Deep Plane Face & Neck Lift:58-Year-Old Woman from Turkey, Photographed at 1 Month

The Patient's Goals

This 58-year-old woman from Turkey came to AKM Clinic because of sagging in her face and neck. At consultation, a face and neck lift, a brow lift and eyelid surgery were recommended. Her answer set the direction for everything that followed. She did not want to change much and did not want to look artificial. She wanted to look like a younger version of herself, not like a different person.

That distinction matters in facial surgery. A plan that treats every ageing area at once can be complete on paper. It can still produce a face that family and friends no longer read as hers, because the brows and eyelids carry much of a person's expression. Her request pointed the other way. The goal was to correct the sagging that had brought her in and to leave alone the features that make her face recognizable.

The operation that was carried out was a deep plane face and neck lift. The brow lift and eyelid surgery that had been recommended were not part of it. This kept the surgery on the face and neck, where the sagging she came with was located.

Surgeon's Expert Approach

The assessment

The presenting problem was sagging of the face and neck. As a general pattern, this kind of laxity is not only a skin problem. The deeper soft-tissue layer of the face descends with age, and the skin follows it. As a result, the cheek tissue sits lower, the jawline loses its edge and the neck loses definition. The first recommendation also included the brows and eyelids. The patient's priority, however, was to avoid looking changed or artificial, so the plan was built around that priority rather than around treating every area.

Why a deep plane facelift

Her wish not to look artificial makes the choice of surgical layer the central decision. A lift that relies mainly on pulling the skin tends to show. The skin looks stretched, the face can look flattened, and the tension sits where it is most visible. A deep plane facelift works one level deeper. It repositions the deep layer that has descended, and the skin moves with it as a unit. The correction then comes from putting tissue back where it was, which matches her request to look like a younger version of herself rather than like someone new.

Why a neck lift as well

She came with sagging in the neck as well as the face. A facelift on its own improves the jawline and upper neck to some degree. Laxity lower in the neck generally needs its own attention. A lifted face above an unchanged neck creates a mismatch, which is exactly the kind of tell-tale sign an operated face shows. Adding a neck lift treats the jawline and neck as a continuous contour.

How the face lift and neck lift work together

In the face, the deep layer is the SMAS (superficial musculoaponeurotic system). Below the jaw, it continues as the platysma muscle of the neck. Because these form a continuous sheet, a face and neck lift in the same operation can reposition the lower face and the neck in the same direction. This leaves no visible boundary between a treated face and an untreated neck.

How the technique works

• In a deep plane facelift, the surgeon goes beneath the SMAS and releases the retaining ligaments, such as the zygomatic and masseteric ligaments, that hold the descended tissue in its lower position.
• Once released, the SMAS and the overlying skin are moved together as a unit and secured. The holding tension is carried by the deep layer, not by the skin.
• Because the skin is not used as the lifting structure, the technique aims to avoid the stretched or wind-swept look of skin-only lifts.
• A neck lift addresses laxity of the neck, typically by tightening the platysma and redraping the neck skin. The exact steps depend on the anatomy of the individual neck.

Doctor's note

Op. Dr. Göknil Gültekin performed a deep plane face and neck lift for this patient in April 2026. The after photos were taken one month after surgery. They show her healing appearance at four weeks, compared with her face before the operation. A facelift generally keeps settling after the first month, so these photos record an early stage of healing.