A midface lift targets the central part of the face, as opposed to the jawline and the neck. The cheeks, the area below the eyes and the area between the lower eyelid and cheek are normally the regions of focus.
The confusion around the term sometimes stems from the fact that a midface lift is often a synonymous term with a cheek lift. Furthermore, there are several different techniques for performing a midface lift. Some methods of access use an endoscope, while others employ the lower eyelid, the temporal region, or any other placement along the surgical plan.
As a result, the name alone does not determine the method or the location of the midface tissues that will be altered.
What Is a Midface Lift?
A midface lift, sometimes written as a mid face lift, as the name suggests, is a repositioning of the tissues in the middle of the face, primarily the cheeks and the lower eyelid-cheek area. Cleveland Clinic uses the term cheek lift to characterize this surgery.
The midface is distinct from the lower face.
A traditional facelift focuses on the lower face and the neck and is therefore directed lower, while a midface lift focuses higher, especially on the cheek region.
The operation may relocate descended cheek tissue and/or change the cheek and lower eyelid relationship. It may also impact the nasolabial folds. However, a midface lift does not always eliminate these folds.
What Areas Does a Midface Lift Treat?
A midface lift focuses on the region of the cheeks.
Common problems include:
- Sagging cheeks
- Tissue or fat pads that have drooped and caused a lack of volume in the cheeks
- Hollowing of the lower eyelid-cheek area
- Lengthening or flattening of the cheek area
- Some changes of the nasolabial area associated with the cheek area
The midface lift is not intended to correct the jowls or loose neck skin. Those issues lie more inferiorly and may require a full facelift from a separate approach.
This differentiation is necessary because a patient may generally describe the face as “sagging” when in fact the changes are localized to one region.
Determining the location of the descended tissue will help the surgeon decide the appropriate type of facelift.
Who May Be a Suitable Candidate?
There is no set age that can determine a patient is a candidate for a midface lift. Rather, it is the location of the signs of ageing.
Patients that describe the lack of volume around the cheeks along with heaviness of the lower cheek and/or hollowing below the eyes would be treated differently than a patient with neck laxity and jowling. It is important that a patient be a suitable surgical candidate with appropriate expectations.
Smoking, medical history and medications, as well as if a patient has had other facial or eyelid procedures, are important when planning a midface lift.
As with other forms of cosmetic surgery, the patient should understand what the operation is intended to treat before making a decision.
This facelift procedure specifically addresses the cheeks. It is a common misconception that people choose to undergo a midface lift over a full facelift because it sounds like a smaller procedure.
Midface Lift vs Full Facelift
The main difference in a full face lift versus a midface lift is the anatomy that each focuses on.
In a midface lift, the focus is typically on the cheeks and the area under the eyes.
With a traditional or full face lift, there is a focus on the lower face and the neck.
One is not necessarily smaller than the other.
Someone with only midface descent may not need the same full face lift as someone with jowls plus lower face and neck laxity.
The same is true in the opposite direction. A midface lift is not going to resolve someone who is aging through the lower face, midface and extending beyond the malar area.
For patients looking at the extended options, we have our main facelift in Turkey guide.
Midface Lift vs Lower Facelift
A midface lift and a lower facelift address different areas.
The midface is the cheek and the area below the eye.
The lower facelift is below the cheek and jawline and jowl area.
There still can be some overlap because aging of the face does not always stay in its area.
A patient may have jowls with cheek descent. In that scenario, determining a midface lift vs a lower facelift is a moot point. The focus is in determining the extremity of the area being addressed.
The surgery should be focused on the anatomy and not the name of the procedure.
What Is an Endoscopic Mid Face Lift?
An endoscopic midface lift uses a small camera to aid the surgeon through small incisions.
The shorter incisions around the temporal scalp or hairline can be used in place of the longer external facelift incisions. At Cleveland Clinic, the endoscopic temporal approach is one of the methods for cheek or midface lifting.
Some endoscopic techniques are also called subperiosteal midface lifts. In these methods, the surgeon operates in the plane next to the facial bones, and midface tissue is repositioned from a deeper plane. Clinical studies on endoscopic subperiosteal approaches have been done to elevate the midface.
In an endoscopic facelift, the term “endoscopic” describes the access and visualization in a technique, but does not mean an endoscopic mid face lift is done in one particular way.
How Is a Midface Lift Performed?
The surgical plan, along with the anesthesia the patient has selected, is the first step of this type of facelift surgery.
The method of access to the cheek tissues is what determines which midface lift technique the surgeon employs.
Midface lift incisions can be located through the lower eyelid, the endoscopic temporal approach, the ear, the mouth, or any combination of the locations listed.
The surgeon then accesses the tissue to be moved.
After being moved and repositioned, the tissue is secured in the new location. The amount of elevation and the direction of the elevation varies depending on the technique used.
This is why understanding the name of the procedure does not answer the question of how a midface lift is done.
Where Are the Midface Lift Incisions?
The location of the incision for a midface lift depends on the technique chosen.
Potential access points include the temporal hair-bearing area, regions around the ears, underneath lower eyelashes, and even the inside of the mouth.
An endoscopic midface lift may use smaller temporal or scalp incisions.
A lower eyelid approach places an incision in a different region and may be used when eyelid blepharoplasty and midface concerns are addressed concurrently.
All surgical incisions result in scarring.
The location, individual factors, and the method used to perform the surgery impact the visibility of midface lift scars. It is untrue to call a surgery scarless because the incisions are small or inconspicuous.
What Is Midface Lift Recovery Like?
Bruising and swelling, especially around the eyes and cheeks, are the most common early post-surgical midface concerns. Some numbness, soreness or tightness may occur.
Bandages are applied post-op and patients are given instructions on caring for their incisions as well as restricted activity and subsequent appointments.
No two midface lift recoveries are the same.
Cleveland Clinic states that approximately seven to ten days post-surgery is the initial recovery period following a cheek lift, but swelling may persist post return to routine activities. The extent and invasiveness of the surgery may also affect recovery.
The return to work should not be confused with achieving one’s final results.
Post operatively, swelling can continue to resolve even after normal activities resume.
More general stages of healing are covered in our facelift recovery timeline.
How Much Does a Midface Lift Cost?
The varying facial lift techniques and resulting scars has resulted in an assortment of costs. Thus, midface lifts are tailored to each individual patient.
The mid face lift cost varies due to the technique, geographical location, practice, and facility. The type of midface lift a patient is interested in and price is best when the surgical method is understood.
ASPS describes these factors when addressing the price of a facelift. They also describe the price of a facelift as the total cost of surgery, not solely the surgeon’s fee.
The price of an endoscopic midface lift may vary from the price of a midface lift with an incision through the lower eyelid or in conjunction with another surgical procedure.
Thus, a patient that asks “how much is a mid-facelift?” needs to understand that the price is dependent on the surgical plan.
There is no need to differentiate commercial pricing on this child page.
How Should Mid Face Lift Before and After Results Be Evaluated?
Mid face lift before and after images can be helpful when they are specifically chosen for the concern being assessed.
When a patient is describing concern for cheek descent, they should be shown a before/after example of cheek descent.
The position of the patient’s face is important.
This is true for facial expressions.
Lighting also makes a difference.
Lastly, photography timing is important. Immediately postoperative photography is still technically considered postoperative and should not be regarded as midface lift final results.
Before and after photographs of an endoscopic midface lift can demonstrate an elevation of the tissue, but the degree of healing is unpredictable and should not be used as a comparison to other surgeries.
Final Thoughts
The focus of the midface lift is the middle region of the face, primarily the cheeks, and not the jawline and neck.
The midface lift is suitable for patients in which the critical changes occur in the cheeks and the area under the eyes.
The name still does not define a set procedure.
An endoscopic approach, subperiosteal approach, and a midface lift approach through the lower eyelid incision are all different access and surgical planning methods.
For this reason, a midface lift shouldn’t always be considered a shorter, less extensive version of a complete facelift.
In facial rejuvenation, the better questions are where aging has occurred, what tissue needs to be addressed to counteract that aging, where incisions will be made, and what outcome can realistically be expected.
When these questions are clear, the patient gets much more useful information than the general “midface lift” terminology provides.
Medical Sources
- Cheek Lift (Midface Lift): Surgery, Recovery & What to Expect — Cleveland Clinic.
- Facelift Cost — American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
- Endoscopic Subperiosteal Midface Lift: Surgical Technique With Indications and Outcomes — PubMed.