A new and better face lift incision

Abstract

James L. Baker, Jr., MD, Winter Park, FL , is a board-certified plastic surgeon and an ASAPS member. Since the early 1900s, there has been little change in the design of rhytidectomy incisions. Lexer,1 in 1910, described combining a temporal incision with a separate inferior and postauricular incision for rhytidectomy. This incision helped extend the reach of the face lift operation being performed in the subcutaneous plane. In 1919, Bettman2 connected the temporal and preauricular incisions and extended them onto the mastoid and occipital areas. This procedure resembled the current standard incision for rhytidectomy (Figure 1). Attempts at making the scars around the ears inconspicuous have been described.3,4 Figure 1. Outline of the standard face lift incision. Three complications associated with the incision are alopecia, an altered hairline, and noticeable, wide scars. Solutions to these problems have been lacking. The principle change in approach has been the use of a tragal incision to better …