Facelift & Neck Lift

Westlake Dermatology's West University Houston clinic offers surgical facelift and neck lift procedures performed by board-certified plastic surgeons. Procedures address moderate-to-significant facial ageing including jowling, deep nasolabial folds, loss of jawline definition, and platysmal neck banding. The surgeons address the SMAS (superficial musculoaponeurotic system) layer for repositioning of descended facial tissue, providing natural-looking, long-lasting results. Neck lift tightens the platysmal muscle and removes excess neck skin, defining the cervicomandibular angle. Facelift may be combined with blepharoplasty, brow lift, fat grafting, or laser resurfacing for comprehensive facial rejuvenation.

Facelift (rhytidectomy) and neck lift surgery at Westlake Dermatology West University Houston are performed by the clinic's board-certified plastic surgeons and represent the most comprehensive surgical option for addressing the facial structural changes that accumulate with age — descent of the malar fat pad, formation of jowls along the mandibular border, deepening of the nasolabial folds, laxity of the neck skin and platysma, and loss of the acute cervicomandibular angle that defines the youthful jaw-to-neck transition. The modern approach at Westlake Dermatology centres on manipulation of the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) — the fibromuscular layer that lies deep to the subcutaneous fat and directly above the facial muscles, serving as the structural scaffold that connects the deep facial musculature to the overlying skin. By repositioning the SMAS superolaterally through plication, imbrication, or SMAS-lift techniques, the surgeon restores the facial tissue's anatomical position rather than simply pulling the overlying skin under tension. Skin is then re-draped with minimal tension, and a small amount of truly redundant skin is excised. This two-layer approach produces results that look naturally rejuvenated — restoring the patient's own features to a more youthful position — rather than the telltale tight or distorted appearance associated with older skin-only techniques. Incisions follow the natural contours of the ear (pre-auricular and post-auricular) and extend into the temporal hairline and posterior scalp, healing to be essentially imperceptible within the surrounding anatomy. Neck lift, most commonly performed concurrently with facelift, involves a submental incision beneath the chin that provides access to the platysma muscle for direct plication of platysmal bands, removal of excess submental fat through direct excision or concurrent liposuction, and skin re-draping to define the neck contour. Common adjunct procedures combined with facelift at Westlake Dermatology's Houston clinic include blepharoplasty (upper and/or lower eyelid rejuvenation), brow lift (endoscopic or open), fat grafting to the temples, mid-face, and perioral region to restore volume lost through ageing, and fractional laser resurfacing of the skin surface at the same surgical session. Recovery involves two to three weeks of visible swelling and bruising, with most patients comfortable re-entering social settings at three to four weeks and final results visible at three to six months.