2½-3 HOUR SURGERY
Back to Work 1-2 Weeks
You will leave the office with a bulky bandage wrapped around your head that can be removed in a few days. You may also leave the office with drainage tubes in place.
Postoperative pain is mild to moderate, and the typical patient will require narcotic pain medication for 2 to 3 days. Most people take 1 to 2 weeks off from work. This is more from a "social downtime" perspective rather than a pain level, as there can be residual bruising and swelling for several weeks after the pain subsides. The face will be snug at first, with a gradual softening over several months as swelling subsides and the facial soft tissues relax.
Scars start as fine, pink lines that will fade over 12 to 18 months. They can be covered with makeup as early as 2 weeks after surgery.
Home | Facial Surgery | Mini Facelift
Mini Facelift
in Denver, Colorado
A face lift in Denver, Colorado, is designed to lift and tighten the tissues of the cheeks, jaw line, and neck. There are many different types of facelift, with the differences among them relating to incision length and location, degree and depth of undermining of tissues, direction of pull/lift, and manner in which the deeper structures are tightened (if they are tightened at all).
The goal of the surgeon should be to perform the smallest operation that will achieve the patient's aesthetic desires. In the case of Denver facelift procedures, if a small facelift will do, then a full facelift will unnecessarily increase the patient's cost, risk, and recovery time. By the same token, a limited procedure may be inappropriate in a patient with significant laxity and heavy tissues who desires an aggressive correction of her facial aging.
The Center for Cosmetic Surgery has two offices conveniently located in the Denver metropolitan area. One is located just outside of Denver in lovely Golden, Colorado immediately off 6th Ave West and the other is located downtown in Cherry Creek, Denver. Please schedule a free personal consultation to learn what plastic surgery can do for you. Simply call 720.279.1926 or request your free consultationfree consultation online.
A minifacelift or short scar facelift is essentially a scaled-down version of a full facelift with a few key differences:
- Shorter scars
- Less surgical undermining
- Simplified muscle tightening
- A more vertical direction of pull
Although it is scaled down, the minifacelift performed at The Center for Cosmetic Surgery is a powerful tool for the correction of nasolabial folds, marionette lines, jowling, and neck laxity.
Keys to Choosing Your Mini Facelift Surgeon
- Review many impressive before and after photos...
- Find a surgeon who specializes in cosmetic plastic surgery...
- Seek a surgeon who upholds the proper credentials...
- Ask if the surgeon uses only an accredited, state-of-the-art surgical facility...
- Decide, if upon meeting the surgeon, you make a connection...
There are two important reasons to spend time reviewing before-and-after pictures when considering plastic surgery. The first is to determine what procedure, if any, actually serves to improve your undesired appearance. The second is to distinguish which surgeon performs the best work.
There are many procedures discussed on the web and touted by the cosmetic surgery community and media as aesthetic dream-makers. Often, however, they are not. Be skeptical and use before-and-after pictures to determine which procedures will actually address your concerns. If an operation works well, there will be thousands of pictures demonstrating its success. If it's hard to find good before-and-after pictures of a procedure used for the problem you're trying to address, then it probably doesn't exist. Remember to be honest with yourself about your appearance when evaluating web pictures. The mirror lies. We recommend that you take pictures of yourself and set them in front of your computer while you do your research. Make sure that the "befores" look like you and then determine what procedures work. Just because the media or some web site states that fat injection to the buttocks will lift the butt, that doesn't make it so.
Second, once you've identified the best operation for you, it's easy to determine which surgeons achieve the most natural and attractive results. All people are hard-wired to appreciate natural attractiveness. Fortunately, it's easy for you to identify who can meet your highest expectations simply by reviewing before-and-after photo galleries.
Find a surgeon who specializes in cosmetic plastic surgery and performs numerous mini-facelift procedures per month.
Seek a surgeon who upholds the proper credentials including certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS), membership in the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS).
Ask if the surgeon uses only an accredited, state-of-the-art surgical facility. Your mini facelift procedure will be performed in our AAAHC-certified Apex Surgical Facility in Golden, Colorado. Based on the latest recommendations from the Anesthesia Patient Safety Council, we prefer to use general anesthesia for our mini facelift procedures. General anesthesia minimizes the risk of airway problems, ensures a comfortable experience for the patient and surgeon, and makes for an efficient procedure. At Apex, we use only board certified anesthesiologists and a staff of nurses who specialize in caring for aesthetic patients. After your mini facelift procedure is complete, you will leave the facility by way of a private exit out of sight of other patients.
Decide, if upon meeting the surgeon, you make a connection with him or her and all of your questions are respectfully and sensibly answered.
Important Truths About Your Mini Facelift
In some cases, additional procedures may be added to a Minifacelift to enhance its effect. Liposuction of the neck, direct tightening of the neck muscles (platysmaplasty), and/or fat grafting to the face may all be beneficial in selected patients.
A minifacelift procedure will not address the brow or eyelids. A brow lift and/or blepharoplasty can be safely performed at the same time as a minifacelift to treat these areas.
Lighter anesthesia or no anesthesia during a procedure does not change the nature of the procedure itself.
Understanding Your Mini Facelift
A minifacelift, or short scar facelift, is essentially a scaled-down version of a full facelift. Click here to understand more about the minifacelift procedure.
Identifying Good Results for a Mini Facelift
Your face is the first thing people see when meeting you. At The Center for Cosmetic Surgery, we know how important it is to have a natural looking face lift procedure. After you have checked to see if your surgeon is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS), next review their before and after photos.
- Do their minifacelift results give the patient a rested, more youthful appearance without looking tight or overdone?
- Do the ears look natural, or unaltered?
- Are the scars well concealed?
The goal Drs. Vath and Wolfe have for their patients who undergo a minifacelift is for them to look like a younger, refreshed and well-rested version of themselves, not someone else. The key to this is good surgical technique. A pulled look after a facelift is usually the result of putting too much tension on the skin and not tightening the underlying structures. Dr. Wolfe and Dr. Vath always tighten underlying structures during their minifacelifts in Denver. These underlying structures that support the face are often misrepresented as muscle. All facial muscles are used either to chew or create facial expression; therefore, these muscles are never cut or sewn during any facelift procedure. A layer between the muscles and the skin called the SMAS (superficial musculo-aponeurotic system) is used to support the face, and this is the layer tightened in a minifacelift procedure.
A telltale sign a person has undergone a facelift is the presence of pixie ear. Pixie Ear deformities can occur when a tight facelift distorts the earlobe, causing it to stretch anteriorly and pull on the normal ear. The result is an earlobe that does not dangle in a normal fashion.
Scarring is inevitable when the skin is cut. A board-certified plastic surgeon, which, like Dr. Vath and Dr. Wolfe, is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, is trained in techniques to minimize visible signs of surgery. Most facelift procedures have scars that fade away and hide over time. The scars should be hidden in natural skin creases and hair, so, once healed, will be virtually imperceptible.














