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 Procedure overview
A Midface Lift, also called a Cheek Lift, is a procedure that restores a more youthful, refreshed look to the cheek area. As we age, the cheek fat pad, often called the "apple" of the cheek, begins to droop due to loss of fat and muscle tone beneath the skin. This results in a flattened facial appearance and contributes to jowling at the jawline. The midface lift procedure restores the cheek fat pad to its original position higher on the face, resulting in a much more youthful appearance. A midface lift is often combined with an endoscopic browlift, facelift, lower blepharoplasty and laser resurfacing, depending upon your degree of facial aging and ultimate goals for transformation and rejuvenation.
Good candidates
If you're experiencing drooping in the midface area and are otherwise healthy, a midface lift may be appropriate for you. The degree of facial aging will be covered in your consultation along with recommendations from your surgeon as to the best procedures to create the results you seek.
How the procedure is performed
Midface lifts are performed under general anesthesia in our Boca Raton accredited in-office surgery suite on an outpatient basis. There are two incisions that are placed for a midface lift: one incision inside the mouth and a 3/4" incision in the temple area, which is generally hidden by your hair after healing has taken place. The temporal incision is the same one used for an endoscopic browlift. The endoscope is introduced into the incisions and the cheek pad is lifted and sutured into a higher position in line with your facial structure. Permanent sutures are placed and closed. The length of the procedure ranges from one to two hours.
What to expect during recovery
For the endoscopic midface lift procedure, recovery time ranges from about 5 to 7 days. Most patients are back to full activity within two weeks. You will experience some bruising and swelling which can be relieved with cold compresses or ice packs for the first few days, and Tylenol can be taken for discomfort. You'll come back into the office within the first few days for your first postoperative visit at which time any non-absorbable sutures will be removed, depending on your rate of healing.
Midface Lift Case Study
 This photo is a typical example of a patient that would come to us and ask for a lower eyelid blepharoplasty. A blepharoplasty alone is the wrong surgery for her as she has a number of facial structural issues that make it a poor choice.
1 – note the bulging eye balls
2 – note the lack of bony support for the lower eyelid and cheek
3 – note the long area of lower eyelid skin
If a blepharoplasty alone – just skin excision from the lower eyelid would be performed she would have too much show of her sclera (white part of the eye)
We correct this by performing a midface lift (see midface section) in which the whole cheek pad is lifted through a small incision in the mouth and a ½” incision in the hairline – as seen in the photo below - after the cheek is lifted the skin of the lower eyelid becomes excess and can be excised without causing sclera show. Sometimes a small implant is placed on the orbital rim while other times fat grafting is placed depending upon skeletal structure and patient and physician choice.
In the case described above we performed a midface lift, lower blepharoplasty and fat grafting
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