Demystifying Facelifts — Why No Two Should Be Alike

Deep plane, ponytail, mini, standard — the world of facelifts can be tricky to figure out, and everyone seems to have an opinion on the latest trend.

At Jonathan Zelken, MD, our own Dr. Zelken is a board-certified plastic surgeon who has devoted his career to meeting (and exceeding)  the facelift goals of his patients. Instead of promoting the latest trends, we believe that words like custom, tailored, and bespoke are better descriptions for the facelifts we perform, as no two are alike.

Beyond the trends and names

Following the latest trends can be fun, but it’s best left to things like clothes, music, and restaurants. When it comes to something as important as facial surgery, we prefer to leave trends out of it and concentrate on combining science with our patient’s wishes.

For example, if you’ve heard that deep plane facelifts are THE way to go, we want you to consider a few points.

A deep plane facelift is a procedure in which we keep your skin connected to the deeper structures and reposition both together. Of course, we don’t disagree with this approach, which can deliver exceptional results, but deep plane facelifts aren’t for everyone, and we feel they can be incomplete.

For example, if you have very loose skin, we may want to separate the skin so that we can reposition and redrape it to the greatest effect. Even if your skin isn’t very lax, we still want to sculpt your skin, especially in tricky areas like your jawline, to put the finishing touches on our deeper plane work.

In general, our facelifts strike a good balance — about 75% deep plane benefit and 25% skin benefit. This balance allows us to deliver natural-looking results that work with your body.

For younger patients seeking early intervention facelifts, a pure-deep plane approach works very well.  For a more in-depth discussion of facelifts, please click here to access Dr. Zelken’s video to demystify the various facelift trends. 

Beyond the facelift

In 2022, nearly 350,000 facial surgeries were performed in the United States, including eyelid surgeries, facelifts, nose jobs, and brow lifts. And we feel that any of these procedures can be a part of someone’s facelift journey.

When Dr. Zelken sits down with you, he spends a good deal of time simply listening to what you’d like to accomplish. Once you state your wishes, he examines your face and skin and discusses the right combination of procedures to get you to your end goal.

For example, he might suggest a brow lift or eyelid surgery, or you might benefit from facial implants.

Or, maybe you only need minor mid to upper face work or minimal skin adjustments around your jawline.

Our point here is that every person who walks through our doors has unique facial structures, aging processes, and goals, and our job is to figure out the best path forward. 

To learn more about how we can design the facelift of your dreams, please contact our office in Newport Beach, California, at (949) 432-4730. Or, you can use our online booking tool to request a consultation.