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Surgical and Nonsurgical Procedures to Enhance Your Facelift

Posted January 29, 2025 in Facial Plastic Surgery, Non-Surgical Procedures

Woman in her forties with short blonde hair rests her hand under her chin and smiles against a grey background.

Facelifts can transform your appearance, but to enhance your results, combination procedures like eyelid surgery or brow lifts are ideal. This blog discusses the best procedures to combine with a facelift, including minimally invasive treatments, to achieve the best possible results.

Improve the Results of Your Facelift

A facelift represents the gold standard of cosmetic facial surgery; with decades of technical advances and methodologies, facelifts are the ultimate procedure for correcting even the most severe facial aging concerns.

From sagging jowls and skin to a loss of facial definition, a facelift tightens the underlying structures to build up the contours of youth. Facelifts treat facial aging throughout the mid to lower face: the cheeks, mouth, chin, and jawline. This area sees a lot of expressive movement, and as it loses volume, it loses definition and takes on deep creases and wrinkles. By treating the underlying structures, a facelift restores a youthful appearance with a natural-looking result.

But what’s not natural looking is what happens when other areas of the face, namely the eyes and upper third of the face, are left untreated with severe aging. Many plastic surgeons recommend combining procedures with a facelift in order to achieve the most cohesive, natural-looking result. Even nonsurgical options can help smooth the transition between the enhanced lower portion of the face and the rest. We’ll explore these options below.

Which Procedures Should I Combine With My Facelift?

The choice of procedure really depends on the aging concerns that you personally experience. Your board-certified plastic surgeon can help you decide if adding a surgical procedure to your facelift will be beneficial or if perhaps minimally invasive treatments like BOTOX® Cosmetic injections or dermal filler injections may be a better fit. Popular combination procedures include the following.

Brow Lift

Although less well-known than the facelift, a brow lift offers significant benefits to common facial aging concerns. Just as the lower face sags and loses definition with age, the upper third of the face does as well.

The forehead and brows exhibit frequent movement, as facial expressions generally stem from the eyes and eyebrows. Additionally, the upper face is usually susceptible to more sun damage than the rest, contributing to age-related concerns. These factors pair with natural aging to result in sagging brows that lose their definition, crowd the eyes, and cause you to look tired or angry. Additionally, dynamic wrinkles are common in the forehead, with horizontal wrinkles and elevens (lines between the eyebrows) also adding to an aged or haggard look.

A brow lift is the surgical response to all of these issues. This procedure smooths and tightens the forehead to reduce wrinkles and remarkably lift and shape the brows. The results are a more open, rested appearance with a stronger definition of the brows, displaying the eyes. Brow lifts are an exceptional procedure to add to your facelift, as they help smooth and shape the upper face to better match the results of the lower features.

Eyelid Surgery

Blepharoplasty, sometimes called eyelid surgery or an eye lift, is a remarkably quick procedure that provides staggering results. As we age, the muscles surrounding the eyes begin to loosen, allowing the protective fat to shift. Additionally, the skin around the eyes is very thin and ages much faster than the rest of the face, resulting in more sagging and crepey skin.

Blepharoplasty can be performed on both the upper and lower eyelids and treats these various concerns. The lower eyelids are where fat displacement becomes a problem, as those bags you notice are not actually due to a lack of sleep! Lower blepharoplasty either removes or relocates these fat pockets for a smooth, rested appearance. Upper blepharoplasty generally treats the loosened orbital muscles that cause a droopy appearance to the eyelid. The skin can also be tightened, with the excess trimmed away.

Eyelid surgery is truly remarkable, as the eyes are some of the most prominent features of the face. Restoring a rested and alert appearance works wonders for looking younger, as so many blepharoplasty patients have discovered.

BOTOX® Cosmetic and Injectable Fillers

Of course, we all age a little differently, and lifestyle factors can also play a role in the rate of aging. Some patients may not want or need additional surgeries to combine with their facelift but can still benefit from maintenance treatments like BOTOX® Cosmetic or fillers. Others can benefit from incorporating these treatments after their combination procedures to maintain their results in a subtle, natural-looking way.

BOTOX® Cosmetic is a neuromodulator that restricts muscle contraction where it is injected, making it a great treatment for those dynamic wrinkles throughout the forehead and between the brows. It can be used to temporarily freeze muscles that cause wrinkles and, with continued use, can even prevent new wrinkles from forming.

Dermal fillers offer a wide range of treatments, depending on the location and severity of concerns. What they primarily accomplish is the restoration or increase of facial volume. This is essential for aging patients, as volume loss is a main contributor to wrinkles and facial aging. Dermal fillers can increase volume in the cheeks, lips, chin, and jawline to restore or create a stronger contour. Many formulas also increase hydration when injected, crucial for youthful, plump skin.

Want to Learn More About Combining Procedures With a Facelift in Scottsdale, AZ?

Dr. Spies is a well-respected, board-certified plastic surgeon who has served the community of Scottsdale for over two decades. Dr. Spies brings a high level of expertise and patient care to each case and is happy to advise you on the best combination of procedures to get you the result you want. Call Dr. Spies today at (480) 359-1019 or fill out our contact form to schedule a consultation.

Contact Us Today

Dr. Spies is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and highly experienced in breast lift surgery for over 35 years. If interested in undergoing this procedure, please feel free to call 480-359-1019 to schedule a consultation.

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Dr. Spies' office is located in Paradise Valley, Arizona, adjacent to the Paradise Valley Cosmetic Surgery Center.


Robert J. Spies, M.D.
5410 N Scottsdale Rd C 100
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253
Tel: 480-359-1019