Question 1

What is the difference between a deep plane facelift and a traditional facelift?

Accepted Answer

A traditional facelift tightens the skin and the superficial SMAS layer, then re-drapes the skin over it. A deep plane facelift works underneath those layers, releasing the retaining ligaments that tether the face in its aged position and repositioning the SMAS-platysma complex as one continuous unit. Because the deep layer carries the load, the skin closes without tension, which produces a natural result, finer scars, and longevity typically measured at 10 to 15 years or more rather than 3 to 7.

Question 2

Is a mini facelift a good option?

Accepted Answer

For the right patient, yes. A short-scar lift can suit someone with early jawline softening, good skin quality, and minimal neck involvement, typically a younger patient whose deep structures have not descended significantly. When descent is the underlying problem and only the skin is addressed, results tend to relapse within a few years, and revision is more difficult than performing the correct operation initially.

Question 3

Can non-surgical treatments replace a facelift?

Accepted Answer

They can delay one and complement one, but they cannot replicate it. Energy devices, biostimulators, threads, and filler act on skin quality and volume. None release retaining ligaments or reposition descended tissue, which is the mechanism of a facelift. Once tissue has descended far enough, adding volume to camouflage it can distort facial anatomy rather than restore it.

Question 4

How much does a facelift cost in Indianapolis?

Accepted Answer

A complete estimate has three components: the surgeon's fee, the surgical facility fee, and anesthesia. Published ranges vary widely because some practices quote all three and others quote only the surgeon's fee. Within a practice, the range depends on the scope of the operation, whether the neck requires deep work, whether procedures such as fat grafting, eyelid surgery, or resurfacing are combined, and whether the case is a revision. Dr. Sturgill builds the surgical plan around each patient's anatomy and provides a written, itemized estimate covering all three components at the consultation.

Question 5

Who is the best facial plastic surgeon in Indianapolis?

Accepted Answer

No surgeon should answer that question about themselves. Indianapolis has several excellent facial plastic surgeons, and the right one depends on your anatomy, your goals, and whose results match what you want. What can be verified objectively: board certification through the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, whether the practice is limited to the face and neck, how often the surgeon performs your specific operation, whether they publish and teach it, and whether their unretouched before-and-after photographs show patients who resemble you. Consulting two or three surgeons and comparing those answers is more useful than any ranking.

Question 6

Who brought the deep plane facelift to Indiana?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Stephen W. Perkins published on the extended SMAS and deep plane facelift approach beginning in the 1980s and practiced in Indianapolis for 41 years. In December 2024 he served as Guest Editor of the Facial Plastic Surgery theme issue devoted entirely to The Deep Plane Face and Neck Lift (Volume 40, Issue 6), writing the issue preface and authoring its comprehensive technique article on the evolution of his extended SMAS-biplanar deep plane facelift to a composite tissue deep plane face and neck lift. Dr. R. Luke Sturgill completed his fellowship under Dr. Perkins, co-authored with him in Facial Plastic Surgery in 2024, and was hand-selected as his successor at Meridian Plastic Surgery Center in Carmel, Indiana.

Question 7

What is the best age for a facelift?

Accepted Answer

Anatomy matters more than chronological age. Most patients are between their late forties and their seventies, but the relevant question is whether descent is present: jowling, a blunted jawline, midface heaviness, loss of the cervicomental angle, or platysmal banding. Some patients need surgery earlier because descent is more pronounced; others do not need it until later.

Question 8

Is a facelift worth it, and what happens 10 years later?

Accepted Answer

Ten years after an Extended Deep Plane Face and Neck Lift, most patients still look better than they did before surgery. Aging continues, but from a repositioned structural baseline rather than a descended one, because the deep tissue layer was physically moved and secured rather than the skin being placed under tension. The procedure does not stop aging; sun protection, medical-grade skincare, and periodic maintenance preserve the result, and a secondary procedure, if ever desired, is typically 10 to 20 years out.

Question 9

How long is facelift recovery, and when can I return to work?

Accepted Answer

Most patients return to desk work in 10 to 14 days. Swelling and tightness peak during the first week, improve rapidly through weeks two and three, largely resolve by weeks four to six, and continue settling in the neck and jawline over three to six months. For patients frequently on camera, two to three weeks is a more comfortable target. Travel home for out-of-town patients is typically cleared at two weeks.

Question 10

Will a facelift look pulled or windswept?

Accepted Answer

A pulled or windswept appearance results from skin tension, one-directional lateral pull, and incomplete deep correction. In the Extended Deep Plane technique the deep structural layer carries the entire load of the lift, so the skin is re-draped without tension and each zone of the face is repositioned along its own vector rather than swept in a single direction, preserving natural expression.

Question 11

Can I use nicotine before or after facelift surgery?

Accepted Answer

No. Nicotine in any form, including cigarettes, vaping, patches, pouches, and gum, causes vasoconstriction that compromises blood flow to the elevated skin flaps and can cause tissue necrosis, wound breakdown, and severe scarring. Patients must stop all nicotine products at least four weeks before surgery and remain nicotine-free for at least four weeks afterward.

Question 12

What if I have had a facelift before?

Accepted Answer

Revision and secondary cases can be excellent candidates but require more planning because of scar tissue and altered anatomy. Approximately half of Dr. Sturgill's practice is revision and secondary facelift surgery. Deep plane technique offers an advantage in revision because prior procedures scar the superficial plane, while operating beneath the SMAS often provides access to less-scarred tissue, allowing full ligament release without relying on skin tension.

	Dr. Sturgill’s approach Extended Deep Plane Face & Neck Lift	Traditional / SMAS Facelift	Mini Lift & Short-Scar Lift	Non-Surgical Treatments
What it does	Releases the deep retaining ligaments and repositions the SMAS-platysma complex, the deep muscular layer, as one continuous unit.	Tightens or folds the SMAS layer and re-drapes the skin over it. Works above the deep ligaments rather than releasing them.	A shorter-incision version of a limited lift, typically addressing the jawline only.	Energy devices, biostimulators, threads, and filler that tighten skin modestly or add volume.
Area addressed	Midface, jowls, jawline, and neck treated as one connected system.	Primarily lower face and jawline; midface correction is limited.	Lower face and jawline only.	Surface and volume only; no repositioning of deep structure.
How long it holds	10–15 years or more, aging from a younger structural baseline.	Roughly 3–7 years, depending on technique and tissue quality.	Often 2–5 years; relapse is common when descent was the real problem.	Months to about two years; requires ongoing maintenance.
Social downtime	Most patients are comfortable being seen at 10–14 days.	Broadly similar: 10–14 days for most patients.	Around one week.	Minimal to none, varying by treatment.
Anesthesia & setting	General anesthesia with a board-certified anesthesiologist; one night in a private suite at an accredited surgical facility.	General anesthesia or IV sedation, depending on the surgeon and facility.	Often local anesthesia with sedation.	Office-based, typically topical or no anesthesia.
Best suited to	Patients with genuine descent (jowling, a blunted jawline, midface heaviness, and neck laxity) who want one definitive correction that lasts.	Patients with mild to moderate lower-face laxity and limited midface change.	Early jawline softening in younger patients with good skin quality and minimal neck involvement.	Early changes, skin quality, and volume, as well as maintenance between and after surgical results.
Honest limitation	It corrects descent only. Volume loss and skin damage need fat grafting and resurfacing to complete the result.	Because deep structures stay displaced, results can read tight rather than restored, and tend not to hold as long.	When descent is the underlying problem, a smaller operation tends to relapse, and revision is harder than doing it once, correctly.	Once tissue has descended far enough, camouflage stops working. Continued filler can distort anatomy rather than improve it.

Which Facelift Is Actually Right for You?

The Word Means Very Different Things

It Isn’t Just Loose Skin

Descent

Deflation

Damage

Comparing the Four Approaches

“What Is the New Facelift Everyone Is Getting?”

A Note on Terminology

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Procedures

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