Dr. Joel Kopelman sees facelift patients at his office at 1112 Park Avenue, Suite 1A, at 90th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He is an oculoplastic and facial plastic surgeon with more than 35 years in practice and fellowship training at UCLA, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.
He performs SMAS, deep plane, mini and revision facelifts and chooses the technique based on your anatomy, how your face has aged, and your goals. To book a consultation, call (212) 831-8333.
1,000+
5.0 ★
Dr. Joel Kopelman
OCULOPLASTIC SURGEON
ASOPRS board-certified
The full facelift is the operation most patients consider. It addresses structural change, skin laxity, and the visible effects of aging in a single procedure. In a SMAS facelift, most of the upward tension goes on the deeper layers of the face, such as the facial muscles, rather than on the superficial skin. Lifting the sagging skin alone would make the face appear unnatural and distorted.
Dr. Kopelman is the best of the best! I saw him in consult in NYC to discuss a facelift and eyelid surgery and other surgical procedures that I was interested in. I had visited other facial plastic surgeons before, but once I found Dr. Kopelman, I was confident that I had finally found the right surgeon to perform my facelift and blepharoplasty. He is a wealth of knowledge, caring, patient, skillful surgeon, does a facelift like a work of art, his bedside manner is incredible, he’s caring, soft spoken, and all he wants to do is help and give the best results.
The overlying skin is then gently repositioned and trimmed to achieve a natural appearance, avoiding overdone distortions. Incisions heal with less visible scarring, and no hair loss or change in the hairline occurs. This remains the traditional standard, refined over decades of surgical evolution.
Modern methods rely on the deeper layers of the face to recontour the neck, jawline, and midface, lifting and tightening the soft tissue in a way that reads as rejuvenation rather than surgery. The aging face typically shows the effects of deflation. Loss of facial fat combined with unrelenting gravitational pull commonly causes the eyelids to bulge and the brow, midface, lower face, and neck to sag downward.
The right technique depends on how much laxity you have, where it sits, and how much downtime you can take.
As the face ages, it loses fat and gravity keeps pulling, so the eyelids bulge and the brow, midface, lower face and neck sag. A facelift works best when the lift comes from the deeper layers, not the skin. In a SMAS facelift, most of the upward tension goes on structures such as the facial muscles. Pulling only the skin can leave the corners of the mouth and the outer eyelid looking windswept and too tight.
Dr. Kopelman tightens the deeper tissue first. He then redrapes and trims the skin without tension, sculpts selected fat bulges and re-approximates sagging muscle. Incisions heal with less visible scarring, and there is no hair loss or change in the hairline. Your smile and eyelid contours stay the same.
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The SMAS facelift places most of the lifting tension on the deeper layers of the face, such as the facial muscles, instead of the skin. The surgeon separates the skin from the muscle and tightens the SMAS layer with sutures. This approach suits patients with lower face and jawline laxity and good skin elasticity. It works on the lower third of the face, so patients with fallen cheeks are often better served by a deep plane lift. See SMAS vs. deep plane for a side-by-side comparison.
The deep plane facelift NYC procedure releases and repositions the deeper ligaments of the face as a single unit, lifting the midface, jowls, and neck with less tension on the skin. This technique is well-suited to patients with moderate-to-advanced sagging who want long-lasting, natural movement in the lower face. Because the entire flap is elevated together, the result holds up over time. Results typically last 10 to 15 years.
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The mini facelift is a shorter-scar option designed for patients with early-to-moderate laxity along the jawline and lower cheeks. Recovery is generally quicker than a full facelift, and it can be combined with a neck lift or eyelid surgery for a more complete refresh.
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A facelift revision procedure in New York is performed for patients who have had prior facelift surgery elsewhere and are unhappy with the outcome, whether due to residual laxity, unfavorable scarring, or an unnatural pulled appearance. Dr. Joel Kopelman’s oculofacial background is particularly useful for revising complications around the eyes, hairline, and jawline. Every revision plan is built after a careful assessment of the original surgical anatomy.
Dr. Joel Kopelman is an oculoplastic and facial plastic surgeon with more than 35 years in practice. He sees facelift patients at his Park Avenue office on the Upper East Side.
His training includes an internal medicine internship at Johns Hopkins and an ophthalmology residency at Washington Hospital Center. He also completed fellowships at UCLA, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.
Dr. Kopelman is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which gave him an Honor Award.
Written postoperative instructions covering activity restrictions, wound care, and medication guidelines are provided at your preoperative visit. Adherence to these instructions, especially during the first two weeks, has the greatest influence on the smoothness of recovery and the durability of the final result.
For more detail, read our full facelift recovery guide.
Most patients feel presentable in social settings; residual swelling continues to soften.
A facelift is surgery, so it carries risks. The main ones are bleeding under the skin, infection, nerve injury, numbness, asymmetry, scarring, slow healing and anesthesia reactions. Dr. Kopelman reviews each one with you at your consultation and explains how it applies to your health and your anatomy.
If you notice anything unexpected during recovery, call the office at (212) 831-8333.
During your consultation, Dr. Joel Kopelman focuses on the areas that concern you most while also assessing other regions of facial aging that may contribute to the overall picture. These often include upper eyelid hooding, lower eyelid bags, loss of facial fat, and sun-damaged skin.
He builds a customized plan that may combine an eyelid lift, brow lift, or fat grafting with facial fillers (such as Restylane Lyft or Juvéderm Voluma XC) and facial implants that add volume to the cheeks or chin. If sun damage is present, laser resurfacing may be recommended to enhance the final result.
Patients seeking a facelift on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and across NYC meet with him at the Park Avenue office to discuss a personalized treatment plan. Those traveling from Brooklyn for a facelift, along with patients from Queens and the surrounding boroughs, are welcomed with scheduling support and dedicated postoperative care.
Dr. Joel Kopelman and Dr. Ross Kopelman share a YouTube channel with more than 1,000 videos on facial surgery, eyelid surgery and hair restoration. On Instagram, Dr. Joel Kopelman posts about facelifts and eyelid surgery.
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— COMMON QUESTIONS
The ultimate goal of your facelift surgery is to turn back the clock by tightening and lifting the skin and muscle of the neck and mid-face, redistributing tissue, and recreating lost facial volume. At the initial consultation, Dr. Joel Kopelman provides a precise assessment of your facial features, allowing him to outline a detailed plan to restore balance and harmony. His artistic eye, skilled hands, and attention to detail leave patients looking years younger without obvious signs of surgery. One technique cannot be applied to every patient, so each plan is individualized.
Facial aging is driven by a combination of soft-tissue descent, volume loss, skin laxity, and bone remodeling. The fat pads that give the youthful face its convex, heart-shaped appearance thin and shift downward, while collagen and elastin diminish so the skin loses spring. Gravity and repeated facial motion deepen folds, and the underlying bony structure of the eye sockets, midface, and jaw subtly resorbs over time.
The underlying techniques are similar, but the surgical plan is meaningfully different. Male patients require careful incision placement to protect the beard-bearing skin, hairline, and sideburn, and the desired outcome is usually a stronger jawline rather than a softened one. Female patients are more likely to seek a smoother midface contour and cheekbone definition.
Yes. Common options include the SMAS facelift, the deep-plane facelift, the mini facelift, and a revision facelift for patients who have previously undergone surgery. The right choice depends on the degree of sagging, skin quality, whether the neck is a primary concern, and how much downtime you can accommodate. Each technique is discussed in more detail earlier on this page.
Most patients report tightness, pressure, and discomfort rather than sharp pain. Anesthesia keeps you comfortable during surgery, and prescription and over-the-counter medications manage discomfort through early recovery. Most patients transition off prescription pain medication within the first few days.
The surgical fee for a facelift at Kopelman Aesthetic Surgery generally ranges from $45,000 to $60,000, with the final figure depending on the chosen technique, whether complementary procedures are included, the anesthesia used, and surgical facility fees. Deep plane and revision facelifts are typically priced toward the higher end of that range because they are more involved operations, while a mini facelift sits toward the lower end. A personalized quote covering all applicable fees is provided at consultation; see the Cost of Facelift in NYC section above for a fuller explanation.
Consistent sun protection is one of the most important habits for preserving your result. A broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher, worn daily, protects the skin from UV-driven collagen breakdown and pigment changes. Wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses add mechanical protection, and topical antioxidants such as vitamin C support the skin at the cellular level.
Most patients take the first one to two weeks to rest and heal. Light activity usually resumes within two to three weeks, and exercise is cleared at about six weeks. See the Recovery Timeline section above for the week-by-week breakdown.
Yes. Lip lifts, eyelid surgery, brow lifts, fat grafting, and neck lifts are all commonly combined with facelift surgery. Combining procedures during a single anesthesia often provides more balanced rejuvenation and can consolidate recovery into a single window.
Facelift surgery addresses soft-tissue descent, jowling, and neck laxity by repositioning the deeper structural layers of the face rather than simply pulling the skin. When SMAS or deep-plane techniques are used, the deeper layers provide the lift, allowing the skin to be redraped without tension. This produces a natural contour along the jawline, softened nasolabial folds, and a smoother neckline while preserving your unique features.
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