By Dr Scott J Turner, Specialist Plastic Surgeon (FRACS) | Bondi Junction, Sydney
I hear a lot of facelift surgery myths in my consulting room. Patients walk in with assumptions they’ve picked up from magazine articles, something a friend told them, or a celebrity story they half-remember from ten years ago. And honestly? Most of it’s wrong.
That’s not a dig at anyone. The problem is that misinformation about facelift surgery has had decades to build up. Old techniques produced old-looking results, and those images stuck. Add in some tabloid coverage of overdone Hollywood faces, and you’ve got a set of beliefs that don’t reflect what modern surgery actually looks like.
These facelift surgery myths matter because they stop people from getting proper advice. I’ve had patients put off a consultation for years — sometimes a decade — based on something that simply isn’t accurate anymore. So let me walk through five of the biggest ones.
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Myth 1: You’ve Got to Be Well Past Retirement Age
This one comes up constantly. People assume facelifts are for their grandmother’s generation. Not so.
In my Bondi Junction practice, I see patients anywhere from their early 40s right through to their late 70s. Age on its own tells me very little. What I’m actually looking at is how your face has changed — and that varies enormously from person to person. I’ve consulted with 47-year-olds who have more jowling and neck laxity than some of my patients in their early 60s. Genetics are a massive factor. So is sun exposure (and we get plenty of that in Sydney), smoking history, and significant weight fluctuations over time.
When you come in for an assessment at our Bondi Junction clinic, I’m evaluating tissue quality, the degree of descent, your bone structure, and whether something less invasive might address what’s bothering you. For a patient in their mid-40s with early jowling but good skin elasticity, a short scar facelift might be spot-on. Someone else the same age might benefit from waiting.
The bottom line? Candidacy isn’t about hitting a particular birthday. It’s about your anatomy, your concerns, and whether surgery is the right tool for the job at this point in time.
Myth 2: The Scars Will Give You Away
I get it. Nobody wants to trade one concern for another. And if you’ve seen photos from 1980s and 90s-era facelifts, the scarring worry makes sense. Techniques were cruder. The understanding of how tension impacts wound healing was far less developed.
Things are different now. In the deep plane and SMAS facelift procedures I do, incisions are placed along natural boundaries — where the ear meets the face (often tucked inside the tragal cartilage), behind the ear in the crease, and within the hairline. These aren’t random choices. Each placement is designed to be concealed by the anatomy you already have.
Here’s the key thing, though. Scar quality depends heavily on how the skin is closed. When the deeper structures — the SMAS layer, the ligaments — carry the mechanical load of the lift, your skin doesn’t need to be pulled tight. It drapes back without strain. Skin that isn’t under tension heals with far finer scars. I close in multiple layers, matching edges precisely, which gives the wound the best shot at an inconspicuous result.
I should be straight with you, though. Scarring is biological. Your genetics, skin type, and how well you follow wound care — all of this influences the outcome. Most of my patients find that their scars become hard to spot within six to twelve months. But some people scar more prominently despite everything being done correctly, and I think you deserve to know that before making a decision.
Myth 3: It’ll Look “Done”
This is probably the most damaging misconception on the list. It keeps people away from a procedure that — when it’s performed properly — shouldn’t look like anything was done at all.
That tight, windswept, flattened appearance? It comes from older methods where surgeons pulled the skin sideways toward the ears. They were essentially fighting gravity with a horizontal force. The results looked exactly as artificial as you’d expect. And we remember them vividly because they stand out. Meanwhile, the well-performed facelifts simply made someone look rested and well. Those go completely unnoticed. That’s the whole point.
The deep plane facelift and Vertical Restore Facelift I perform at FacePlus take a fundamentally different approach. Gravity pulls your face downward — not backward. So the correction needs to move in a vertical direction. I release the retaining ligaments, lift the SMAS layer, and reposition the cheek fat pads and muscle as one unit. The skin then settles over this repositioned framework without being stretched.
There’s no pulling at the corners. No flattening of the cheeks. The aim is a younger version of your own face.
Now, I can’t promise a specific outcome for any individual — bone structure, the extent of volume loss (which might need facial fat grafting to address), and skin quality all play a role. But during your consultation, I’ll show you before-and-after photos of cases with similar anatomy so your expectations stay grounded.
Myth 4: It’s Not Really a Bloke’s Thing
Wrong. A growing number of consultations at my practice involve male patients, and the idea that facial surgery is only for women is thoroughly outdated.
Men experience the same ageing processes — collagen loss, fat pad descent, skin laxity — and often with thicker, heavier facial tissue that can make jowling and neck changes more obvious. Plenty of my male patients come in because they look exhausted when they’re not, or they want to feel more confident in professional settings. Some just don’t want to look in the mirror and see their dad staring back at them ten years too early.
What matters is that a male facelift requires specific surgical planning. You can’t just apply a standard technique. Incisions need to account for beard growth — get the placement wrong and you’ll end up with whiskers growing behind the ear, which is a dead giveaway. Sideburn position and hairline preservation matter too.
Male tissue is heavier and more vascular, which means skin-only approaches fail fast. A solid deep plane or SMAS suspension is essential to support that extra weight and deliver a durable result. For men whose primary concern is the jawline and neck, combining surgery with a deep neck lift or chin implant can produce a stronger, more defined profile that still looks proportionate and masculine.
Myth 5: You’ll Be Out of Action for Months in Terrible Pain
There’s a grain of truth buried in here, which is probably why this one hangs around.
Let me be blunt: facelift recovery is a genuine commitment. If anyone tells you it’s nothing, they’re not being honest. But “months of agony” isn’t accurate either.
Week one is the hardest stretch. You’ll deal with swelling, bruising, and tightness. Drains might stay in for a day or two. Most patients describe it as pressure — a heavy, tight sensation — rather than sharp pain. Prescribed medication handles it well. You won’t feel brilliant, but it’s not the ordeal this myth suggests.
By weeks two to three, the majority of my patients are comfortable enough for desk work, though some bruising may linger. Social life tends to pick up around weeks three to four. The “months” element really refers to how long results take to fully settle. Subtle swelling can hang around for three to six months, and tissues continue softening during that window. But functional recovery — getting back to daily life — happens much sooner.
How quickly you recover depends on the extent of surgery, your baseline health, whether additional procedures were involved, and how well you stick to post-operative instructions. I’d always rather you plan for a realistic timeline than a best-case one. Honest expectations make the whole experience smoother.
For a week-by-week breakdown, have a read of our facelift recovery guide.
Wrapping Up
Facelift surgery myths don’t just cause confusion — they can stop you from even having the conversation. Whether you end up choosing surgery, a non-surgical option, or decide it’s not for you right now, that choice should be built on facts. Not tabloid photos from 1995.
If you’d like to talk about whether facial surgery suits your situation, you’re welcome to book a consultation at our Bondi Junction practice. No pressure — just an honest discussion about what’s realistic for you.
You can also read about the risks and complications involved, or find out more about Dr Turner’s background and approach.
