Choosing the right lift

Faces do not age evenly. For one person the jawline softens first; for another it is the neck, the eyelids or the hollows beneath the cheekbones. That is why a facelift at Bellava is really a family of options, and why the first conversation is about which part of your face you would change rather than about a single operation. From Bedford Village, Bellava is close by in the same Town of Bedford: roughly ten minutes without traffic, up Route 22 and across on Bedford Center Road and Harris Road to 182 Route 117 Bypass Road in Bedford Hills.

Four options, from injections to surgery

Liquid facelift. Dermal fillers and Botox lift and smooth chosen areas with no incisions, and you carry on with your day straight afterwards. Bellava recommends it for early to moderate signs of ageing, and puts typical results at 12 to 18 months. More on the liquid facelift.
Mini facelift. A smaller surgical lift; Dr. Kim will tell you whether your degree of sagging suits it.
Full facelift. The deeper supporting layer of the face is tightened, surplus skin trimmed and fat under the chin removed if needed, restoring the line of the jaw and cheeks. Surgery is the better fit for more advanced ageing.
Neck lift. Through small incisions under the chin and behind the ears, the neck muscles are tightened, fat taken away and the skin redraped — for vertical bands, a double chin or a “turkey neck”. It can stand alone or join a facelift. About the neck lift.

Signs a surgical facelift is worth discussing

Skin on the neck and jowls that has loosened.
Creases deepening across the cheeks and from nose to mouth.
Cheeks that have lost their fullness.
Fat gathering under the chin.

Not smoking and limited sun damage both work in your favour, and Dr. Kim will be frank with you if either is a concern.

Finishing touches in the same operation

A facelift raises and tightens, but it does not change the eyelids or the texture of the skin. Dr. Kim often combines it with blepharoplasty, which removes excess skin and fat from the upper or lower lids, with fat grafting to refill hollow cheeks, and with laser resurfacing. Doing them together means one anesthetic and one recovery.

Who you will see

Every surgical option is performed by Dr. Chang Soo Kim, a Yale School of Medicine graduate who trained in plastic surgery at Yale–New Haven Hospital and is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, in Bellava’s own accredited suite. Injectable treatments are given by Bellava’s injector team.

Bedford Village patients ask

Will I have visible scars after surgery? Facelift incisions are placed within the natural hairline and the creases around the ears, where they fade over time.

Can I start with injectables and decide on surgery later? Yes. Bellava describes the liquid facelift as an option for people not yet ready for a surgical lift, and Dr. Kim can tell you when that changes.

Where do I begin? With a free, private consultation. Beforehand, the main facelift page and the before and after gallery are both worth a look.

Facelift for Bedford Village, NY