The male facelift

Men are becoming a larger percentage of cosmetic surgery patients. For many men looking young is viewed as a career asset. They are perceived as being more energetic and perhaps more employable. We have male patients who regularly get Botox  so they won't look so mean. Recently we had a man who had a MACS-lift because he recently had a child. He is in his 50s and didn't want people in the future asking about his grandchild when he was with her.

In many ways the male facelift resembles the female facelift, but the presence of the beard hair makes a significant difference. In the traditional facelift, the skin is pulled backwards at a 45 degree angle. This poses two potential problems. If the incision in front of the ear is made along the edge of the tragus, the little cartilage protrusion that is in front of the ear hole, the skin that covers this ends up being hair bearing skin and needs to be shaved. The incision along the edge of the tragus is the incision least likely to leave a noticeable scar. There are some maneuvers to try to kill the hairs that grow in that area, but they are not always successful.
Another alternative is to make the incision in front of the ear, leaving the skin over the tragus undisturbed. This risks a more visible scar and men are less likely to use hair or makeup to cover this area.
A second problem presented by beard hair is that in the traditional facelift, the incision is carried around behind the ear. This leads to hair bearing neck skin ending up in this area, with the need to shave behind the ear.
The MACS-lift greatly reduces these problems. Because the upward pull is almost entirely vertical, there is very little movement of the hair line in front of the tragus, so it remains covered by hairless skin. Remember that when skin sags it tends to go directly down, not down and forwards. Because the incision in the MACS-lift is rarely carried behind the ear, and then only to a very small extent, the problem of having to shave behind the ear is almost completely eliminated. In my view, the MACS-lift offers several significant advantages over the traditional male facelift.

Gerald N. Bock MD
Stockton, CA
California Skin Laser Center