19 Jan 2026
Facial aging happens to everyone, but it’s not something that you have to live with if you don’t want to.
At Boston Center for Plastic Surgery (BCPS), we offer our patients the full range of facial rejuvenation procedures from the mild to the more intense. And while I feel that our team has been at the forefront of effectively turning-back-the-clock with an appropriate selection of stacked non-surgical procedures, a surgical facelift is still the gold standard for lifting and repositioning loose skin, tissue and muscle.
Thanks to social media stars such as Kris Jenner, people are now openly talking about their aesthetic “work”. This is a benefit in many ways. A potential downside, however, is that patients aren’t necessarily as educated about the importance of seeing a truly qualified surgeon. New techniques such as the Deep-Plane Facelift can deliver exemplary results that are still natural looking. But in the wrong hands, a facelift may make you look weird. Here is why over-tightening is the biggest mistake in facial surgery.
A Good Facelift Should Restore Proper Proportion, Not Distort
The goal of any aesthetic procedure, whether on the face or the body, is to restore proper proportion. When it comes to your face, there are a number of factors that can create an aged look. These include:
- Fine lines & wrinkles
- Uneven, “crepey” skin texture
- Loose, sagging skin in the lower face (“Jowling”)
- Loss of definition at the chin/neck juncture
- Visible vertical or horizontal bands in the neck
I’ve included the latter because the neck and lower face work together as a unit which is why I almost never address the face without also addressing the neck. Since facial aging is multi-factorial and not just about loose surface skin, any good facelift has to work on the deeper layers of your tissues.
It may also include other procedures such as fat grafting to the face and laser skin resurfacing as a good facelift restores proportion by not just lifting skin and tissues, but also:
- Re-draping tissues in the correct position
- Adding back lost volume in the mid-face
- Correcting skin texture irregularities
- Lifting & tightening loose muscle, if necessary
How to Prevent Over-Tightening in Facial Surgery
The best way to prevent over-tightening in facial surgery is to choose a qualified Board-Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon, such as myself, with considerable experience. A great result is not just about finding a surgeon with exemplary technical skills. You also need someone with a keen artistic eye.
One of the many reasons why I love performing a facelift procedure is that it rests at the crossroad between art and science. I am literally re-sculpting your face. This requires me to understand anatomy, obviously, but to also work within the confines of your unique facial structure.
A facelift is never one-size-fits-all. My goal is to deliver a totally natural-looking result that will be long-lasting. It is not about erasing every sign of age. If you are in your later 40’s, we don’t want to get rid of every fine line as that’s the kind of over-tightening that will make you look weird. Instead, we want to restore a more vital looking, lifted plumpness to your skin and tissues.
Danger of Over-Tightening in Facial Surgery
The danger of over-tightening in facial surgery is that it creates an unnatural looking outcome. This
may include:
- Pulled appearance
- Improper facial proportion
- Distorted features
- Flattening of the face
More frightening is the fact that these results cannot be reversed. One of the positive sides of a surgical
facelift is that we are excising the loose skin. This is what deliver a long-lasting, “wow” result.
However, if this result looks wrong, there is only so much that can be done to fix it so choose your
surgeon wisely.
To find out more about a facelift, or any other surgical or non-surgical procedure with Dr. Leonard
Miller at the Boston Center for Plastic Surgery, contact us today or call (617) 402-2768 to schedule a
consultation at his Boston or Chestnut Hills offices.
