Start here

What does it change?: Lifting loose skin and the layer beneath it, then fixing it in place. Lifting skin alone and lifting the layer below are different operations.
Is there anything short of surgery?: The richest set of options on this axis. Microfocused ultrasound, radiofrequency and thread lifts address the same concern, and those do carry evidence grades.
Can it be undone?: Surgery cannot be undone. Procedures mostly fade with time — which is both their drawback and their appeal.

There are no numbers and no citations in this box. What has been established, and how far, is below.

There is more to see here than anywhere else on this axis, because surgery and procedures line up against the same concern — which is rare.

But before reading the two lists below side by side, one thing has to be clear.

The procedures carry evidence grades and the operations do not. That does not mean the operations work less well. It means this site has not yet attached evidence entries to the surgery layer. What is missing is the grade, not the effect. Reading the two lists as "moderate evidence versus no evidence" reverses the meaning.

With that said, here is the real difference.

A facelift lifts and fixes the layer under the skin (the SMAS). It cannot be undone, and the scars are hidden in the hair and around the ear
Microfocused ultrasound and radiofrequency contract tissue with heat. Most of it returns with time
Thread lifts hook the tissue up with dissolving sutures. This site grades them early evidence

Different places sag differently. Jawline and neck mean a neck lift; brow and forehead mean a brow lift. A lid that covers belongs to eyelid aging, and sometimes that page comes first — because treating a descended brow as a lid problem can pull the brow down further.

Lost volume is not a lifting problem. For that, fat grafting, filler or poly-L-lactic acid apply. Pulling does not fill.

The elasticity of the skin itself is under elasticity. This site does not cover prices, clinics or testimonials.

Options before surgery

Used for the same concern but not surgical. These do carry evidence grades.

Moderate evidenceMonopolar radiofrequencyDevice-based
Moderate evidenceMicrofocused ultrasoundDevice-based
Moderate evidenceCalcium hydroxylapatite (Radiesse)Injection
Moderate evidencePoly-L-lactic acid (Sculptra)Injection
Moderate evidenceMicroneedle radiofrequencyDevice-based
Early researchAbsorbable thread liftImplant

Operations for this concern

Surgery on this site is not yet graded for evidence. Reversibility is shown in place of a grade.

Brow liftCannot be undone
FaceliftCannot be undone
Neck liftCannot be undone
Autologous fat graftingOnly partly