Quick overview
3 hours
“Twilight” (conscious sedation) or general anaesthetic
MRSA screen. Further tests according to medical background
Not required. Available on request
Not required.
In natural creases around the ear/under the chin
Balaclava dressing 2-3 days
What is a Facelift?
The successful outcome of a natural rejuvenated facial appearance might well appear to be effortlessly simple. However, it involves a complex set of skills, based on experienced analysis, seamlessly combined to give superior results.What makes a natural rejuvenated face? Jonathan’s craftsmanship arises from his study of the human face in all its forms, male and female, from around the world, animated and in repose, studied in life and depicted in art. This is combined with his published academic study of human anatomy, structure, and function of the layers of the face; how the face works at rest and in animated emotion. Add to that his acknowledged experience, and widely sought expertise, in facial aesthetic plastic surgery, which combines his background as consultant plastic surgeon in adult head and neck restoration (after accident and cancer); and his world – renowned skills for facial restoration in children born with congenital facial difference.
Jonathan knows the human face. Working with you, your photographs from throughout the years, and observing your natural face in conversation, animation, and in different light, he will restore and rejuvenate for you in a bespoke manner preserving your personality, your myriad unique facial expressions (and that beautiful dimple!), to the appearance which brings happiness and confidence in appearance.
Jonathan will combine his master craftsmanship of surgery with the artistic principles of light and shadow, definition and shape, to bring the five layers of the face into youthful balance. His results are as much about ‘shape’ and ‘natural repositioning’ of the tissues as they are about ‘lift’ and ‘definition’. Look at your favourite photos of your face – Jonathan will restore the light reflex from your midface, banish the under – eye shadows and ski slope contours, and bring back the jawline definition and sharp contours of the neck.
At the Jonathan Britto clinic natural bespoke restoration of facial features underlines everything we do. No more wind tunnel facelifts! No more misplaced hairlines! Scars that are well placed, and as controlled in quality as possible. Meticulous analysis, meticulous technique, and meticulous care, but all delivered with a warm smile and a personal welcome.Time in planning, time in preparation, and time to develop the relationship between patient and surgeon, and with the members of the team, to deliver best care and confident results. A facelift delivered at the age of 40 is not the same, and does not have the same aims, as a facelift delivered at the age of 75. The principles are timeless, but the indications, aims, alternatives for procedures, and expectations of outcome are bespoke. If this is your second or third facelift – that brings its own challenges for youthful restoration and to negotiate what has gone before.
We will undergo a comprehensive ‘analysis phase’ based on two or three pre-surgical consultations (as many as required), looking at the structure of the face today in comparison to photographs from the past (if available). We will study your skin, offering advice on affordable daily skin health prescribed products that work. Our aesthetician, Karen, will be on hand to mentor and advise your skincare for the best of skin health from season to season.
Prepare and repair! Our Lifestyle Medicine physician and consultant anaesthetist, Shyamala, will advise you on how best to prepare for your surgery, and the simple strategies you can incorporate into daily life to facilitate healing in the repair phase of recovery.
You will come to feel part of the team, at the centre of our endeavours to offer the best of service and the best of outcome. We build ‘a partnership of trust’ where we can best understand your aims and your fears and address them with a realistic approach to what is achievable, seeking to minimise the potential risks inherent to all procedures. Our approach is multidisciplinary, and Jonathan leads a team with our patients central to all we do.
His post-op care has been excellent, with access via his mobile phone and a comprehensive regime of follow up appointments.
His whole team are delightful, professional and helpful.
Thank you Mr Britto for a first class experience
Verified Patient
Jonathan Britto
Benefits
Why consider facelift surgery?
Patients come to see Jonathan for a variety of reasons. Some prefer to hear about what can be achieved, or about the principles of what makes a youthful face applied to themselves. Other patients come with a clear understanding and set of instructions for Jonathan about what they wish to achieve. The overwhelming consensus amongst our patients is that they want to ‘look well’, ‘natural’, and ‘good for their age’. The majority of our patients would prefer a result without a ‘giveaway’ – no “tell-tale signs” that surgery has taken place. They want to look fresh, young, and balanced, and to feel confident. Our patients come for facial rejuvenation, maintenance, and restoration, from their early 30’s to the 80s! Some seek to pre-empt the signs of ageing that they see in the senior members of their family, others seek a confidence boost after a midlife challenge or change of circumstance. All our patients have their story to tell – and they come to Jonathan for the face they wish to tell that story.Men and women consider facial restoration surgery for many different reasons. It may be to correct an hereditary feature, or familial traits that they have become self-conscious about. Others have become aware that facial laxity has changed the shape of the face, introducing shadow and premature fatigue or ageing. Some feel that the face they currently wear does not reflect how they feel inside – they hear comments about “looking tired”, “are you unhappy?”, that do not reflect their inner confidence and vitality.
The range of surgical and non-surgical techniques that are currently available offer a perplexing minefield of choices. Jonathan and his team will guide you through the options with clarity. What is your desired outcome? What recovery time is available to you? How do you approach matters of cost, and how do you perceive matters of risk? There are many horror stories about both surgical outcomes and non-surgical therapies. Which are true? What is the balance of risk, reward, recovery time and cost? All these questions will be answered by Jonathan with clarity, in plain and simple language, and backed up with a written report.
Many patients are referred to Jonathan from across the country and internationally who seek restoration from a poor surgical outcome elsewhere. These patients come to the clinic in a state of distress, and regret, and some feel aggrieved because of the costs they have faced. They feel torn between the feeling they cannot continue as they stand, but they are fearful of further surgery and further cost. We are very much aware of the psychological aspects of expectation unmet. Jonathan has worked with psychology teams who are expert in facial appearance from the beginning of his career, and he has built an expert psychology team which is available to all our patients. We never rush our patients, our philosophies and plans are explained in simple language, and we measure our outcomes and are happy to share them.Combination approaches are often considered and requested by patients who have learned of Jonathan’s comprehensive skills. Facelift techniques come from a ‘family’ of related procedures, many of which Jonathan has had a major hand in developing and presenting to colleagues. Jonathan will often combine face lifting with specialised neck-lifting techniques, blepharoplasty (eye lift) surgery, or browlift. The aim is to create a naturally balanced face, at rest and in emotional expression, where each “aesthetic unit” of the face moves seamlessly with its neighbour.
Jonathan’s team has been at the forefront of developing the “twilight technique” of facial surgery, where patients are kept as comfortable and pain-free as can be – throughout the surgery, but without being completely asleep. This allows for a relaxed patient with the ability to open and close the eyes, or smile, with dynamic facial movement during the surgery for bespoke surgical technique. The ‘twilight technique’ also allows rapid recovery, minimal bruising and swelling, and no post-anaesthetic downtime.
We are at the forefront of measuring our results from facelift surgery. We will ask you to fill out some short pre-operative questionnaires, and then again at set times after the surgery. The ‘QPROM’ questionnaires were developed in the United States and have been recommended by the UK Royal Colleges of Surgeons to be adopted to measure results in aesthetic surgery. Jonathan’s consecutive facelift results are audited independently and ‘blindly’ on a quarterly basis, and are presented in peer review and professional appraisal.
FAQ’s
We understand that it is a big step to consider facelift surgery. It is your face, it is on show, it is deeply personal, and it matters.The consultation is usually a 2-3 step ‘analysis phase’ at either our London or Essex clinics. Alternatively we can arrange a video consultation from the comfort of your own home.
1. Discretionary free-of-charge video-call
Jonathan will enjoy introducing himself to you in a free video-call to discuss your request. It would be very useful if you could send us some selfie photographs (to medsec@jonathanbritto.com; held securely as part of your medical record), which will help inform the conversation.
2. Face-to-face consultation
If you would like to receive a detailed written analysis, with a quote for treatment, Jonathan will meet you in the clinic for a face-to-face appointment. You are welcome to bring a friend or family member for support. The medical history and physical analysis in the privacy of the consulting room is an essential part of making the treatment plan. After this meeting you will receive a detailed plan and a written quote, together with a suite of information about our ’twilight’ surgeries, relevant comments from prior patients, and some insights about the psychology and holistic care that is part of our commitment to you.
3. Face-to-face or remote catch up…
Jonathan recommends that you open a “procedure diary” on your phone, into which you can drop any questions that occur to you throughout the day, and after receiving the clinic letter and information from your face-to-face consultation.
This third conversation is to answer any questions you have, and to allow Jonathan to ask you about any reflections he has had to refine your care.
…. Step 4…..
In truth, our door is always open, and Jonathan will be very happy to see you face-to-face or remotely if you have further questions about your requested procedure.
Consultation fees: £295 is charged prior to Step 2
Data Security:
Please be aware we use a data security software to encrypt any correspondence that we send you which includes your personal data. These emails may fall into your junk folder, so following your consultations please keep a regular check on this folder.
If you wish to receive unencrypted, ‘open’ email to your inbox – please can be requested via an online, ‘one click’ consent form.
After facelift surgery, and combinations, Jonathan recommends a minimum of two weeks away from work. Many patients in today’s world will work partly from home and remotely, and may consider an early return starting with 2 to 3 hours per day. The repair phase is important, and rest is a vital part of this.Swelling and bruising are an inherent part of facelift surgery and are usually not perceptible to regular social contacts after two weeks. Return to driving is at 2 weeks. Stitches and staples are removed between two and three weeks. Return to the gym is between 4 to 6 weeks with a gentle increase, and return to swimming at six weeks. You can shower at 48 hours. Sleeping position is best on your back with three pillows for gentle elevation to reduce swelling.
Every surgical procedure carries inherent risk, and risk events may happen despite every person in the team performing without error. In the ‘analysis phase’, Jonathan will discuss matters of risk for each type of procedure, backed up with a concise and clearly written document of risk. Jonathan is proud to run a practice that is low risk for patients, and, when a risk event rarely occurs, to provide a comprehensive open – door service to resolve matters.
Yes.Much depends upon how well the original surgery was done. This will be discussed with Jonathan in the “analysis phase”. He would point out what the original facelift surgery has achieved well, and what has deteriorated, or was not done well in the first surgery. The impact of all this on the aims and indications of the proposed facelift, on the alternatives available, and on the risks and responsibilities and expectations of outcome all the comprehensively discussed. Jonathan has undertaken many secondary facelifts, and we are happy to discuss the various risks and the happy outcomes that have been achieved for our patients.
In contemporary practice, about 50% of the patients that seek facelift from Jonathan have had previous fillers to their faces. With a well conducted “analysis phase” Jonathan will explain how the filler has benefited the face and what it will have done to the underlying facial layers. Those patients will go on to have successful and happy face lift results.There is no doubt that previous filler therapy may introduce increased risk for subsequent facelift surgery. If the previous fillers have been done well, with a light touch, in sensible parts of the face, then the risk is reduced. Jonathan will always urge patients to keep a “filler diary” of the product they have received, and the area of the face that has been treated.
Other non-surgical therapies such as energy-based topical applications will also change the way that the skin of the face behaves, this may bring challenges during surgery, which is why Jonathan’s experience with a wide range of facelift techniques is particularly valuable for these challenging situations.
Far from simply tightening the skin, successful facelifts involve volume rebalancing of the face in a layer by layer approach; defining key features and hiding scars to achieve perfectly natural results. Facelifts are a family of procedures and no one technique fits all – faces are bespoke and aims from facelift similarly so.
