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Lower Facelift vs Full Facelift: Which Areas Each One Treats

9 hours ago
7 min read

Quick answer. A lower facelift treats the lower third of the face: jowls, the jawline and usually the upper neck. A full facelift also lifts the cheeks and midface, so it improves the area under the eyes and the fold beside the nose as well. Neither one lifts the temples or brows on its own. The right choice depends on where your sagging starts, not on the name of the operation.

Key takeaways

  • "Lower facelift" and "full facelift" are not standard medical terms, so ask exactly which areas will be lifted.

  • A lower facelift works on jowls, the jawline and the upper neck. A full facelift adds the cheeks and midface.

  • A loose neck with bands or fat under the chin often needs a dedicated neck lift as well.

  • Temples, brows, eyelids and lost volume need separate procedures such as a temporal lift, eyelid surgery or fat transfer.

  • Good candidates are healthy non-smokers whose expectations match what surgery can do.

What does a lower facelift treat?

A lower facelift focuses on the part of the face below the cheekbones. Its main targets are:

  • Jowls, the soft bulges that form along the jawline

  • The jawline, which loses its clean edge as tissue slides down.

  • The upper neck, just under the jaw.

  • Marionette lines, the folds running down from the corners of the mouth.

This matches how the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) describes a facelift in general: surgery to treat ageing "on the lower face, jaw line and upper portion of the neck" (BAAPS, 2022).

  • Deep plane facelift and nasolabial folds: before and after
  • 77-year-old patient: facelift before and after

What does a full facelift add?

A full facelift includes everything above and also lifts the midface: the cheek pad, the area under the eyes and the deep fold between the nose and mouth (the nasolabial fold). In a deep plane facelift, the surgeon releases the ligaments that hold the cheek down, so the cheek can move upward as one unit with the skin.

Research on the fat compartments of the face shows that separate compartments change in both position and volume over time, so the face ages in three dimensions (Rohrich and Pessa, 2008). If your cheeks have dropped, a lift that only pulls the jawline backwards can leave the midface looking flat or tired.

Does either one lift the temples or brows?

No. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) lists the brow lift and eyelid surgery as separate procedures that can be done together with a facelift (ASPS, n.d.). The temples and the outer brow need a temporal lift or brow lift. Hollow areas need fat transfer or fillers, which ASPS also lists separately.

Added procedures are common. In one European series of 380 patients having a short-scar (MACS) facelift, 98.9% had at least one added procedure. The most common were fat transfer (96.3%), brow lift (72.6%), neck lift (67.9%) and eyelid surgery (57.4%) (Sommar et al., 2025).

Video: Deep plane facelift and nasolabial folds: before and after. Watch on YouTube

How do the two compare?

  • Jowls and jawline — Lower facelift: Yes — Full facelift: Yes — Often added separately:

  • Upper neck — Lower facelift: Usually — Full facelift: Yes — Often added separately:

  • Lower neck, bands, fat under chin — Lower facelift: Limited — Full facelift: Limited — Often added separately: Neck lift

  • Cheeks and midface — Lower facelift: No or limited — Full facelift: Yes — Often added separately:

  • Nasolabial fold — Lower facelift: Limited — Full facelift: Improved — Often added separately: Fat transfer

  • Temples and outer brow — Lower facelift: No — Full facelift: No — Often added separately: Temporal or brow lift

  • Eyelids — Lower facelift: No — Full facelift: No — Often added separately: Eyelid surgery

  • Lost volume — Lower facelift: No — Full facelift: No — Often added separately: Fat transfer

  • Skin texture and fine lines — Lower facelift: No — Full facelift: No — Often added separately: Laser or peel

What about the neck?

A sagging neck is where smaller lifts most often fall short. A systematic review of the MACS lift (minimal access cranial suspension), a common short-scar technique, found low complication rates but concluded that its effect on the neck is limited and that an aged neck needs extra procedures (Hijkoop et al., 2021).

A recent series of a limited-dissection lift for early ageing excluded people with marked fat under the chin or neck bands, noting that improvement of the neck angle may be limited in them (Bosch and Fakih-Gomez, 2026).

If you have vertical neck bands, a "turkey neck" or heavy fat under the chin, ask whether a neck lift is part of the plan. See facelift vs neck lift.

Video: 77-year-old patient: facelift before and after. Watch on YouTube

Is a lower facelift safer or faster to recover from?

Usually the recovery is shorter, because less tissue is lifted. BAAPS notes that "the more invasive a procedure is, the longer the recovery period and the higher the risk profile" (BAAPS, 2022). In the limited-dissection series above, done under local anesthesia in patients with an average age of 43, 96% returned to normal activities within seven days (Bosch and Fakih-Gomez, 2026). The authors expect those results to last less long than a fuller facelift.

Smaller lifts still carry risks. A review of 20 studies with 4,451 patients having limited-incision facelifts found an overall complication rate of 3.2%. Hematoma (a collection of blood under the skin) was the most common at 2% (Amador et al., 2024).

The trade-off is reach: if your midface has dropped, a lower facelift may leave a tight jawline under a heavy cheek.

Who is a candidate for each?

A lower facelift may suit you if:

  • Your main concern is jowls and a softer jawline

  • Your cheeks still sit high and full

  • Your neck shows only mild looseness

A full facelift may suit you if:

  • Your cheeks have moved down and the area under the eyes looks longer

  • The fold beside your nose has deepened

  • You also have jowls and neck laxity

For any facelift, ASPS describes good candidates as healthy people without conditions that impair healing, and non-smokers with a positive outlook (ASPS, n.d.). A facelift does not stop ageing.

How Prof. Dr. Suleyman Tas approaches this

Prof. Dr. Suleyman Tas performs deep plane face and neck lifts under local anesthesia, with you awake and without general anesthesia. He operates on one patient per day and performs each operation personally. His TAS Signature Lift can combine, in one session under local anesthesia, a deep plane facelift, neck lift, temporal and forehead lift, upper and lower eyelid surgery, fat injection and lip lift. Only the parts your face needs are included. See deep plane facelift and full facelift vs mini facelift vs deep plane.

Patients stay in Istanbul for about 10 to 14 days, with daily hyperbaric oxygen sessions and a private nurse, followed by one year of online follow-up. The fee is quoted individually after Prof. Dr. Tas has reviewed your photographs or examined you. Read facelift cost and look at facelift before and after photos.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a lower facelift the same as a mini facelift?

Not always. "Mini facelift" usually describes the length of the incision and the amount of dissection. "Lower facelift" describes the area treated. A mini facelift often treats only the lower face, but a lower facelift can also be a full deep plane operation on the jawline and neck. Ask your surgeon which layers will be lifted.

Will a lower facelift fix my nasolabial folds?

Usually only a little. The fold beside the nose is driven largely by the cheek moving down and losing volume. A lower facelift does not lift the cheek much. A lift that includes the midface, sometimes with fat transfer, tends to improve this area more. Your surgeon can show you the difference by gently lifting your cheek in a mirror.

Can I have a lower facelift now and the midface later?

It is possible, but it means two recoveries and two sets of risks. It can also leave the face looking uneven in between. If your midface is already dropping, discuss whether treating it in one operation makes more sense. If it is not, a lower facelift alone may be enough for several years.

Does a full facelift mean longer scars?

Not necessarily. Many full facelifts use the same incision around the ear as a lower facelift. The difference lies in what is done underneath. Scar length depends mainly on how much skin must be removed and whether the temples or neck are also treated. See our guide to facelift scars for details.

What is the right age for a lower facelift?

There is no fixed age. What matters is where your sagging is and how your skin behaves. People in their forties with early jowls may need only the lower face treated. People in their sixties often have changes in the midface, neck and temples as well. Your photographs are a better guide than your birth year.

About the Author

This article was written and medically reviewed by Prof. Dr. Suleyman Tas, a plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgeon in Istanbul with over 20 years of experience. He is the author of Rhinoplasty in Practice (CRC Press, 2020), has more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications and five patents, and teaches facelift and rhinoplasty techniques to surgeons at international courses. Read more about Prof. Dr. Suleyman Tas.

Individual results vary. Before and after photos and videos are shared with patient consent. This article is for general information and does not replace a personal medical consultation.

See More Before and After Results

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