Midface Cheek Lift: Elevate Your Cheek Appeal in 2023
Midface Cheek Lift
As we age our upper cheeks can lose volume and begin to sag. This results in the upper cheeks appearing flat, nasolabial folds appearing more deep and lower eyelids appearing more hollow. These changes can be addressed with a midface cheek lift (also known as a midface lift or cheek lift), which can restore position and prominence of your cheekbones.
A youthful face is characterised by round facial contours and fullness of the midface/cheek. The result of midface cheek lift is more long-lasting than that achieved with injectables and recovery quicker than a traditional facelift.
Many patients mistakenly believe that a facelift will address midface ageing but are actually better served by a midface cheek lift.
There are a number of techniques for midface cheek lift and Mr Karri will discuss which technique is best for you depending on your facial structure and aesthetic desires. For some patients, Mr Karri may complement the midface cheek lift with fat transfer.
Am I A Good Candidate For Midface Lift?
The best candidates for a midface list are those;
- Who have hollowness beneath the eyes
- Who have descent of the cheek
- Are generally healthy and do not have a medical condition that could impede healing
- Do not smoke
- Have realistic expectations of the results and willing to follow all pre-op and post-op instructions
What Does A Midface Not Do?
A midface lift does not address the lower eyelids, fine wrinkles in the midface or Crow’s feet. To address these issues Mr Karri may recommend lower blepharoplasty and/or skin resurfacing procedure in combination with the midface lift.
1. Approach to the midface through an incision in the lower eyelid, similar to the incision for lower blepharoplasty.
2. Approach to the midface through an incision in the temporal scalp and inside the mouth
3. Approach to the midface directly through a standard facelift incision in front of the ear
4. Augmentation of the midface with fat transfer
Whatever approach is used, it is essential that the midface is treated in the context of the entire face to ensure a harmonious result.
Mr Karri’s Midface Lift Technique
Mr Karri’s preference is to perform a minimally-invasive percutaneous midface lift, in which he repositions the cheek fat pad using suspension sutures. Very fine sutures are passed through the skin into the cheek fat pad and directed up toward the temporal scalp. At the temporal scalp they are passed through the temporal fascia which acts as secure anchor point.
The sutures are then progressively tightened until the cheek fat pad is repositioned correctly.
In some instances, Mr Karri may also perform a lower blepharoplasty at the same time to remove excess lower eyelid skin and fat, and to improve the contour at the eyelid-cheek junction.
The minimal-invasive nature of this technique ensures minimal bruising and quick recovery.
Scars / poor scarring
Infection
Swelling
Excessive bleeding / haematoma
Nerve injury / numbness (under the eyelids)
Asymmetry
Hair loss at the incisions
Medically reviewed by
Mr Vasu Karri
BSc(Hons), MBBS, MRCS, MSc, FRCS(Plast)
Consultant Plastic Surgeon
Last updated 4th September 2023
Related Procedures
Facelift eliminates loose and sagging skin on your face and neck, creating a tighter and more youthful appearance.
For many patients restoration of facial volume can have much more of a rejuvenating effect than a facelift or skin resurfacing.
Eyelid surgery serves to rejuvenate the upper eyelids, lower eyelids or both by removing excess skin and fat, as well as reshaping the eye.
Necklift (platsymaplasty) is a surgical procedure that restores the youthful appearance of the neck.