What it unlocks
The deep plane facelift is the modern standard for facial rejuvenation, and the reason a well-done facelift today looks nothing like the pulled, wind-swept results that gave the procedure its old reputation. The difference is the layer. Older techniques pulled the skin. The deep plane technique repositions the deeper structural layer of the face, which is why the result looks like the face simply aged in reverse, not like skin under tension.
Our approach
Dr. Saman performs the deep plane facelift as the foundation of facial rejuvenation, tailored to each face rather than applied as a single recipe. Depending on what the face requires, it is combined with a deep neck lift to define the jawline and neck, with rejuvenation of the eyes and brow, and with fat repositioning to restore midface volume. The goal is never tightness. It is harmony: the patient, a decade rested, recognizably themselves.
Craftsmanship is the invisible signature. It doesn't announce itself, it simply lasts.
What to expect
- Setting
- Outpatient surgery
- Anesthesia
- General anesthesia
- Duration
- Five to seven hours
- Recovery
- Two to three weeks for primary recovery. Final settling over twelve months.
- Downtime
- Most patients are presentable at three weeks.
- Candidacy
- Adults with descended midface and jawline soft tissue who seek structural, lasting rejuvenation.
- Results timeline
- Initial result at three weeks. Final result at twelve months. Effect typically holds for ten years or more.
Questions patients ask
What is a deep plane facelift?
A deep plane facelift repositions the deep structural layer of the face, the SMAS, rather than simply tightening the skin. By releasing and moving the deeper tissues back to their original position and letting the skin redrape without tension, it produces a natural, rested result and restores volume to the cheek. It is the modern standard in facial rejuvenation.
How is a deep plane facelift different from a traditional facelift?
A traditional facelift lifts and pulls the skin and tightens the underlying layer with sutures, which can look flat or overly tight if overdone. A deep plane facelift releases and repositions the deep tissue layer itself, so the lift comes from the structure beneath rather than from tension on the skin. This is what produces a natural, undetectable result.
Does a deep plane facelift look natural?
When performed correctly, yes, this is precisely its advantage. Because the lift is achieved by repositioning deep tissue rather than pulling skin, the face is not placed under tension, and the pulled, operated appearance associated with older techniques is avoided. The aim is a rested version of the patient's own face.
What is recovery like?
Most patients are presentable in casual settings around two weeks, with swelling and bruising settling over the following weeks and the result continuing to refine over several months. A specific recovery timeline is reviewed in consultation based on the extent of surgery.
What to expect
The consultation
A deep plane facelift consultation at this practice typically runs ninety minutes to two hours. It begins with the patient's specific concerns and goals, followed by a detailed facial analysis that assesses the structures involved: the position of facial fat compartments, the integrity of the retaining ligaments, the degree of SMAS laxity, the condition of the platysma in the neck, submental fullness, skin quality, and the overall three-dimensional architecture of the aging face.
Dr. Saman approaches this analysis from a volumetric perspective as well as a structural one. A facelift that tightens without restoring lost volume produces a result that looks tighter but not younger. The consultation addresses whether volume restoration through fat transfer is appropriate alongside or instead of surgical lifting, and makes that recommendation based on the anatomy, not as an upsell.
Patients considering a facelift are encouraged to bring photographs of themselves from ten to fifteen years earlier. The goal of the surgery is to restore what the face has moved away from, and those photographs are the most accurate guide to where the anatomy belongs.
The surgery
The face ages through a combination of volume loss, gravitational descent of soft tissue, and weakening of the ligaments that anchor facial structures to the underlying bone. Superficial facelift techniques address the skin and the layer immediately beneath it. The result is skin tightening without structural repositioning, which produces visible tension at the incisions and an operated appearance.
The deep plane releases the retaining ligaments of the face, specifically the zygomatic and masseteric ligaments, allowing the composite of skin, fat, and SMAS to be repositioned as a single unit rather than stretched. The fat compartments of the midface are returned to their youthful position. The nasolabial folds soften because the tissue that creates them has been repositioned, not because skin has been pulled away from them. The result is structural, not tensile.
Surgery is performed under TIVA in the AAAASF-accredited operating suite. Duration is typically four to six hours for a combined face and neck lift. The temporal branch of the facial nerve is identified and preserved throughout with the anatomical discipline that Dr. Saman's reconstructive training makes second nature. Incisions are placed within the hairline and around the ear in positions that become invisible within months.
Recovery
Day one through three: swelling and bruising develop. Drains may be in place for twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Rest is required.
Day five to seven: drains removed if used. Most sutures or staples remain another week. Swelling peaks and begins to resolve.
Day ten to fourteen: sutures removed. Most patients are presentable in private settings. The face looks significantly different from preoperatively. It does not look final.
Week three: most patients return to non-strenuous professional environments. Makeup is permitted over incisions.
Month one to two: the majority of bruising and visible swelling has resolved. The result is emerging. Patients are told to resist judgment until month three.
Month three: the face begins to show what the surgery has done. Volume is in place. Position is stable. The result looks natural.
Month six: the result is essentially final. Incisions are well-healed and increasingly invisible.
Physical activity: walking within the first week. Light daily activity at two weeks. Exercise at six weeks. No restrictions at three months.
Are you a candidate?
The ideal deep plane facelift candidate is experiencing descent of the midface, jowling along the jawline, platysmal banding in the neck, and loss of the mandibular border definition, changes that are structural rather than purely volumetric or cutaneous. Age is less relevant than anatomy. Patients in their forties who have experienced early structural descent are sometimes better candidates than patients in their sixties with primarily cutaneous aging and good underlying structure.
Good candidates are in good general health, are non-smokers or have stopped smoking for a minimum of six weeks before surgery, have realistic expectations, and understand that a facelift addresses structural aging, not skin quality, fine lines, or pigmentation. Those concerns require separate treatments.
Patients for whom a facelift is not the right procedure are those with primarily volumetric aging, patients whose face looks aged primarily because of fat loss rather than structural descent, who are better served by fat transfer alone or in combination with a more limited procedure. They are told so in the consultation.
Medical considerations: hypertension must be well-controlled. Blood thinners, aspirin, and supplements that affect clotting are stopped two weeks before surgery. A history of bleeding disorders, significant cardiac history, or prior facial surgery are disclosed in the consultation and assessed individually.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a deep plane facelift and a SMAS facelift?
A SMAS facelift operates on the SMAS layer, the superficial musculoaponeurotic system, by plicating, imbricting, or excising it to create lift. The retaining ligaments that anchor the SMAS to the deeper structures are not released. As a result, the tension of the lift is borne by the SMAS repair, which under the forces of gravity and animation tends to relax over time. A deep plane facelift releases the zygomatic and masseteric retaining ligaments, allowing the SMAS and the overlying fat and skin to be repositioned as a composite unit. This repositioning is passive: the tissue goes where the anatomy allows it to go, not where skin tension is forcing it. The result is longer-lasting, more natural, and free of the tension and distortion that characterize inadequately released facelifts.
How long does a deep plane facelift last?
A deep plane facelift does not stop aging. It repositions the tissues to where they were, and aging continues from that restored baseline. Most patients enjoy the full benefit of the procedure for eight to twelve years before the effects of continued aging create changes they wish to address again. The longevity of the result depends on the quality of the surgery, the patient's lifestyle, sun exposure, weight stability, and the genetic rate of aging. Patients who maintain their weight, protect their skin from the sun, and do not smoke tend to have longer-lasting results.
Will I look like myself after a facelift?
Yes. The goal of a deep plane facelift at this practice is a result that looks like you, ten to fifteen years ago. Not a result that looks tighter, or smoother, or pulled. The deep plane approach achieves this by repositioning structure rather than stretching skin. When a facelift result is visible as a facelift, it is almost always because the technique was surface-level and the lift was achieved through skin tension. When the underlying architecture is restored, the skin lies over it passively and naturally. You look rested. You look like yourself. You do not look operated.
Why is surgery performed in your own operating suite rather than a hospital?
The AAAASF-accredited operating suite at 240 Central Park South was built and staffed specifically for facial surgery. The instruments, the lighting, the anesthesia equipment, and the team are chosen for this work. Surgery in a hospital operating room involves sharing resources with general surgery, orthopedic surgery, and dozens of other specialties. The environment is not optimized for the precision that facial surgery requires. An accredited office-based suite, maintained to AAAASF standards, provides the same safety infrastructure as a hospital operating room with an environment calibrated for one specialty. The practice maintains a formal transfer agreement with Lenox Hill Hospital for any situation requiring hospital-level resources.
Can a facelift be combined with other procedures?
Yes, and frequently is. Deep plane facelift is commonly combined with neck lift, blepharoplasty, brow lift, and fat transfer in a single operative session. Combining procedures means one anesthetic, one recovery period, and a comprehensive result rather than a piecemeal one. Which procedures are combined is determined by the patient's anatomy and goals and discussed in detail during consultation. Not every patient benefits from combining procedures, and the consultation makes that determination honestly.
I have heard that deep plane facelifts have a longer recovery. Is that true?
The visible recovery, the period during which bruising and swelling are apparent to others, is broadly similar between deep plane and SMAS facelifts: two to three weeks to social presentability for most patients. The deep plane may produce somewhat more swelling in the first week because of the greater extent of tissue elevation. However, the healing from that point is faster because the tissue was repositioned rather than stretched: there is less wound tension, less tissue ischemia, and a more natural healing trajectory. The characterization of deep plane facelifts as having a dramatically longer recovery is not supported by the clinical experience of surgeons who perform them regularly.
What cannot a facelift fix?
A facelift addresses structural descent: jowling, neck laxity, midface descent, and loss of jawline definition. It does not address skin quality, fine lines, surface texture, pigmentation, or loss of volume that has not been accompanied by structural descent. These concerns require separate treatments: laser resurfacing, chemical peels, injectables, or fat transfer. A facelift also cannot correct the bone changes of facial aging, the resorption of the orbital rim, the chin, and the midface skeleton, that contribute to the appearance of aging. Volume restoration with fat transfer addresses some of this, but the bony changes are not reversed by any soft tissue procedure. The consultation distinguishes between what the surgery can and cannot achieve for each patient specifically.
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