How To Get a Natural Face Lift? Answers from Dr. Gardner

Key Takeaways

• How to get a natural face lift: Work with a board-certified plastic surgeon who prioritizes subtle, balanced results that enhance—not change—your appearance.
• Dr. Paul Gardner’s approach to a natural facelift focuses on repositioning deeper tissues rather than over-tightening skin, avoiding the “pulled” look.
• Mini facelifts offer a less invasive option for patients with early signs of aging, providing natural rejuvenation with minimal downtime.
• A natural facelift restores youthful contours by lifting and refining facial structure while maintaining natural expressions and movement.
• Ideal candidates include patients experiencing facial sagging or skin laxity who want long-lasting, natural results without an overdone appearance.
• Recovery times vary: Most mini facelift patients return to normal activities in about a week, while full facelifts typically require two to four weeks. Strenuous activity takes 4-6 as with most surgical procedures.

With a reputation for being one of the top plastic surgeons in Naples, Florida, for outstanding facelift work, Dr. Paul M. Gardner describes the facelift as his favorite procedure to perform at Naples Plastic Surgery, because it represents “the ultimate between; finding the balance between surgery and art.” Finding that balance is also partly how Dr. Gardner responds to the frequently asked question of “how to get a natural facelift,” he hears in many initial patient consultations. 

Of course, there’s more to the answer than just finding that balance. Dr. Gardner and the practice’s other board-certified surgeons strive to give their traditional facelift and mini facelift patients natural-looking results that restore youthful contours without an overly stretched or artificial appearance. They rely on their surgical artistry and specialized techniques to strike a balance between surgery and art, achieving a rested, younger-looking appearance for their patients. “The biggest compliment I get from my patients is when they tell me that other people ask them whether they lost weight or changed their hair while noting how great they look,” says Dr. Gardner. “And they do so while not suspecting that the patient had undergone plastic surgery.”

Let’s explore how to achieve a natural facelift, drawing on the surgical philosophy of Dr. Gardner and his team at Naples Plastic Surgery.

Naples Plastic Surgery Emphasizes Natural-Looking Results

Dr. Gardner says that Naples Plastic Surgery’s goal with both the traditional facelift and the mini facelift is to make their patients’ facial features look refreshed, natural, and lifted back where they once were, 10 or 20 years earlier. “A facelift isn’t about tightening the skin or making the patient’s skin look overly stretched,” he says, noting that this is an unfortunate result of some facelift surgeries performed by other practices. Instead, he says, a traditional facelift at their practice involves “elevating midface tissues that have drooped over time due to the aging process, and restoring them to where they once were when the patient was younger.” 

While this involves some tissue tightening, the surgeons use specific techniques designed to minimize the need for excess tightening. For example, they avoid aggressive trimming of excess skin to preserve natural elasticity and reduce the need for subsequent surgical tightening. Some other “natural” facelift  techniques used by the surgeons at Naples Plastic Surgery include:

• Lifting and repositioning the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (deeper layer of facial muscles and connective tissues) to restore youthful contours with evenly distributed tension on the skin.
• Using precise measurements to determine how much lift is needed for each patient’s unique facial structure, skin laxity, and aging patterns to ensure the avoidance of over-correction.
• Vector-based lifting that lifts tissues in ways that mimic natural facial movements, helping to avoid a pull-backed appearance and maintain the patient’s natural expressive features.
• Using complementary techniques, such as fat grafting or skin resurfacing with lasers/peels, which can help restore youthful skin fullness and balance without the need for aggressive skin tightening.  

The mini facelift at Naples Plastic Surgery inherently requires less tissue removal and the need for subsequent skin tightening. This enables our surgeons to utilize their surgical artistry and specialized techniques with greater ease, providing patients with the most natural-looking results. A mini facelift also involves removing excess skin, subtle tightening, and repositioning of the skin and underlying muscle to alleviate sagging that is more confined to jowls and jawline. As with the full facelift, the surgeons at Naples Plastic Surgery are committed to delivering the most natural-looking results that avoid pinching facial features or distorting facial expressions. 

Dr. Gardner notes that the mini facelift is far less invasive than the traditional facelift, yet delivers outstanding anti-aging facial feature rejuvenation with minimal comparative downtime. “A week later, most of our patients look like they’ve never had anything done; they’re ready to go out to dinner, out to events, they can be out in public, and they look great,” he concludes.     

Your Natural Facelift Begins with the Initial Consultation

The initial consultation is a crucial element in ensuring that a patient receives a natural facelift, traditional or mini, at Naples Plastic Surgery. Whether with Dr. Gardner or one of his partner surgeons, this consultation entails:

• Determining the patient’s facial aesthetic goals.
• Conducting a facial examination to assess skin quality, bone structure, muscle tone, and contours. 
• Educating the patient on what to expect from a traditional or mini facelift ensures they have realistic expectations. 
• A medical history review is conducted to ensure that the patient is a suitable candidate for the procedure. 

Based on this consultation, the Naples Plastic Surgery team designs a surgical plan utilizing the best techniques to ensure a natural facial enhancement that will make the patient look refreshed and years younger. 

To learn more about how to get a natural facelift with the skilled board-certified surgeons at Naples Plastic Surgery, schedule a confidential consultation by contacting our practice at 239-566-2611. With over 25 years of providing thousands of Southwest Florida patients with outstanding aesthetic enhancements through our artistic plastic surgery expertise, we look forward to meeting with you.  

FAQs: Natural Face Lift by Dr. Gardner

Q: What causes the pinched, windswept appearance in some facelift patients? 

A: Surgical procedures that rely too much on excising and tightening facial tissues rather than repositioning facial tissues and making other subtle adjustments. 

Q: How does Naples Plastic Surgery ensure that patients get a natural-looking facelift?

A: Our surgeons carefully strategize tissue removal to minimize the need for excessive facial tissue tightening and rely on several specialized surgical techniques that subtly restore the youthful appearance of facial features and contours.

Q: What’s the difference between a traditional facelift and a mini facelift for natural results?

A: A traditional facelift addresses moderate to advanced signs of aging across the mid-face, cheeks, and neck using deep tissue repositioning to provide comprehensive natural facial rejuvenation. A mini facelift targets milder signs of aging on the lower face and neck, using smaller incisions and more subtle repositioning of facial tissue.

Q: How much downtime is required from a mini facelift compared to a traditional facelift?

A: Most patients who undergo a mini facelift at Naples Plastic Surgeon are fully recovered and ready to show their refreshed facial features in about a week after surgery. Traditional facelift patients typically resume social activities after two weeks of recovery, although full recovery can take four to six weeks.