Q: What is the S-Lift?

A: Many patients ask this. The S-Lift is a re-invention of a very antiquated technique of facelifting; one that was abandoned because it did not address the major problems of ageing which include laxity of the soft tissues of the neck and fat accumulation. The S-Lift is described as "surgery for beginners" and a technique which "merely approaches the laxity of skin issue". It is commonly known that tightening the skin alone leads to unacceptable scars and extremely short-term results. Before and after results most often published show patients after only a few days or weeks.

The plastic surgical community abandoned the initial facelifting techniques (which were introduced in the 1920s and 1930s and continued into the 1950s) to perform more thorough procedures. With these early techniques, patients were dissatisfied with the fact that they underwent a surgical procedure with subsequent visible scarring and very temporary results.

In the 1970s and 1980s, with the introduction of the more thorough procedures, it was established that by working first on the fat and the loose tissues underneath the skin to re-establish a youthful contour and then redraping the skin, a longer lasting, more natural and hence cost-effective result without the unwanted scars could be achieved.

I am still following up the first facelift I did for a patient upon my return to Australia in 1990. This patient is still satisfied with her result more than ten years later, because the issues and tissues of the ageing face were dealt with properly at the outset. I hope this explains to you what the S-Lift is and why I would never revert to a procedure which I know is a waste of a patient's time, energy and money.