Facelift & Neck Lift in Dunwoody,
Sandy Springs & North Atlanta

The decision rests on how much a particular concern bothers you, rather than on your age. Patients typically begin considering it in their early forties, and the most common age is the mid-fifties. The upper limit is determined by overall health rather than by a number.

A facelift can help patients look more rested, defined, and naturally refreshed by addressing laxity in the lower face and neck. The goal is not to create a specific “number of years younger,” but to restore facial balance in a way that still looks like you. Individual results vary, and no surgeon can promise a particular outcome.

Not inherently. Unlike procedures involving implants, a facelift does not require revision. You will continue to age naturally, and whether to repeat the procedure later is entirely a matter of personal preference.

The surgeon elevates the skin and a layer of fat beneath it. It is the most straightforward technique and carries the least risk of the options available.

Any full facelift where the incision passes around the earlobe but not up the back of the ear, starting beneath the sideburn and contouring around its front. It avoids the incision behind the ear, though in practice that scar rarely interferes with wearing a ponytail. The trade-off is that a short scar technique may produce more visible scarring and less natural-looking results, and the scar along the hairline is often more noticeable.

Where the neck has good muscle tone and only mild banding beneath the chin, no separate treatment may be needed — those muscles extend back to the ears, so lifting them smooths the neck. Significant neck fat may be treated with liposuction, though not too aggressively: fat maintains fullness in the skin, prevents a crepe-like appearance, and helps conceal muscle banding. Thick bands are addressed through an incision under the chin, tying the muscles together centrally. Occasionally, partial removal of the salivary gland beneath the jawline is necessary where it contributes to fullness.

One of the major changes with aging is a loss of facial volume — the face deflates and collapses inward as well as sagging. Restoring that volume through fat injections can be an important part of the procedure.

Yes, wherever an incision is made. But the areas where facelift incisions are placed heal remarkably well, and when an incision follows the curves of natural anatomy it becomes extremely difficult to notice, even close up.

No. Lasers can remove broken capillaries and brown spots, soften wrinkles, and tighten skin — but they do not tighten skin to the degree a facelift does, they do not lift sagging tissue underneath, and they cannot tighten the neck. A facelift is like taking in the hem of a garment; a laser treatment is like pressing the fabric.

Brow lifts and eyelid surgery are frequently performed alongside a facelift, and ear or nasal surgery sometimes. Dr. Stephenson rarely combines breast or body liposuction with facial surgery, because the total time under anesthesia matters.

No. A facelift improves the face from the upper cheeks down. The eyebrows and forehead are addressed with a brow lift, and the eyes with eyelid surgery.

Facelift and neck lift surgery starts at $12,250. The final figure depends on the technique, the extent of the procedure, and your individual plan. After your consultation you receive a written quote covering the whole plan.