Town & Country Surgery With a Scalpel

"There are two separate issues in the aging process: the quality and the quantity of your skin," says Dr. Darrick Antell, a New York Plastic surgeon. "Skin-quality issues can be addressed with creams and lasers, but quantity-of-skin problems such as sagging jowls require surgery. Nor cream or laser can remove excess skin." Instead of full face-lifts, more patients today are choosing ponytail-friendly operations that result in smaller scars. Dr. Antell says, "Aside from the shorter scar, there's no wind-tunnel look because we work on the deeper layers and reposition the fat and muscles, so the result is more natural." The midface-lift is another less invasive technique, but because it is often done through lower-eyelid incisions, it can cause a noticeable change in eye shape. Our sources recommend against it.

SHORT-SCAR FACE-LIFT

What it does: Elevates and supports skin and underlying fat and muscles of the midface and jowls.
Procedure: The surgeon makes incisions at the hairline and around the ears and lifts (more vertically than in the traditional lift) the fat, muscles and skin.
Pain: Mild discomfort for about one day; treatable with Tylenol.
Lasting power: Five to ten years.
Pros: Compared with the traditional face-lift, involves less scarring; can almost always be performed with local anesthesia adn sedation; shorter surgery time (one and a half hours).
Cons: Bruising and swelling.

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