Facelift

Before a consultation with your plastic surgeon about Facelift surgery:

• Share your health information with your plastic surgeon, remember to mention if you have allergies, any current illness, pre-existent health conditions, health risk factors, previous surgeries, use of medications, vitamins or supplements and any other relevant medical information
• Your surgeon will ask you questions about what you would like to improve on your face, what your expectations are and will inform you of what can realistically be achieved.
• You will be physically examined, taking into account factors such as bone structure and skin quality.
• Photos at different angles will be taken in order to carry out a complete evaluation
• Pre-surgery blood tests will be ordered
• You’ll need to quit smoking completely
• Make sure to follow the pre-op recommendations your surgeon gives you
• Avoid taking aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs, garlic and herbal supplements as they can increase bleeding.
• Ask your surgeon if you can take arnica tea one or two weeks before the procedure, this will help to dim the swelling and bruising

For patients over 40 years old or with any added cardiac, respiratory, renal pathology, etc. The following will be requested:

• Cardiological assessment
• Chest X-ray
• Electrocardiogram

There are different kinds of facelift surgery. Depending on your expectations your plastic surgeon will suggest to which procedure you are most fitted for

Anesthesia

Facelift surgery is done under general anesthesia, although there are some variants of a facelift that may be done with sedation. Ultimately it will be up to the plastic surgeon along with the anesthesiologist to evaluate and recommend the best option for you.

Incisions & Sutures

There are three main kinds of incisions for a facelift: the traditional or also known as full facelift incision, a small limited incision and neck lift incision. The kind of incision that will be performed on you will depend on your expectations and what you discussed with your surgeon during the consultation before the surgery.

Traditional facelift starts with an incision above the ear into the hairline, follows down along the edge of the ear hugging the earlobe and going back into the hairline. This kind of incision will have an effect on the lose skin of the face and neck.

The skin is lifted in order to adjust the tightness of the muscles and reposition the fatty tissue, after that skin is pulled in order to remove the excess and repositioned

Bandages around the face are applied usually with cold dressings in order to help minimize the swelling.

Right After Surgery

After the surgery is done and you have woken up from the anesthesia, you will have dressings over your face and sometimes over the eyes in case you also had a blepharoplasty. You may also expect in some cases to have small drainage tubes.

Facelift surgery requires a one night stay at the hospital in order to make sure you are healing correctly.

Before You Leave the Hospital

Day after surgery, your plastic surgeon will come to assess your health condition and give you proper care instructions to take back home. It’s normal that you will be prescribed painkillers, anti-inflamatories and antibiotics during the healing process. Your surgeon will give you a check up appointment during the following days to remove your stitches.

During the after care of a facelift surgery, your plastic surgeon will prescribe painkillers, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics and in some cases blood thinners.

He will also indicate the following care:

• You must take your medications as indicated on your post-operative papers that you will receive before you leave for discharge.
• First follow-up post-surgical appointment between the 3rd and 5th day
• Stitches will be removed on day 7 and 15th after surgery, depending on the surgeon’s evaluation
• Wear the bandages for 3 to 5 days
• Relative rest 15 days
• No sexual activity for 4 weeks
• You should not exercise in the following 6 weeks
• You will be able to shower after your first office check-up with your doctor
• No swimming or soaking in baths, jacuzzi, saunas for 4 weeks.
• You should not sunbathe for the next 4 weeks
• You shouldn’t be touching your wounds
• You will be sleeping on your back in a semi-sitting position for the next 10 days
• You should not smoke

It is important that you follow your surgeon’s recommendations to get a good result.

It is important that you understand that during the recovery after facelift surgery you will experience swelling and bruising, this will subside with time and proper medication given to you by your surgeon.

It is suggested to sleep with pillows on your back to be in a semi-sitting position to avoid pressure on the face, a neck pillow will come in handy to keep your head in a good position for rest. When you are clear to take full showers you can let the water run over the eyelids and use mild soaps to clean your face, be very gentle.

Avoid the use of creams or makeup in the surgical area at least for 2 weeks.

Even though you may feel good and without any pain, you should avoid exercise for at least 4 weeks to allow the area to heal properly. Use normal eye glasses instead of your contact lens for at least 2 weeks.

It is normal that you will feel numbness in the face, so you should be careful when drying your hair with a hot hair dryer. Some patients recover sensation in 6 months.

It is recommended that you stay approximately 17 days at the destination, in order to have proper after care and medical check ups with your surgeon.

The results are immediate, however to see the final result you will have to wait an average of 3 to 6 months for the inflammation and bruising to subside, and for the internal scars to soften.

Risks of a facelift surgery are low when a good surgical preparation is done, complications rarely occur during a facelift surgery, but can include:

• Anesthesia complications
• Bleeding
• Infection
• Facial nerve injury
• Numbness
• Pain
• Unfavorable scarring
• Swelling
• Skin irregularities

In order to decrease the risks your surgeon will ask for a series of blood tests and a cardiological evaluation to ensure you are in good health for your procedure.

Following your surgeon’s recommendations will favor a good outcome.