Facelifts used to mean one thing: pulling skin tight until wrinkles disappeared, often at the cost of a natural look. Dr. Andrew Jacono set out to fix that tradeoff by rethinking where a facelift actually needs to happen beneath the skin’s surface rather than on top of it.

Moving Beneath the Surface

Rather than tightening the superficial musculoaponeurotic system from above, as conventional lifts do, Dr. Andrew Jacono’s extended deep-plane technique works underneath it. Releasing the facial ligaments that hold tissue down allows him to reposition the midface, jawline and neck vertically, restoring contours that fat pads and stretched ligaments erode over decades of aging. Incisions run about one third the length of a traditional facelift and remain hidden behind the ear or along the hairline, limiting visible evidence of surgery.

Measured Against the Old Standard

The shift shows up in the data. Dr. Jacono’s early research, published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal in 2011 from a study of 153 patients, reported a 3.9 percent revision rate and complication figures below industry averages. Results also last 12 to 15 years, roughly double the span of a standard SMAS facelift. Addressing the structural causes of an aged appearance, rather than the surface symptoms, produces outcomes that hold up over time, and that difference has turned what began as one surgeon’s alternative into a technique now taught at conferences worldwide, decades after it first appeared.

That shift has spread through Dr. Jacono’s own teaching as much as through his surgical results. He has conducted master classes and delivered lectures at international plastic surgery conferences, training surgeons in what he brands as the Jacono Method, all while continuing to perform roughly 250 deep-plane facelifts annually at his own Manhattan practice. That teaching record, combined with the published safety and longevity data, is part of why other surgeons now treat the extended deep-plane approach as a benchmark rather than simply one surgeon’s preference. Refer to this article for related information.

Watch for more information about Dr. Andrew Jacono on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/drandrewjacono