The original “deep plane facelift” (rhytidectomy) was described by Dr. Sam Hamra in July of 1990. This technique is well over 30 years old and is a well-established surgical approach to facial rejuvenation. For those who wish to review Dr. Sam Hamra’s article that described the original deep plane facelift, the journal article citation is “Hamra ST. The deep-plane rhytidectomy. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1990 Jul;86(1):53-61”. Dr. Hamra published this article in a major peer-reviewed academic plastic surgery journal called Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – considered the most respected peer-reviewed plastic surgery journal.

The original deep plane facelift traditionally utilized a plane of dissection below the superficial muscular aponeurotic system (SMAS) of the midface (middle face/cheek area), allowing for release of facial retaining ligaments and movement of the more superficial soft tissue in that location. The deep plane facelift technique also claimed to create a lower tension skin closure compared with other facelift techniques of that time since less tension was placed on the skin itself when the skin was closed with sutures. Less tension on the skin closure may improve final facelift scar quality.