McNemar Cosmetic Surgery:
Thomas McNemar, MD, FACS
2160 West Grant Line Road #250
Tracy, CA 95377
Phone: (209) 834-0626
Monday–Friday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Facelift
The trouble with youth is that it doesn’t last forever. And as we age, our faces inevitably begin to wrinkle and sag. A skilled plastic surgeon can provide a more youthful look in a way that appears natural. Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Thomas McNemar is a facelift specialist in Tracy. Women and men from Livermore, Dublin, Brentwood, and beyond choose him for the attractive, natural-looking results he provides.
Facelift
Before & After Photos
Keep in mind that each patient is unique and your results may vary.
What Is a Facelift?
A facelift is a surgical procedure that tightens the skin in the mid-face region (the cheeks and jawline) to create a lifted and more youthful appearance. Facelift surgery is popular with both men and women who have experienced facial sagging and wrinkling.
How Much Does a Facelift Cost in Tracy, CA?
The cost for a facelift in Tracy, San Ramon, Pleasanton, Dublin, and throughout the area depends on a combination of factors. Here are a few:
- The extent of correction you need
- Whether you are having multiple procedures performed together
- The type of anesthesia used
Given that you are electing to have a long-lasting transformation, Dr. McNemar encourages people considering any plastic surgery procedure to consider the surgeon’s qualifications and experience over price. By choosing a board-certified plastic surgeon, you can be confident that your surgeon has extensive training and experience, specifically in both cosmetic and reconstructive techniques.
Qualified patients can also take advantage of our financing program to make costs more manageable.
Meet Dr. Thomas McNemar
Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. McNemar is dedicated to your complete care.
Meet the doctor Request a ConsultationAre You a Good Candidate for a Facelift?
Our faces all show signs of aging at different rates. Genetics and lifestyle both play an important role in the aging process. Good candidates for a facelift are in good overall health, have realistic expectations, and share many of the following characteristics:
- Sagging skin on the jawline
- Deep nasolabial folds
- Lost facial volume in the cheeks
- Loss of muscle tone, resulting in jowls
- A double chin caused by loose skin and excess fat under the chin
- Creases and bands in the neck
Many people visit Dr. McNemar for facelift surgery because they want their appearance to reflect their youthful energy, or they feel that their wrinkles and sagging skin are making them look rundown.
Patient Stories
Amie’s weight had been steadily increasing until she underwent a successful gastric bypass procedure. Left with sagging skin on her body and face, she turned to Dr. Thomas McNemar to help her reveal the features she’d worked hard for. Read about her transformation in her real patient story.
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What Are Some Benefits of a Traditional Facelift?
Facelift is one of the most popular procedures at McNemar Cosmetic Surgery, and for good reason. Here’s what it can do for you:
Turn Back the Clock
One big reason that men and women choose a facelift is to regain their youthful complexion. It’s not uncommon for Dr. McNemar’s patients to send him thank you notes or tell him during follow-up visits how surprised they are to get comments like, “You look 5 years younger!” And unlike the results from injectable dermal fillers, this improved appearance lasts many years.
Improve Your Facial Contours
A number of our patients appreciate that their facelift surgery can restore their facial contours and improve the appearance of their lower eyelids and cheeks. Dr. McNemar can create a more attractive and defined jawline contour by eliminating jowls and tightening portions of the neck. For the most dramatic contouring effect, Dr. McNemar combines facelift with facial liposuction.
Repair Sagging Skin and Tissue
Age and gravity conspire to pull our faces downward. In some cases, it may seem that drooping is limited to the outer layers of the face, but most patients also have some degree of sagging in the tissue structures underlying the face as well. With a facelift, Dr. McNemar tightens the face from the inside out, restoring a toned look from the facial muscles, fat, and connective tissue outward to your skin.
A Reputation Built on Results
What Is a Mini Facelift?
A modified version of the traditional facelift, the mini facelift may be appropriate for patients with good skin tone and elasticity who need minimal lifting. Although the improvements from this procedure aren’t as significant as with a traditional facelift, the mini facelift offers several advantages:
- Less extensive incisions
- May be performed under local anesthesia
- Shorter recovery time
- Less expensive
- Postpones the need for a full facelift
This procedure is well suited for younger patients with moderate signs of aging. It does not include rejuvenation of the neck.
Can a Facelift Be Combined With Other Procedures?
Because the aging process often affects more than the lower face, Dr. McNemar often combines facelift with other facial rejuvenation procedures, including:
- Brow lift raises a heavy browline and smooths away horizontal forehead lines to help relax what can be perceived as a stern appearance.
- Eyelid surgery reduces excess eyelid skin and pockets of fat for a more youthful, refreshed look.
- Fat injections restore youthful fullness to the hollows around the eyes, as well as the cheeks and temples, using your own fat cells.
- Laser skin resurfacing helps your skin look and feel smoother by treating fine lines and discoloration and spurring collagen production.
- Buccal fat removal can also be incorporated into a facelift. “Buccal fat” is better known as cheek fat, and for people who are predisposed to chubby cheeks, it can be a real nuisance. Removing this fat creates a defined, contoured appearance.
During your consultation, Dr. McNemar will develop a customized treatment plan around the improvements you want and recommend whether one surgery or multiple procedures will be best.
Facelift Alternatives
Younger patients with early signs of aging, as well as those who do not want to have surgery, can refresh their look with a combination of minimally invasive treatments.
- Dermal fillers and fat injections to fill in folds and wrinkles, and replace facial volume that diminishes over the years.
- BOTOX® Cosmetic injections smooth out lines across the forehead, between the eyebrows, and at the outer corners of the eyes (crow’s feet).
- Laser skin resurfacing helps reduce fine lines, redness, and excess brown pigment, as well as firm the skin.
What’s a Nonsurgical Facelift (Liquid Facelift)?
By performing BOTOX and dermal filler injections together, we can correct lines, wrinkles, and volume loss on the forehead, eye area, cheeks, chin, and jawline in patients with mild to moderate facial aging. Because these combination treatments are performed with injectables and rejuvenate the whole face, they are called liquid facelifts. For a comparison of surgical and liquid facelifts, visit this blog post.
How Is Facelift Surgery Performed?
The concept of facelift surgery simply stretching the skin tighter to remove wrinkles is outdated. Advanced surgical techniques involve lifting and repositioning the muscles and tissue beneath the skin along the lower face and neck, in addition to removing excess skin. This is accomplished by “undermining,” or separating the muscle and tissue from the skin. Dr. McNemar customizes each facelift based on his assessment of the patient’s skin laxity and the amount of sagging in the mid-face and jowls.
Dr. McNemar typically performs facelift surgery as an outpatient procedure using local anesthetic. Some patients may have the procedure performed while under general anesthesia. When performing the traditional facelift, Dr. McNemar carefully makes incisions along the hairline, extending behind the ears, where they will be easily camouflaged or hidden by the hair (see illustration). A second incision under the chin sometimes may be necessary. Some patients with less advanced signs of aging may be good candidates for a limited-incision facelift, or mini facelift (see illustration).
After elevating the underlying structures and repositioning them, he redrapes the skin to give your appearance a more youthful, healthy, and rested look. Fat may be removed, as well. In some cases, Dr. McNemar may add fat to restore volume to sunken areas, such as the cheeks. The goal is to look like a better version of yourself – not someone different.
Most patients are able to return home on the day of the surgery, although some prefer to take advantage of the extended stay unit.
What Is Facelift Recovery Like?
Each patient’s recovery following a facelift is unique. Dr. McNemar provides detailed postoperative instructions to enhance your comfort and shorten your downtime. Your face will be bandaged after the surgery, and prescription medication can help you minimize discomfort in the first few days.
Keeping your head elevated is important, as is getting plenty of rest. Dr. McNemar encourages patients to take short, slow walks to promote circulation, which helps minimize the risks of complications and enhances the healing process. Bruising and swelling should peak about a week after the procedure, with continual improvement thereafter.
You should be able to return to work within about 2 weeks, wearing makeup to cover any residual bruising. Dr. McNemar is happy to share more about the recovery process during your consultation.
Within just a few weeks, you should be well on your way to enjoying a fresh new look. Incision lines should continue to refine and fade for up to 1 year. To minimize the appearance of scarring, it’s best to limit your direct sun exposure. There are also resurfacing techniques that can diminish scars even further, if you choose.
Dr. McNemar in the News
View recent news clips, articles and press releases featuring Dr. McNemar as an authority on cosmetic treatments.
View more mediaFrequently Asked Questions
What is the right age for a facelift?
There is no minimum or maximum age for having a facelift. Instead, the most important considerations are the degree of facial aging and the patient’s health. In general, our facelift patients are in their 40s to 70s.
If you’re in your 40s, you may be a good candidate for a less-invasive mini facelift, with shorter incisions and a quicker recovery period than a traditional facelift. Patients in their 70s should be healthy enough to tolerate anesthesia, surgery, and recovery.
How long does a facelift procedure take?
Time in surgery often depends on the amount of surgical correction required and whether other procedures are being performed in addition to the facelift. Patients can expect their procedure to take between 2 to 6 hours.
Is the surgery painful?
The face typically feels sore and tight after a facelift but not painful. Prescription medication helps patients feel comfortable; most take it for only a few days.
Will a facelift make me look unnatural?
In the hands of an inexperienced surgeon, facelift surgery can create a very unnatural or “pulled” look to the face. Dr. McNemar is a highly trained board-certified plastic surgeon who understands that, in most cases, subtle surgical correction yields the best results.
Can I expect permanent results from my facelift?
Results vary from person to person, but most facelift patients enjoy a smoothed and lifted facial appearance for at least 5 to 10 years. Keep in mind that while a facelift can take years off your appearance, it will not halt or reverse the aging process; new wrinkles and drooping skin will eventually form. You can protect your results by using high-quality facial cleansers, maintaining a healthy weight and healthy diet, and remembering to wear proper sunscreen whenever outdoors.
Will a facelift make me age faster?
No. Facelifts turn back the clock on a patient’s facial appearance. While the aging process is inevitable, facelift patients will continue to look younger than their chronological age as years pass.
Learn From the Expert
As a board-certified plastic surgeon with decades of experience, Dr. Thomas McNemar loves teaching patients about their cosmetic treatments. To learn more about what to expect from your plastic surgery procedure, read his go-to guide on breast augmentation and body contouring.
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