin was falling back and that she had lost definition over the jaw line. The patient also wanted to have improvement in the lower eyelid area with removal of fat bags and wrinkles. A facial plastic surgery plan was crafted for the patient which included a face lift with a neck lift, a brow lift to include preservation of her current hairline level and laser treatment for wrinkles to the lower eyelid and Crow’s foot area. The patient was very happy with the results of her plastic surgery and that she looked natural in that there were no signs or tip-offs that she had had cosmetic surgery.
During the patient’s surgery, the jaw line was defined with a neck lift wherein fat was removed from both above and beneath the superficial neck muscle, called the platysma. This muscle runs parallel to the skin and can shorten with the aging process and cause significant damage to the overlying skin and soft tissues of the neck. Platysmaplasty, or surgery to the platysma muscle lengthens and repairs this muscle and helps to redefine the jaw line and the neck to restore shape and youth. Removal of the fullness t-of the neck helps not only to define the jaw line but also serves to make the chin appear to stick out and thus further lengthening the jaw line.
Face lifts help in the jowl area and also raise the volume of the cheek to become confluent with the cosmetic area of the lower eyelid. Treatment of lower eyelid prominent fat, either by removal or relocating the fat helps to smooth the lid/cheek junction. Finally, laser treatment for wrinkles to the lower lids smoothes out the overlying skin to create a youthful appearance in the eyelid area.
The overall result of this patient’s cosmetic surgery leads to the appearance of calm, confidence, youthfulness and vibrancy.
