Facelifts Have Evolved

The new era of facial rejuvenation is here—one that moves beyond the overly pulled, overfilled, and visibly altered results of the past. Leading that shift in the Southeast is Dr. Blake Raggio, double board-certified Facial Plastic Surgeon and founder of Raggio MD in Birmingham. His modern approach to facelifting and facial rejuvenation focuses not on transformation, but on restoration utilizing refined techniques to achieve subtle, undetectable results.

‍“For most patients, it’s more than just looking younger,” Dr. Raggio says. “They want to look like themselves again —rested, balanced, more vibrant.”

That quiet, natural desire is at the core of the PreservaLift™— Dr. Raggio’s signature facelift and necklift designed specifically for today’s discerning patient who values facial harmony, longevity, and a refreshed appearance that still feels deeply personal.

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What Makes Modern Facial Rejuvenation and the PreservaLift™ Different?

At its core, the PreservaLift™ is an advanced form of the deep-plane facelift, a technique that lifts the deeper layers of the face, not just the skin. Dr. Raggio refines it further by using a lateral, less traumatic entry point—a preservation-first approach that protects blood supply and soft tissue. This comprehensive treatment combines an advanced preservation extended deep-plane facelift with a structural necklift and precision fat grafting and nanofat to restore youthful contours while preserving each patient’s unique facial identity.

“Our goal isn’t to pull or stretch,” he explains. “It’s to reposition the facial foundation in a way that restores, not reshapes.”

This translates into a natural-looking lift, inconspicuous scarring, and longer-lasting results. The outcome is what Dr. Raggio calls the “undetectable facelift.”

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Face and Neck—Treated Together, As They Age Together

A key differentiator of Dr. Raggio’s PreservaLift™ is that it treats both the face and the neck—from cheekbone to clavicle.

“The neck is often the giveaway,” says Dr. Raggio. “If we only lift the face, we miss the full story. My approach combines a deep structural necklift to ensure harmony across the lower face.”

This includes work on underlying muscles, fat pads, and even ptotic (drooping) glands—elements many basic necklifts leave untouched.

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Restoring Volume with Your Own Fat—Lift and Fill

Facial aging isn’t just about sagging—it’s about volume loss. The hollowed look around the cheeks or under eyes comes from losing fat, muscle, and bony structure over time.

Dr. Raggio addresses this with autologous fat grafting, using a patient’s own purified, stem cell–rich fat. It’s placed in strategic areas like the tear troughs, cheeks, and nasolabial folds to restore softness and contour.

“We’re not adding puffiness,” he notes.“We’re replacing what’s been lost—naturally and subtly.”

In many cases, a finer stem-cell-rich “nanofat” component also improves skin quality and glow from within.

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Safe, Comfortable Surgery—Without General Anesthesia

All PreservaLift™ procedures are performed at RaggioMD’s privately owned and AAAASF-accredited in-office surgical suite, under deep IV sedation and local anesthesia, not general anesthetic (i.e., no endotracheal intubation).

“For the specialized procedures we perform, avoiding general anesthesia reduces risk, speeds recovery, and improves comfort,” says Dr. Raggio. “There’s no breathing tube, less intraoperative bleeding, less post-operative nausea, and most people are up and moving around sooner than they expect.”

 

Recovery Is Better Than You Think

A common myth is that facelift recovery is long, painful, and socially limiting. With modern techniques and a preservation-based dissection, trauma to the tissues is minimized.

At Raggio MD, patients also benefit from Dr. Raggio’s advanced wound healing protocols:

• Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) to accelerate healing, administered intraoperatively
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) before AND after surgery to optimize healing
• Personalized daily aftercare and support with our Registered Nurses (RN)
• Complementary Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Laser therapy to surgical incisions to minimize scars

Despite using advanced surgical and recovery techniques, it’s essential to understand that in the several days following surgery, you will actually appear a little worse before you look better; in other words, swelling and bruising are a regular part of the healing process. “Most patients are socially presentable in 3–4 weeks,” Dr. Raggio adds, “In my opinion, three to four weeks of downtime is a fair trade for the several years of rejuvenation that come with it.”

 

There’s No “Right Age”

One of the most frequently asked questions Dr. Raggio hears is: “When should I consider a facelift?” The answer is highly individual. For some, it’s in their 40s as a preventative and/or maintenance measure; for others, it may not be until their 50s or 60s to turn back the clock several years. The best time is when you feel ready to restore confidence and alignment between how you feel and how you look.

The truth about facelifts today is that they are safer, more natural, and more comprehensive than ever before. With the PreservaLift™, Dr. Raggio delivers results that respect your anatomy, prioritize your safety, and enhance—not change—who you are.

“The right time for a facelift isn’t about age—it’s about when you’re ready,” says Dr. Raggio.

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Not just a Transformation—A Restoration

Modern-day plastic surgery should not be about dramatically changing how you look—it’s about bringing back what time has softened. It’s surgical, yes, but discreet. Artistic, but grounded in anatomy. And always customized.

“My goal is simple,” says Dr. Raggio. “To provide modern, thoughtful care that gives patients natural, lasting results. It’s never about changing who you are—it’s about helping you look like yourself, just more refreshed.”

The PreservaLift™ at Raggio MD: A preservation extended release deep-plane facelift and structural necklift approach that “preserves” the skin (green) by entering the deep plane at a line (yellow line) more lateral to the traditional deep-plane incision route (blue line). Key features include carefully placed incisions (red), “extended” deep-plane dissection below the jawline (yellow), a release of several key facial ligaments (black X), targeted deep structural neck work (red circle), and a vertical vector of lift (purple arrow) for natural, long-lasting rejuvenation. Autologous fat grafting and nanofat are also key components of this technique, though not pictured here. Before photo pictured here.‍