A face lift is one of the most popular and widely practised cosmetic surgery procedures but, at the same time, it is also complex because it involves operating on a very delicate area that therefore requires great experience and considerable skill.

The purpose of a face lift is to rejuvenate the face by eliminating wrinkles and sagging tissue. Of the various anti-ageing procedures, the face lift is certainly the most decisive. In fact, if performed well, it allows considerable and long-lasting improvements.

Well, so how long does the effect of a facelift last? As you well understand, an exact duration cannot be determined a priori, it depends on many factors: the technique used for the procedure, skin type, age, genetic factors affecting skin ageing, and lifestyle. To give a slightly more concrete answer, a team of British doctors led by Barry Jones and Steven Lo published an interesting study in 2012 analysing the changes in the face in the 10 years following face-lift surgery. The results were quite encouraging for those planning to undergo this surgery, with the only downside being a recurrence in the neck area.

In this study, several parameters were taken into account for patients who had undergone surgery from 2001 to 2011, and all transformations that the operated face had undergone during the 10-year study period were carefully monitored. In particular, the following areas were individually assessed (measured and photographed): cheekbones, jaw, nasolabial grooves and neck. The study showed that even after 10 years, the face retains many of the improvements achieved with the facelift. The best results are seen for an average of 5.5 years. This is in general. If we look at the different areas of the face, however, we can see that they react differently to time: the neck, for example, is a much more recurring area than the face, where ageing tends to progress more than in other areas.

This is looking ahead in the long term; in the short term, on the other hand, we can say that the postoperative course of the facelift is generallyquick and painless, characterised simply by slight bruising and oedema of the face in the first 10-15 days after the operation.

After face-lift surgery it takes about four to five weeks before we see the