It can be difficult to say what the best age to have a facelift is, because people experience aging differently. The process of aging is complicated and depends on many factors. Some of the factors of aging include:
- Genetics
- Health status
- Life experiences
- Stress level,
- Degree of photo damage— a process of sunlight or ultraviolet radiation imposing chronic damage on skin.
For example, a patient who spent decades outside without using proper sun protection will age very differently from those who wear sun protection. Additionally, it is important to remember that men and women experience aging differently, and similarly, individuals of different ethnic backgrounds age differently as well.
Benefits of having a facelift at a younger age
There are several advantages to having a facelift at a younger age, usually in the forties, fifties, or sixties.
Generally speaking, younger individuals tend to be in better overall health and fitness to undergo surgery. They take less prescription medications, have a stronger immune system, and may have less pre-existing health conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or need to be on blood-thinning medications.
All of these health conditions are risk factors that predispose people to complications after a facelift. Younger patients also tend to heal faster, and the recovery period after surgery may feel less cumbersome as well.
Getting a facelift later in life
On the flip side of the argument, many individuals in their 60s and 70s are in excellent health and will achieve equally beneficial results from a facelift.
In many surgical practices across the country, it is not uncommon to perform a facelift in patients who are in their 70s, and even 80s. While some argue that patients may have a better result when undergoing surgery at a younger age, the ability to achieve youthful and natural outcomes is also dependent on your surgical specialists—their experience, expertise, understanding of facial anatomy, and mastering of facial aesthetics.
For these reasons, do not be discouraged from seeking a facelift surgery if you are in your 70s or 80s.
A final point to consider is the lack of effectiveness or perceived benefit from non-surgical treatment for facial rejuvenation, such as neurotoxin injections, fillers, laser resurfacing, chemical peels, or micro-needling techniques just to name a few.
Many patients found that they began to consider facelift when they no longer benefitted from non-surgical rejuvenation therapies.
How long will my facelift results last?
Some studies have shown that the effect of a facelift lasts typically 7-12 years.
Therefore, for patients who choose to have a facelift in their forties or fifties, they will have a more youthful and longer-lasting result earlier in life than those who decide to pursue surgery later.
Another reason to have a facelift early is that younger patients tend to have more elasticity in their skin from abundant amounts of collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin are naturally occurring compounds in our skin that contribute to a youthful appearance, but they gradually reduce in quantity over time with aging.
Therefore, having good skin elasticity can contribute to better post-surgical results and less noticeable scarring. Consequently, younger patients may also require less invasive or extensive procedures because the underlying facial tissues have not experienced as much sagging, aging, or loss of elasticity compared to older patients.
For all of these reasons, some experts advocate that in most instances, individuals in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are the best candidates for facelift surgery.
The bottom line
The bottom line is that there is no universally agreed upon age cutoff to undergo a facelift surgery. The decision to pursue this operation is different for every patient. The best thing to do is to pay close attention to the physical signs of facial aging.
Common signs of aging in the face and neck include deep wrinkles around the eyes and mouth, loss of fullness or volume in the upper cheeks, appearance of jowl lines, loss of jawline definition, and general sagging of skin in the face, upper neck or chin.
More importantly, pay attention to how these signs make you feel. If and when you decide it is the right time for you to pursue a facelift, we urge every individual to begin the process by scheduling an in-office consultation with your surgeon to inquire about what surgery entails, its benefits, side effects, and expected recovery. Your surgical specialists will be able to discuss your candidacy for surgery and help you come up with a personalized treatment plan.
About the Author: Dr. Edwin Williams
Dr. Edwin Williams is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon who founded The Williams Center in 1993. He has performed over 10,000 facial plastic surgery procedures and has pioneered the deep plane facelift. He served on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery for over a decade, and served as President from 2015-2016. In 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, Dr. Williams earned the Castle Connelly Top Doctors award in New York Facial Plastic Surgery.
Dr. Edwin F. Williams III attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1982. He began medical school at the State University of Buffalo School of Medicine and received his Doctor of Medicine in 1986.
Dr. Williams is actively involved in teaching facial plastic and reconstruction surgery to the residents of the Albany Medical Center and is former Chief of the Section of Facial and Plastic Reconstruction Surgery at Albany Medical Center where he received an academic appointment of Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery.