How rhytidectomy can rejuvenate the face by 10 years

Modern aesthetic medicine provides a huge selection of procedures that can significantly rejuvenate the face and body of a person. Very often practicing doctors are faced with the desire of the patient to do as much as possible and as soon as possible. Rhytidectomy – A circular facelift is one of the plastic surgeries that allows you to realize the desire of the patient as much as possible. Rhytidectomy is one of the most frequently performed plastic surgeries, with which you can rejuvenate the face of the patient as much as possible. This is a circular facelift operation, with the help of which both muscle tightening and removal of excess fat and skin areas are performed. Thus, the operation allows you to remove all wrinkles and areas of sagging skin and literally rejuvenate the patient's face by 10-15 years in just one day.

Criteria to help determine if a patient is eligible for rhytidectomy

Plastic surgeons define clear criteria by which to characterize a patient as an ideal or unsuitable candidate for a circular facelift.

  Signs of an ideal candidate for a circular facelift:

• good skin color and minimal wrinkles;
• strong bony structures of the face;
• firm well-protruding chin and prominent cheekbones;
• quite a lot of soft tissues in the middle region of the face;
• shallow bucco-labial furrows;
• acute cervicochin angle;
• The patient does not have bad habits such as smoking.

Indications of a Candidate Unsuitable for a Circular Facelift:

• obtuse cervical-chin angle, due to the low location of the hyoid bone;
• sloping or flaccid chin;
• low sagging of the submandibular salivary glands;
• deep cervico-chin furrows;
• Deep nasolabial folds and prominent buccal ridges.

First stage of rhytidectomy: liposuction and skin tightening

Retidectomy operation consists of several main steps. First of all, the submental region, lower jaw and neck are treated. With a small amount of subcutaneous fat, you can limit yourself to a facelift without any intervention on the neck. Only tension of the skin and subcutaneous muscle is performed posteriorly. In the presence of a large subcutaneous fat layer in the chin area, an incision is created for the introduction of a cannula and liposuction. The procedure must be carried out evenly and carefully to prevent the formation of grooves and tunnels, as well as to avoid injury to the mandibular nerve. In the presence of a large amount of fat and the prolapse of the subcutaneous muscles, a larger volume of surgery is performed. After liposuction, a direct lifting of the skin over the subcutaneous muscle is performed,

Second stage of rhytidectomy: cutting and lifting of the skin

The next step in rhytidectomy is cutting and lifting the skin. Undercutting of the skin begins behind the ear, deeper than the level of the hair follicles, which prevents the occurrence of alopecia. The dissection is advanced anteriorly from the sternocleidomastoid muscle to the neck. After cutting the skin on the neck, they pass into the temporal regions, the incisions are made down through the tissues of the scalp, the superficial layer of the tendon helmet and the superficial layer of the temporal fascia. Then the tissues are separated in front of the ear, at the level of the temporal hair bundle, in the subcutaneous layer. The anterior space connects to the same level of undercut on the subcutaneous muscle of the neck. After separation of the tissues of the middle part of the face with the corresponding sections of the superficial musculoaponeurotic system and the subcutaneous muscle, this layer moves in the required posterior-upper direction.

Third stage of rhytidectomy: relocation of the skin flap

The last step in the rhytidectomy operation is the repositioning of the skin flap and suturing. The skin in front of the ear moves backwards and upwards, the skin of the neck rises behind the ear backwards and also upwards so as not to create deformation of the hairline behind the ear. The skin in the behind-the-ear areas is sutured with a continuous suture. The ear is fixed in place with deep sutures, the tissues in front of it are cut off. The tragus flap is folded to form a new tragus. The skin in front of the ear is closed with a continuous suture. The temporal incision is also sutured with a drainage tube placed in it. Excess chin skin   is excised if necessary. At the end of the operation, a bulk bandage with antibacterial ointment is applied. A week after the operation, the stitches and surgical brackets are removed from the patient's face. 

Complications after rhytidectomy: how to avoid them

The following complications may occur in rare cases after rhytidectomy:

postoperative hematoma – occurs in 10% of patients, accompanied by pain and swelling. In some cases, this condition requires repeated surgical intervention;

• flap necrosis – such a complication may occur due to impaired blood supply to the distal ends of the flap;
• nerve damage – a rare complication resulting from improperly planned rhytidectomy;
• hypertrophic scarring – can occur when suturing a skin flap with significant tension;
• infection – a rare complication that occurs when the recommendations of the surgeon are not followed;
• damage to the parotid glands – an extremely rare complication leading to the formation of a fistula.
Choosing an experienced and competent surgeon, as well as strict adherence to all the recommendations of the doctor, will help prevent complications and achieve the maximum result from the rhytidectomy operation.