Facelift surgeons and facelift research
US facelift surgeons scored on their research, teaching, society roles and shown work. Every facelift paper in PubMed, the meetings where new techniques are presented, and the lectures. Updated every week.
Dr. T. Gerald O'Daniel, MD
Facelift and neck lift surgeon in Louisville, Kentucky. Board certified by the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
- Facelift papers in PubMed
- 16 (10 since 2021)
- Practice
- O'Daniel Studios
Current facelift findings
From papers published since 2023. Each links to the paper and the science page.
Submandibular gland reduction in seven steps
O'Daniel's Carina technique reduced both glands in every patient with no postoperative hematoma.
Hemostatic net against drains
The net and surgical drains gave equal hematoma and seroma rates.
Hemostatic net meta-analysis
Eleven studies were pooled; superiority over standard care was not shown.
The platysma is innervated in segments
The branches to the lower platysma end at the lower lip depressor, which explains recurrent neck bands and lip weakness after neck lift.
Neck lift after nonsurgical treatment
Fibrosis followed injectables and energy devices, and most patients needed deep cervicoplasty.
GLP-1 weight loss and the midface
Most of the loss comes from the superficial fat.
How facial plastic surgeons operate
Nerve injury was associated with deep plane surgery and frequent gland reduction.
Secondary facelifts are rising
In board case logs, secondary facelifts were 4% of the total in 2006.
The facelift record
Counted from PubMed, NIH iCite and the meeting programs.
Newest facelift papers
The latest records entered in PubMed, read weekly.
Facelift science
Each technique in the surgeons' own terms, with the papers behind it.
Facelift anatomy
The face is built in layers: skin, fat, a fibrous muscle sheet called the SMAS, a deep fascia, and the facial nerve branches under that fascia. Facelift techniques differ by which layer the surgeon lifts, which ligaments are released, and how close the dissection runs to the nerve.
Deep-plane facelift
A deep-plane facelift lifts the skin, fat and SMAS as one flap after releasing the ligaments that hold the cheek down, instead of lifting skin and SMAS separately. It dates to Hamra's 1990 paper and is now the most-used facelift among surveyed facial plastic surgeons, though head-to-head evidence of longer-lasting results is limited.
SMAS facelift techniques
Most facelifts tighten the SMAS, the fibrous layer under the facial fat, either by folding it with stitches (plication), cutting out a strip (SMASectomy) or lifting it as a separate flap. Reviews find high satisfaction with every SMAS method and no single method proven best.
Deep neck lift
A deep neck lift treats the structures under the platysma muscle (deep fat, the digastric muscles and the submandibular glands) as well as the skin and muscle on top. Surgeons add it when a neck stays full after skin and muscle tightening alone.
Hemostatic net and hematoma prevention in facelift
Hematoma, a collection of blood under the lifted skin, is the most common early complication of a facelift. Surgeons lower the risk by controlling blood pressure, by drugs such as tranexamic acid, and by the hemostatic net, a row of temporary stitches through the skin that closes the space where blood can collect.
Short-scar facelift and MACS lift
A short-scar facelift uses a shorter incision and less skin undermining than a conventional facelift, to limit scar visibility and recovery time. The best-known version, the MACS lift, holds the face up with purse-string sutures anchored at the temple; it acts mainly on the jowls and upper neck, and its effect on an aged neck is limited.
Subperiosteal, vertical and preservation facelifts
A subperiosteal lift raises the facial soft tissue from the bone, under the periosteum, and moves the whole "mask" upward. Vertical and "preservation" facelifts are newer variants that lift in a more upward direction and leave more tissue attached, often through endoscopic or hidden incisions.
Anesthesia and recovery in facelift surgery
Facelifts are done under general anesthesia, intravenous sedation, or local anesthesia with or without oral sedation, and most are outpatient operations in an accredited office facility. The anesthetic plan matters because blood pressure spikes, nausea and vomiting raise the risk of bleeding under the skin flap.
Fat grafting and volume with facelift
Faces age by losing volume as well as by sagging, so surgeons often inject the patient's own fat during a facelift to refill the cheeks, temples and folds. Part of the grafted fat does not survive, and some surgeons use injectable poly-L-lactic acid afterward to replace lost volume.
Research by topic
Tagged from each paper's title, keywords and abstract.
Next meetings
Meetings with facelift sessions, soonest first.
BAAPS ESAPS 2026 - Where Aesthetics Unite: A Global Dialogue
London, United Kingdom
1st International Warsaw Aesthetic Meeting: Face, Breast & Body
Warsaw, Poland
ASOPRS 57th Annual Fall Scientific Symposium
New Orleans, USA
Plastic Surgery The Meeting 2026 (PSTM26)
Houston, TX, USA
Most cited facelift papers
Sorted by citation count in NIH iCite.