uma talks · episode 1 · 47 minutes

wouter van der pot on the deep plane facelift, ozempic and honest communication

who is wouter van der pot

Wouter van der Pot is a plastic surgeon and one of the most respected names in Dutch cosmetic surgery. He specialises in breast and facial surgery, with the deep plane facelift as his core expertise. Alongside his practice, he regularly travels to international congresses to train fellow surgeons in his techniques.

What really sets him apart is his attitude towards patients and colleagues. He is known for giving honest information before treatment, offering personal aftercare, and being willing to say no when a procedure isn’t the right choice. That made him the natural first guest for UMA Clinic: the same attitude, the same profession.

when is a facelift the right choice

One of the first topics they discuss is the age at which people start considering a facelift. Wouter van der Pot has noticed that this age has shifted in recent years. More and more people in their thirties and forties come to him asking whether a mini facelift might already be right for them.

Early in his career, he was strict about this. A facelift only makes sense if there is actually something to lift; surgery without a clear indication gives a marginal result with very real risks. Even so, he has become a little more flexible, especially when someone is determined and has realistic expectations.

What he won’t do is follow the American trend of the “preventive facelift”. Surgery comes with risks, downsides and scars. In his view, a facelift on a 30-year-old without a clear indication simply can’t be justified.

He has specific advice for women around the menopause. The menopause brings major changes in collagen and skin structure, causing the skin to sag faster. If you’re just entering the menopause, it can sometimes be better to wait a while before having a facelift, so the result lasts longer. According to Wouter van der Pot, this is a conversation that should happen far more often during consultations.

the deep plane facelift explained

The deep plane facelift is the technique Wouter van der Pot has specialised in most. In the episode, he explains why he believes it gives by far the best result, and why it was long, and wrongly, considered risky in professional circles.

The technique has been around since the 1970s. In a traditional superficial facelift, it’s mainly the skin that is moved. The problem? Skin is elastic and springs back over time. In a deep plane facelift, the surgeon works beneath the SMAS, the fibrous layer that supports the structure of the face. That layer doesn’t stretch, so whatever is repositioned and secured there stays in place.

“During surgery, I separate the layers, like peeling an orange. Beneath the SMAS, you are much closer to the problem area, and that fibrous layer doesn’t stretch at all. Everything you reposition and secure stays in place.”

The difference from a traditional mini facelift comes down to distance. With a mini lift, the surgeon has to bridge 10 to 15 centimetres from the incision near the ear to reach the problem zone around the chin and corners of the mouth, and skin, being elastic, springs back. With a deep plane, the surgeon follows the line from the corner of the eye to the angle of the jaw, beneath the SMAS, lifting the volume and fatty tissue in one go. The result? A redistribution of volume rather than a pulled look.

According to Wouter van der Pot, the concern that the technique is more invasive or riskier is unfounded. Important nerves do run beneath the SMAS, but if you open it neatly and know the anatomy, you can see exactly where you’re working. In fact, a thorough knowledge of the anatomy makes this technique safer than a blind dissection higher up in the face.

fillers, biostimulators and future surgery

It’s a question uma clinic hears more and more: can I still have a facelift later if I have fillers or biostimulators now? Wouter van der Pot’s short answer: yes, absolutely. But there’s some nuance.

Energy-based devices and collagen-stimulating products such as Radiesse cause the different layers of the face to adhere to each other more. For the surgeon, this means the “orange” is a little harder to peel. He compares it to operating on someone who has had a facelift before, where scar tissue makes the work more complex. With experience and a little extra surgery time, it can always be resolved.

His broader message is more nuanced still: he is not against injectables. In fact, he stopped doing fillers himself because he believes a good injector should specialise in them. The problem arises when someone keeps being treated with fillers for too long when surgery is really the right route. At that point, the right thing to do is refer, not keep injecting.

ozempic, weight loss and the impact on your face

It’s a topic that is still rarely discussed openly: the impact of weight loss through medication such as Ozempic and Wegovy on cosmetic medicine.

Wouter van der Pot sees two consequences. The first is on the face itself. When the body loses weight, fatty tissue in the face disappears too. As a result, someone can suddenly look much thinner and drier, with more visible sagging. Not always the effect people are hoping for.

The second is surgical. Ozempic slows down gastric emptying. For surgery under general anaesthetic, the stomach must be empty, otherwise stomach contents can flow into the lungs during the procedure. Patients using Ozempic therefore need to stop well in advance, often around two weeks before surgery. For the oral form, an even longer period sometimes applies.

His key message to anyone considering a procedure while using GLP-1 medication? Be open about it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of; it’s about your safety.

communication at the heart of the profession

The most striking part of the conversation isn’t about technique at all, but about communication. Wouter van der Pot puts it sharply: it’s managing expectations, not technique alone, that determines whether someone is ultimately happy with the result.

“A brilliant injector with poor communication ends up with fewer satisfied patients than an average injector with excellent communication. Finding out what someone wants, and supporting them when things don’t go as planned — that is enormously important.”

In his experience, procedures don’t go wrong on the operating table, but in the consultation room. When someone has had a good operation but is still unhappy afterwards, nobody listened closely enough beforehand. Sometimes he can already sense in a first consultation that there’s no connection. When that happens, he says so honestly: there are other doctors who might be a better fit. People are sometimes surprised, but for Wouter van der Pot it’s only logical. A treatment relationship in his field lasts for years. Trust isn’t a luxury.

He also warns about what happens when that honesty is missing. For extreme requests that are hardly ever carried out in Northern Europe, he tells patients quite literally: if you go ahead with this anyway, I guarantee you won’t be happy in a few years’ time. That isn’t marketing talk; it’s preventing an operation that benefits no one.

key insights from the episode

• the deep plane facelift works at a deeper anatomical level than a traditional facelift, giving a more natural and longer-lasting result.
• a facelift before the age of thirty is almost never useful; around the menopause, it is sometimes wise to wait until the transition is over.
• previously injected fillers and biostimulators don’t rule out a later facelift, but they do make the work more complex.
• Ozempic and similar medication affect both the face and the safety of surgery, and must be stopped well in advance.
• communication and managing expectations are at least as decisive for satisfaction as the technique itself.