Face Lift Surgery (Rhytidectomy) Pictures
Performed By
Dr. George C. Yang
Case: 12009
Face Lift Surgery (Rhytidectomy)
Female, Fair skin tone
Facelift Incision Tutorial (Part 1): Pre-Tragal Incision (Incision in front of the ear). Why do it? What are the advantages? Disadvantages? When is it better to do it this way? When is a Post-tragal incision (incision behind the ear cartilage) better? In my experience most of my patients have a wrinkles in front of their ear cartilage, and by placing the incision along the curves in front of the ear, this results in an ideal incision which is virtually imperceptible (unless you are looking for it.) The main reason that I like this incision is that it leaves the natural skin that is on the ear cartilage alone. By leaving it alone, the cartilage does not get flattened or distorted from contraction of the skin, and it allows for a recreation of the natural wrinkle in front of the ear before the facelift. The main disadvantage is for certain ethnicities, such as Asians, African-Americans, anyone who tends to develop red or brown scars after surgery that can last for months. For these patients the redness of the scar can last a long time, during which time they need to cover their ears, or put some foundation or cover-up to hide the redness. Because of the redness, even though the incision is perfectly flat it appears to be a bad scar. When the red or brown color finally fades, then it will look good, but not before then. If this is the case, then why do it this way. If the cartilage of the ear becomes distorted, it will never go back to it original shape, whereas, the incision in front of the ear cartilage gets better and better with time. Isn't it the goal of a facelift to have results that last at least 7-10 years? Then why chose an incision that would permanently distort the ear cartilage and not get better over time.
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Before
After
Face Lift Surgery (Rhytidectomy) Photos - Angle 1
Details: Close up of Left ear before facelift. Left photo, direct view from side. Right photo 45 degree angled view. 
Face Lift Surgery (Rhytidectomy) Photos - Angle 2
Details: Close up of Left ear one week after facelift. Left photo, direct view from side. Right photo 45 degree angled view. These two photos are taken immediately after suture removal. Note the evenly spaced stitch markes and the carefully curved incision around the natural shape of the ear. 
Face Lift Surgery (Rhytidectomy) Photos - Angle 3
Details: Close up of Left ear two months after facelift. Left photo, direct view from side. Right photo 45 degree angled view. Notice how fair this woman's skin is. The way she has healed from this incision is in the top 10%. Most incisions don't get to this point until about 4-6 months and some ethnicities take even longer. She has great skin for facelift surgery. Notice on the angled view, her ear cartilage is white than her facial skin. This occurred because the facial skin is tanner than the skin around the ear cartilage. Over time the skin immediately in front of the ear cartilage tends to get lighter, because the hair around the ear tends to shield this skin from the sun. There will be a more natural transition from her face to her ear where it goes from tan to less and less tan. 
Face Lift Surgery (Rhytidectomy) Photos - Angle 4
Details: Close up of Left ear of a DIFFERENT PATIENT/DIFFERENT SURGEON/SAME INCISION, several years after facelift. Left photo, direct view from side. Right photo 45 degree angled view. The reason I do like this incision is that of the women that I see who have had prior facelifts, all the patients with this type of incision, in general, I find it hard to detect that they have had a facelift based on the ear incisions. Whereas the women who had the post-tragal incision, I can spot them as soon as then enter the door or on the bus or walking through the street. I do like to do the post-tragal incision but it has to be the perfect candidate to pull it off. |
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After photos were taken 2 Months after surgery/procedure.
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