SMAS Facelift – what is it and who is suitable?

Thinking about SMAS Facelift surgery? Below is a guest post on the procedure, written by Aurora Plastic Surgeon Adrian Richards.

Hello, my name’’s Adrian Richards. I’’m a Plastic Surgeon and the Surgical Director of Aurora Clinics.

Today I’’m going to be talking a little bit about SMAS and try and clarify what it means. SMAS is a term people often use when talking about facelifts and, like a lot of facelift terms, it’’s a bit confusing.

So what is the SMAS? Basically the SMAS stands for the Superficial MusculoAponeurotic System. It was a term coined by a French surgeon called Tessier some years ago, and basically means the layer under the skin.

Under the skin, there’s another layer of fascia which is almost like a sheet. You can wiggle your skin around and underneath that, there’’s another sheet.

It starts in the neck with the platysma, the muscle in the neck, then it goes into the face, and as it comes up around the skull, it turns into the superficial fascia which is another layer basically of the forehead. In the forehead, it’’s the big muscle that lifts the eyebrows.

So basically it’’s a fancy word for a sheet of tissue which lies beneath the skin which comes all the way from the clavicles, right up to your forehead.

Why is it important? It’’s important because surgeons modify the SMAS. It’’s quite a firm layer, so you’’re going to lift it up to hold the face in different positions.

You don’’t have to rely on the skin as the skin is designed to stretch. So if you just lift up the skin, it’s going to stretch, and everything will recur.

If you can support the SMAS, the deeper layer of the face, you don’’t have to put tension on the skin – putting tension on the skin gives you that American windblown look. Everything i’s supported more deeply by that tough layer and then the skin i’s free to move on the top.

So I hope that’’s clarified what the SMAS is. If you’’d like any more information about facial rejuvenation surgery or any other cosmetic procedures, please either email us your photos or any other queries or phone us on 01324 578290.