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Dr. Chasan's Mini Facelift / Petit Lift Photo Gallery

Modern facelift techniques have improved the quality of results while also decreasing overall downtime. Most patients feel and look good within a week and are often times ready to socialize in as early as two weeks.

Patients who have early facial aging, typically in their forties and early fifties, may benefit from a mini facelift procedure that San Diego area plastic surgeon Dr. Chasan has developed known as the “Petit Lift.”

Who needs a facelift?

A number of factors can determine what kind of facelift is right for a patient. Every patient comes to us with a unique set of aesthetic ideals and facial anatomy as well. Most facelift patients feel self-conscious about sagging skin on their face or neck and/or wish to undo the effects of aging. Facelifts are also common procedure for those who have developed undesired facial features from either hereditary, stress-related causes or aged skin due to overexposure to sun or smoke.

Facelift and Petit Lift Treatments

The standard facelift procedure, also called a rhytidectomy, is one of the primary methods in a plastic surgeon’s toolkit for facial rejuvenation. By focusing on the lower third of the face (the jowl and the neck regions), the facelift treatment allows the patient to come away with a contoured and more defined face and neck. Although the patient may have a variety of reasons that have led them to the decision of wanting a facelift, the patient’s end goal is the same: to look younger, healthier, and more beautiful.

What should you expect from a full facelift?

Patients with unwanted wrinkles, an aged and tired appearance, or excessive jowling can greatly benefit from a full rhytidectomy. The facelift procedure erases years off the patient’s face, giving them a youthful, alert look regardless of their age. Patients have often said that, after receiving a facelift, they look like their younger selves again. This is because the aging process, in conjunction with exposure to the elements, naturally causes the features of the face to soften and sag. As the jawline softens and forehead creases turn into larger folds, the effects of aging are unavoidable. However, a facelift can effectively turn back the hands of time.

The Petit Lift

The Petit Lift is a special procedure developed by Dr. Chasan. While a standard facelift that is performed by a capable surgeon can get great results, the Petit Lift provides a similar treatment for patients who are not quite ready for a full facelift. The Petit Lift is a modified form of a traditional facelift procedure that requires less dissection and is often accompanied by liposuction and fat transfer. Patients, typically in their forties and fifties, who desire a youthful facial appearance but are not ready for a full facelift will see great results from this procedure. Although it still shares similar qualities to the typical facelift treatment (it requires the same amount of careful artistry, as well as long lasting, rejuvenating effects), the recovery time is far less. That said, candidates for a Petit or Mini Lift are based on an individual’s facial anatomy. The right type of patient will be eligible after a consultation with esteemed San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Chasan, will determine if this procedure is appropriate for the patient’s age and unique attributes.

Browlift Surgery

A browlift is a common operation that is often performed endoscopically in conjunction with a facelift procedure. Also known as a forehead lift, the browlift is performed on the forehead and brow areas. The browlift affects the tissue and muscles beneath the skin and reduces the types of wrinkled, sagging facial features that often occur as a result of aging, such as hard frown lines and forehead creases. There are (4) small (less than ½” incisions behind the hairline). A browlift results in a more youthful, rested appearance in a matter of days or weeks.

Eyelid surgery

A blepharoplasty , is another option for patients wanting a more complete facial rejuvenation. Depending on the patient’s needs, the surgeon will administer a treatment on the upper eyelids, lower eyelids, or both. Reasons for wanting eyelid surgery include drooping lower eyelids, excess skin, and even the common “bags under the eyes” appearance.

Results and Effects of a Facelift

It is a common misconception that facelift procedures are performed on the skin – however, this is not true of expert plastic surgeons. Dr. Chasan operates with a careful eye for detail, working with his patients’ deep facial tissues, which affect the skin’s appearance. Sagging skin and excess fat may also be removed, that can make the patient appear to be years younger. A facelift from Ranch and Coast Plastic Surgery “turns back the clock” so to speak, helping patients look ten to sometimes even fifteen years younger depending on their circumstances.

How soon will I recover from a facelift?

The facelift procedure performed by Dr. Chasan at Ranch and Coast Plastic Surgery is a surgical procedure. His staff reviews the recovery information prior to surgery so there’s less anticipation and puts the patients at ease. Any potential side effects, such as swelling or bruising (which are common), will diminish over the course of a few days. The patient can then return to their normal routine while enjoying a rejuvenated facial appearance. Only a personal consultation with Dr. Chasan can reveal your candidacy for a facelift, browlift, eyelid surgery, or Petit Lift treatment. Call our office today to set up an appointment .

Dr. Chasan Discusses Mini Facelift Choices on the Wellness Hour

Interviewer: Facelifting, big part of what you do.

Dr. Chasan: Yeah.

Interviewer: At what point does somebody need a facelift?

Dr. Chasan: Well, I’m gonna put facelift as one of my many tools for facial rejuvenation, okay? And a facelift, people make that mistake of facelift versus a full facelift. A facelift is really a neck and jaw lift, very reliable and reproducible, remove the gel and the turkey neck, okay? So that’s what a facelift does. It does this part of the face, the lower third. And, you know, when I first started practicing, I kind of had one facelift. And now, over all these years, I’ve been in practice 20 years, I have like five different facelifts. So I try to match that facelift with the patient’s anatomy.

So I would say I do a lot of mini-facelifts. We call it “the petite lift.” And the difference between a mini-facelift and, you know, a very aggressive facelift is dissection, how much skin you undermine. In a mini-facelift, it would be less. The less you undermine, the quicker the recovery. There are some people who come with bowl-shaped necks, and they have big submandibular glands and a thick neck. But you can’t do a mini-lift on them. And if you do, you’re really wasting their time and your time. So the spectrum is from mini-lift to actually full-neck contouring with removal of what we call the platysmal fat and, underneath the platysma fat, removal of these glands called submandibular glands. There are these big, thick muscles called digastric muscles.

So, on some people, I’ll actually remove part of the digastric muscle, remove part of the submandibular gland, remove part of that submandibular fat, and then suture this platysmal muscle. And they can go from kind of a bowl-shaped neck where the chin meets their chest to a very contoured, defined neck.

Interviewer: So what are the age ranges of these… like these mini-lifts?

Dr. Chasan: Yeah, most people, I would say in the late 40s is when they start doing mini-lifts. Usually, eyelids and brow lifts are in the late 30s and early 40s and then mini-lifts, in the late 40s, 50s, 60s, even into the 70s.

Interviewer: Okay. And how many years younger can you make somebody look with some of these?

Dr. Chasan: It really depends on…

Interviewer: What do you hear?

Dr. Chasan: It depends on your anatomy.

Interviewer: Like 10 years younger, 15 years younger?

Dr. Chasan: I would say 10 to 15. And it really depends on how fit they are. I always tell patients the best thing for your skin is cardio, avoiding sun, avoiding smoking. So if somebody does that and lives a healthy lifestyle, yeah, they can look 15 years younger. You know, funny you should mention that. I just did a lady. And it surprised me how good she did. She’s actually my age. She was a heavy smoker. She was a patient of mine, I don’t know, 12 years ago. And she came back for a facelift. And she looked pretty bad, a lot of sun damage, a lot of smoking. And I just did her facelift about three weeks ago. And, honest to God, now, this is unusual, but she looks about 20 years younger.

Interviewer: Is that right?

Dr. Chasan: Yeah. It’s actually quite impressive transformation.

Interviewer: Now, what are the fears patients have, because I feel like I could spot a facelift 20 yards away?

Dr. Chasan: That’s their fear. So for brow lifts, every one of them says, “I don’t wanna look like a deer in the headlights,” okay, and that, you know, if I had patients that looked like that, it wouldn’t be very good for business. But we don’t see that. But, you know, you do see it. You see it.

Interviewer: That done look.

Dr. Chasan: That done look.

Interviewer: That tight done look.

Dr. Chasan: And all you have to do is see one of them, and it negates 100. The same thing with the facelift is “I don’t wanna look windblown,” right? “I don’t wanna look like that tight, windblown look.” And I usually tell people that that windblown, tight look is either one of two things, an expert surgery…so if you’re a pro at it and you are detail-oriented on how the earlobe insets, where the sideburn is, how you treat the posterior hairline so they can wear their hair up, that you’re not pulling on the skin, because skin will stretch. You’re pulling on what we call the SMAS layer, which is the superficial covering in the muscle. It’s very fibrous. It doesn’t stretch like the skin. If you do the right things, you won’t get that look. The other way is some people, you know, they’ve had five, six facelifts.

Interviewer: Really?

Dr. Chasan: After five, six facelifts, you’ll have that look. So I try to caution my patients to have a life plan on how many they’re gonna have, how long facelifts last. And if it’s done expertly, you should not be able to tell that they had a facelift.

Interviewer: Are there women out there in San Diego, they’re 60, 55, that look years younger, nobody knows they had a facelift, not even their friends, that you’ve done?

Dr. Chasan: Most of my patients. Yeah.

Interviewer: Really?

Dr. Chasan: Most of my patients.

Interviewer: So if I saw one of your patients walking down the street…

Dr. Chasan: You wouldn’t know. You shouldn’t be able to know. I’d be embarrassed if you knew. You shouldn’t.

Interviewer: So when I see somebody that looks fantastic at 55, I’m gonna think maybe that’s Dr. Chasan’s patient.

Dr. Chasan: I hope so, yeah, and pride myself on that.