Facelift & Neck Lift in Istanbul

The face ages in three ways at once: tissues descend, volume deflates, and skin quality changes. A facelift — almost always combined with a neck lift — is the single most powerful correction for the first two: it restores the jawline, lifts the descended cheek, corrects jowls and neck laxity, and brings back the neck angle of youth. It is also, done properly, one of the most demanding operations in aesthetic surgery.

Dr. Mehmet Sürmeli, MD, FEBOPRAS · European & Turkish Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon · Member of ISAPS & ASPS · Licensed in Türkiye, Dubai (DHA) and Abu Dhabi (DOH)

What a facelift does — and what it does not

A face and neck lift addresses jowling and loss of jawline definition, cheek descent and deepened smile folds, neck laxity, vertical neck bands, and fullness under the chin.

Just as important is what it does not do. A lift does not change skin quality — fine wrinkles, texture and pigmentation need separate treatments. It does not replace lost volume — that is the job of fat transfer, planned separately. And it does not stop time: it moves your tissues back to where they were years ago, and ageing continues from that better starting point. Most patients enjoy a meaningfully younger appearance for many years — commonly 7–12 — but no honest surgeon promises “forever”.

The natural result: why the technique matters

The single most important principle in modern facelift surgery: the lift is carried by the deep structural layer of the face — the SMAS — never by the skin. When a surgeon pulls the skin tight to create the lift, the result is the shiny, wind-tunnel “operated” look, distorted ears, and visible scars. When the SMAS is repositioned and the skin is simply laid back over it without tension, the result is you — refreshed, natural, and durable.

There are several established ways to reposition the SMAS, and the right one depends on your anatomy, the weight of your tissues, and the degree of change — this is decided at examination, never from a photograph. One honest note: some clinics market the “deep plane” facelift as if it were automatically superior. In Dr. Sürmeli’s assessment of the published evidence, its added invasiveness and longer recovery are not routinely justified — carefully performed SMAS techniques deliver comparable, natural, long-lasting results with less morbidity. You will get the technique your face needs, not the one that is trending.

The incisions follow the natural creases around the ear and continue into the hairline, designed to be virtually undetectable once healed.

The neck: often the real concern

For many patients the neck bothers them more than the face — the lost angle under the chin, the vertical bands, the fullness. Our neck lift addresses each layer: the separated edges of the neck muscle are repaired through a small hidden incision under the chin, restoring the muscular sling of the neck; under-chin fat is removed precisely with a specialised small VASER® ultrasonic probe, which spares nerves and blood vessels and helps the skin tighten. Restraint matters here — removing too much fat creates an over-operated, hollow look, so precision is always preferred over aggression.

Staged by design: fat transfer and eyelids

Consistent with how Dr. Sürmeli approaches every combination procedure, some steps are deliberately not done on facelift day — because doing them later gives a better and safer result:

• Volume (structural fat transfer) is planned as a separate, much smaller session at least 6 months later, once all swelling has resolved and the lift has settled. Injecting volume into a freshly lifted, swollen face means guessing — and it stresses the healing tissues. See fat grafting.
• Nanofat, when indicated, is done at the same session: patients with dark circles or fine under-eye crepe skin can benefit from nanofat — a regenerative preparation of your own fat that improves skin quality without adding volume. It is gentle enough to be safe on facelift day.
• Lower eyelids: lifting the cheek changes the lower eyelid — many patients who thought they needed eyelid surgery discover they no longer do. So extensive lower-lid surgery is re-assessed months later; what we do perform on facelift day, where needed, is a conservative skin-only tidy-up of the excess the lift itself creates. Upper eyelid surgery or a brow lift, by contrast, combine well with a facelift in the same session.

What recovery really looks like — told honestly

Facelift & neck lift takes roughly 3–5 hours under general anaesthesia, with 2 nights in hospital. (On “twilight sedation”: for an operation of this length, a secured airway and an anaesthetist controlling your blood pressure minute-by-minute is the safer option, not the more dangerous one — blood pressure control is also the main protection against post-operative bleeding, the most common significant complication.)

Now the part most websites skip. The face you see in the mirror in the first two or three weeks is not your result. Swelling is uneven, the skin feels numb and tight, and weeks two to four are often the emotionally hardest phase — daily life has resumed but the final result hasn’t arrived. All of this is normal healing, not a complication. The tissues settle over 3–6 months, and the patients who are happiest at one year share one trait: they didn’t judge the result at week three. Recovering with a supportive partner or family member helps more than most people expect — and if you will be recovering alone, tell us, so our patient care team stays in closer contact through the early weeks.

Milestone	When
Hospital stay	2 nights (drain out the next morning)
Sutures removed	By day 7–8
Presentable with light make-up	~2 weeks
Social activities	~3 weeks
Light exercise	From weeks 3–4
Numbness resolves	2–4 months (expected, temporary)
Final result	3–6 months (judge at 6+, not at 3 weeks)

Traveling from abroad? This is routine for us

A large part of this practice is international — particularly patients from the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. Plan to stay in Istanbul about 7 days after surgery: sutures come out by day 7–8, and the first week is when support matters most. Our patient packages cover 4★/5★ hotel options, airport and clinic transfers, your hospital stay with meals and a private-duty nurse during the daytime, medications and your dressings and aftercare. Beyond Istanbul, Dr. Sürmeli also holds medical licences in Abu Dhabi and Dubai — for details about UAE consultations, please contact our patient representatives.

Patient safety comes before everything

Dr. Sürmeli is known for putting patient safety at the centre of his practice. For facelift surgery that means: blood pressure optimised before surgery (the single biggest factor in preventing bleeding complications); absolute smoking cessation well before and after surgery — smoking starves the healing skin of blood supply, and surgery may be declined or postponed if it hasn’t stopped; medication and supplement review (many common supplements thin the blood); individual risk scoring for blood clots with full preventive measures; and facial-nerve protection built into every step of the operation through anatomical technique. Surgery is performed only in fully accredited hospitals with complete anaesthesia monitoring — and if a face and neck lift is not the right or safe operation for you, you will be told so plainly. That honesty is part of the care, not a lost sale.

Facelift FAQ

Ready to talk it through?

Start with the online pre-evaluation — your answers and photographs go straight to Dr. Sürmeli, who reviews every case himself. If you would rather write to us first, the contact form and WhatsApp are here.

For patients from the UAE & the Gulf

Dr. Sürmeli is licensed by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health (DOH) — and holds periodic consultation days in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Start with a free photo pre-evaluation, consult online or in the UAE, and have your surgery in Istanbul. Read the full guide for UAE & Gulf patients →