How effective is facelift for sun-damaged skin?

Sun-damaged skin, also called photoaging, may have uneven colour, rough texture, fine lines and reduced elasticity. A facelift repositions loose facial tissues and redrapes selected skin, so it is aimed mainly at laxity, folds and facial contour. It does not erase brown marks, rough patches or all fine lines. Some people combine surgery with a separate plan for surface changes, but treatments must be chosen after examining the skin. A clinician should also assess any changing or suspicious spot before cosmetic treatment is planned.

During consultation, point out which concerns are about looseness and which are about colour or texture. Ask how a facelift would affect your facial movement, scars and contours, and whether skin treatments should happen before or after surgery. Use broad-spectrum sun protection, protective clothing and shade while planning and healing, because ultraviolet exposure can worsen photoaging and darken healing scars. Do not treat a changing lesion as a cosmetic mark without clinical assessment.

Seek a skin assessment for a spot that changes in size, shape or colour, repeatedly crusts or bleeds, or fails to heal. Following surgery, contact the team for increasing redness, drainage, wound separation, fever, severe pain or rapidly expanding swelling. Sudden vision changes or breathing difficulty require urgent medical attention.

Ask which photoaging features surgery can improve, which need a surface treatment, how suspicious marks will be checked, and how to protect scars and treated skin from ultraviolet exposure.