What is A Midface Lift?

Dr. Kang’s Patient after a Mid Facelift

1. What is a Mid Facelift?
   • A mid facelift involves lifting the sagging part of upper cheek area as it relates to the temporal and peri-orbital complex superiorly, nasolabial line anteriorly, and lower cheek and jawline inferiorly.
2. Who is a Mid Facelift best for? Where do you draw the line between someone who could see great results from a mid-lift, and those who need a full facelift?
   • A mid facelift is ideal for someone who looks great simply by drawing their hair back in a ponytail, thus often called ponytail lift. In other words, if you look great by pulling your cheeks superiorly towards your temporal hairline area, you would be an ideal candidate for a mid faceliift.  Obviously greatest amount of pull will be in the upper followed by the lower cheek area which makes up the midface.  However because skin is contiguous, depending on patient’s anatomy and also depending on particular technique of mid facelift, you can see improvement of jawline and neck as well.  However if patient’s main concern is for optimal improvement of jawline, jowling, and neck lift, full face lift is recommended.  There is one very important caveat about full face lift which takes the vector of the pull more laterally(backwards) towards front and back of your ears. Depending on position of your ear and depending on how wide and flat your bony features are, the classic jaw& neck pull around your ears can make you look awkwardly windswept in appearance,  especially patients of Asian descent.  Perhaps, these patients  would be better served with a more conservative but  upwards vector that mid facelift provides to obtain a more natural look and avoid the dreaded windswept look that optically can make your face look flatter.  Many Surgeons including myself have incorporated a composite type of lift when performing a full facelift, to always addresses both the  more lateral pull that classic jawline & neck lift requires along with  superiorly directed pull that midface/pony lift provides.
3. What does actual surgery involve? What is recovery/downtime involve?
   • A mid facelift can be performed in myriads of ways.  Patients really have to do their due diligence and find out who is the ideal mid facelift Surgeon for their needs.  As for myself, mid facelift is truly the hub to all the aging process in the face and I have embraced this technique  for the last 25 years.  For me, this surgery truly reverses the aging process from the gravity effect which occurs in a superior to inferior direction. For me the surgery entails accessing the temporal space through incision in the temporal hairline. Once the temporal space has been freed up, the midface is entered by passing through the malar (cheek) eminence. In addition for patients with significant tear trough issues, the lower peri-orbital area is entered and freed up.  The degree of pull is always taylormade to optimize the patient’s unique individual anatomical foundations and aging process. Because the plane of dissection is mostly sub-SMAS,  there is usually minimal to no bruising along with only a moderate degree of swelling, thereby usually requiring only a week to recover.