The term “lifting” refers to an action that improves quality or appearance. In aesthetic medicine and plastic surgery, facelift procedures have been used for years and, although the methods continue to evolve alongside the development of these fields, they still primarily involve tightening and lifting the facial skin, sometimes also partially removing excess skin.

The aim of a facelift is to improve facial features, restore the face’s natural and desired contour, and smooth wrinkles in different areas of the face.

Facelift procedures are used in particular by female and male patients with a less defined facial contour and mature skin that has visibly lost its youthful density and firmness. These treatments also help in cases of loose skin accumulating around the jawline and/or chin, the brow arches, and the corners of the eyes and mouth. In some cases, a face and neck lift is also performed in patients who have had an accident, suffered burns, or undergone skin grafts.

Facial lifting treatments can be divided into invasive and non-invasive procedures.

Invasive treatments involve breaking the continuity of the skin or interfering with deeper tissues. They may include incisions, injections, or the removal of tissue fragments. They more often require anaesthesia and a healing period.

Non-invasive treatments do not disrupt the continuity of the skin or tissues. They do not require the use of a scalpel, incisions, or injections. They are usually less demanding on the body and either require no recovery period or only a very short one.

One form of facial lifting is a surgical procedure that has been successfully used for years and requires significant intervention in the skin tissue. It delivers spectacular results, but also requires the patient to undergo a fairly long and often demanding recovery period. For this reason, aesthetic medicine specialists have also developed several other, less invasive lifting treatments. These usually do not provide results as dramatic as a surgical facelift, but they still deliver excellent effects and do not force the patient to give up their everyday activities for some time after the procedure.

A facelift is most commonly associated with a plastic surgery procedure — specifically, surgical skin incisions made in an “upward and backward” direction. The plastic surgeon makes incisions along the hairline, at the temples, behind and in front of the ears, and then repositions the skin to restore the desired facial contour. Most often, the surgeon also separates the excess skin and then removes it.

For a surgical facelift, which is the most invasive method and is performed under general anaesthesia, contraindications include, among others:

• pregnancy and breastfeeding,
• cancer or autoimmune diseases,
• diabetes,
• thromboembolic diseases,
• respiratory system diseases.

For a less invasive volumetric facelift, contraindications may include:

• allergy to hyaluronic acid or any other ingredient in the administered preparation,
• infection or other skin conditions on the face,
• vitiligo,
• epilepsy,
• active psoriasis in the treatment area.

PDO thread lifting, on the other hand, cannot be performed in people suffering from an infection or other skin conditions on the face.

Qualification for each procedure is always decided by the attending doctor.