Mini Facelift

Aging, sun damage, smoking, stress, facial fat loss, ligament stretching, gravity, and genetics all impact how our face and neck change over time. Mini facelifts are popular, less invasive cosmetic procedures that help patients rejuvenate the appearance of their face and neck and reverse signs of aging.

Our highly experienced, board-certified plastic surgeons have performed thousands of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures. We invite you to book a consultation to discuss your goals and treatment options.

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Mini facelifts treat:

  • Facial sagging and excess skin

  • Double chin

  • Jowls and drooping in the jawline

  • Deepened marionette lines

  • Platysmal banding

Poor mini facelifts and nonsurgical lifts look overly stretched, distorted, and overfilled. At Plastic Surgeons of Northern Arizona, we aim to achieve noticeable and high-quality, permanent, harmonized, and balanced mini facelift results. Our goal is to make you look better, not different.

What to Expect

Mini facelifts address tissue sagging and excess skin in the lower third of the face, chin, and neck. Full facelifts, by contrast, focus on the bottom two-thirds of the face and neck. Patients who want to reduce wrinkles and excess skin in their entire face and neck will often combine a full facelift, a brow lift, and potentially eyelid surgery. Another key difference between mini facelifts and full facelifts is sedation. Mini facelifts can be performed under local anesthesia, whereas full facelifts require IV sedation or general anesthesia.

Before your mini facelift, we’ll meet to discuss your desired goals, medical history, and procedural approaches based on your unique anatomy. We’ll take photographs and measurements, and will recommend a personalized treatment based on your surgical goals. During this consultation, we’ll also address any questions you have about the procedure itself, potential risks or complications, sedation, recovery, and aftercare.

The entire procedure can be done under local anesthetic to numb the area, which means you won’t need general anesthesia or IV sedation. During the procedure, we’ll make a small incision in the natural contour along the ear from the front of the ear to the back. Through this incision, we’ll remove or redistribute skin and tissue to define the jawline and neck. Finally, we’ll close the skin with sutures.

Mini facelift recovery is generally quicker than a full facelift. Everyone heals at their own pace, but our mini facelift patients typically feel ready to return to work and normal activities within two weeks. Some bruising and swelling are normal and should be expected directly following surgery.

Medical Review: This procedural information has been medically reviewed by plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Brian A. Cripe, M.D.

Mini Facelift Before and After Photos

For privacy, we reserve the majority of before and after photos for viewing during in-office consultations. The cases presented are representative and shared with permission.

Mini Facelift Recovery and Aftercare

Here are some general mini facelift aftercare instructions that we advise patients to follow to achieve optimal results. If you notice increased redness, discharge, or pain near your incision, please give us a call right away.

  • Incision Aftercare: If we use removable stitches, we’ll bring you back one-week post-op to remove those. Dissolvable stitches don’t need to be removed. Please keep the incision areas clean and dry.

  • Medications: We’ll provide an antibiotic ointment to apply on the incision areas for the first week after surgery, as well as prescriptions for pain and nausea medications to ease discomfort during the healing process.

  • Support Garment: We’ll give you a gentle compression garment that applies pressure to the areas we treated in the face and neck. Please wear this garment for the first week continuously, and then at night for three weeks.

  • Scar Massage: Once your incisions have fully healed, gently massaging your mini facelift scars can help reduce their appearance. Apply a simple moisturizer, like Aquaphor or cocoa butter, and lightly massage the scar tissue. Don’t worry about buying a special scar lotion – the most important part is the act of gently massaging the tissue.

  • Water Exposure: You can shower 48 hours after surgery. Avoid using hot water, which can irritate and dry out the incision areas. Don’t swim, bathe, or fully submerge your head and neck in water for at least four weeks to reduce the risk of infection.

  • Sun Protection: Always wear sunscreen to maximize the long-lasting results of your mini facelift and prevent sun damage.

  • Exercise: Avoid strenuous exercise for two to four weeks, but you can walk and do low-impact exercises as soon as you feel up to it.

  • Laser Treatments: We may perform additional laser or infrared treatments to the lower face and neck after the incisions have healed during follow-up appointments. Laser skin resurfacing treatments can help achieve further skin tightening by stimulating collagen production and cellular turnover.

Mini Facelift FAQs

Every plastic surgery practice offers different pricing, based on their location and fee structures. Mini facelifts typically cost less than full facelifts. The national average procedural fee for a facelift is around $8,000, plus the cost of anesthesia, surgical facility costs, and medications. Make sure to talk to your plastic surgeon about all ancillary costs.

The mini facelift is a less invasive procedure than a full facelift, and recovery is usually a little quicker. During a mini lift, we’ll make slightly smaller incisions, through which we remove extra skin and tighten fascia. This creates a smooth, youthful, and lifted appearance in the lower third of the face and the neck. Full facelifts address signs of aging, sagging skin, and undesirable fat deposits on the lower two-thirds of the face. Another key difference between full and mini facelifts is sedation. Mini facelifts can be performed under local anesthesia, whereas full facelift procedures require IV sedation or general anesthesia.

The facelift can be a good option for patients who want to smooth, tighten, and lift their face and neck. If you are a non-smoker and in generally good health, chances are you are a good candidate for facelift surgery. BMI is also a factor we consider. Make sure that you consult with a qualified plastic surgeon to determine your surgical eligibility and talk about the best procedural approaches based on your unique anatomy.

At our practice, we offer interest-free financing options through Care Credit and PatientFi.

Aside from practicing good skincare and preventing sun damage, several non-surgical treatments can help tighten facial skin, restore lost volume, sculpt and jawline, and rejuvenate the skin on the face and neck, including Botox, Laser Skin Resurfacing, Dermal Fillers, Chemical Peels, Microneedling, Hydrafacials, and Dermaplaning. We offer all of these procedures at Plastic Surgeons of Northern Arizona. While these treatments aren’t permanent, they can help minimize and slow down signs of aging.

Some patients opt to combine their facelift procedure with a brow lift to reduce forehead wrinkles, facial fat grafting to restore volume, chin liposuction to define the jawline, and/or eyelid surgery to make the eyes look more awake, youthful, and refreshed. At Plastic Surgeons of Northern Arizona, we provide discounts for subsequent cosmetic procedures. Booking multiple facial cosmetic procedures at once is much more affordable than standalone surgeries, and reduces recovery time.

You May Also Be Interested In:

View All Procedures

  • Laser Skin Resurfacing

  • Hydrafacial

  • Eyelid Surgery

  • Dermal Fillers

  • Chemical Peels

  • Botox

Book Your Mini Facelift Appointment

Our experienced, board-certified plastic surgeons would love to bring you in for a consultation to discuss your goals and treatment options. Fill out this form to receive a call-back shortly, or give us a call at 928-774-2300.