The first facelift surgery was performed in Germany in 1901. After one hundred years, it is still one of the most sought after cosmetic procedures in the U.S. with more than 118,000 procedures performed in 2007. While the concept of the facelift has remained the same all those years, advancements in surgery and tools available give surgeons the ability to improve appearances without the evidence of change that marked most procedures in the past.

The official name for facelift is rhytidectomy, which means the surgical removal of wrinkles. In the early days, only the rich and famous could afford a facelift, mostly middle-aged Hollywood actors looking to revitalize their careers. Even when allowing for several months of healing, most facelifts resulted in a wind swept appearance. While it was easier in the first part of the 20th Century to tell who underwent the knife, spotting cosmetic surgery is a popular pastime even today.

A traditional facelift is considered a major surgical procedure. The surgeon makes an incision from ear to ear, usually hiding it in the hairline. With special tools, the doctor undermines the skin, separating the outer layer from the underlying layers in order to stretch the skin taut and thereby removing the wrinkles. While the process has not changed much over the years the surgical skills, undermining tools, and suturing materials have made the procedure much better and less obvious.

Many people who do not want to undergo a full facelift, or just want to touch up from an old procedure now have an option called the one hour magic lift. This procedure uses the same basic premise of stretching the skin of the face to eliminate wrinkles, but it does so much less invasively. Rather than undergoing surgery, this procedure is performed on an outpatient basis. Using small incisions and small undermining tools, the skin is manipulated and moved using tiny threads hung on small hooks, which are anchored to the bone.

These magic lift procedures really do only take about an hour to perform and the patient can return to their regular activities almost immediately. The total recovery time for a full facelift procedure may be several months, but is just a matter of weeks for a magic lift. The expense is much lower for a thread lift procedure than a full facelift too, while in many cases the results are completely adequate for purely cosmetic needs.

There is no telling where facelift procedures will move in the 21st Century. Already, there have been two successful full-face transplants, which is a major accomplishment. While these are not cosmetic, but reconstructive procedures, the techniques and technology used in the procedure will only benefit all forms of plastic surgery.

When considering a facelift procedure, whether a full surgery, or a magic thread lift, find a surgeon who is keeps abreast of the latest cosmetic procedures.

In the Atlanta area, please contact the facelift specialists at Kim Facial Plastic Surgery to schedule an initial consultation.