Welcome To Your Guide to Face Lift Surgery
A face lift or Rhytidectomy is one of the most common facial procedures. To help return a more youthful look to the face. Performed on more than 110,000 men and women a year. A face lift addresses the concerns of the lower 2/3 of your face. It removes lacks facial skin, re-positions and reduces underlined excess fat deposits and tightened underlined muscles and deeper tissues. Giving you a more rested youthful look. Today’s face lift is more effective, natural looking and longer lasting than ever before. Many patients can look as much as 10 to 15 years younger. It is often performed in conjunction with other procedures such as a neck lift, eyelid surgery, brow lift, dermal fillers, fat grafting and skin treatment.
Procedure
How your facelift are being performed?
There are a number of different options to help tailor your procedure to your specific needs. During the traditional face lift, the incisions usually start above the hair line, extend down in front of the ear and circle back within the hair line. After the skin is released and waste from the face a layer of tissue called SMAS – Superficial Muscular Aponeurotic System is exposed. This layer is repositioned and are tightened excess skin removed and the incisions are closed with very fine sutures.
The short scar S-lift is a type of mini face lift that utilizes a small S-shaped incision in front of ears to work on the middle third of the face. It is designed to correct limited changes in cheek and jaw line areas. The max lift is a variation on the s-lift and utilizes a permanent per string muscle suture technique. A neck lift is commonly performed in conjunction with the face lift to eliminate hanging neck skin, muscular bans and excess fat that mask smooth defined neck and jaw contour. If only the neck lift is performed, incisions are confined to behind the ears or under the surface of the chin. Liposuction may be used as well to remove fat and tighten the skin. Together we will select the technique that will provide the best result for you. When you meet with our patient coordinator, we will discuss fees and cost.
Preparation
Every person has a unique perspective on age and beauty and your goals will affect the way your face lift is performed. It is important to discuss your desires and listen closely during the consultation so that you can set realistic expectations. A great result can only be achieved when there is good communication between us. You also need to understand that the shape of you face before surgery will partially determine the shape you have after surgery.
Some suggestion to help you prepare for surgery:
- Your safety matters to us.
- You should be very open.
- Provide your medical history.
- Drug allergies
- List any previous surgeries
- Medications
- Diet pills vitamins
- Herbs you are taking
Even if you don’t think they are important. Also don’t be afraid to be frank with us about your lifestyle, smoking, the strenuousness of the work you perform, your exercise habits and the importance of getting back to work.
Here are some tips that may help you reduce scarring, shorten your recovery time and decrease your chances of complications:
- Discontinue using aspirin, ibuprofen, Naprosyn, St. John’s wort and vitamin E for one week before and few days after your procedure this act as blood thinner and could cause problems with blood clotting.
- Stop smoking and drinking alcohol in excess while in advance of your body lift and for one week after surgery.
- Drink lots of water in the days leading up to your face lift. Hydration will help you recover more quickly
To make you recovery easier and more comfortable be sure to:
- Arrange for someone to take you home and take care of you for at lest the first 24 hours.
- Fill you prescriptions prior to surgery and place within easy reach of where you will be resting
- Place plenty of pillows or bed wedge nearby so that you can keep your head elevated at all times.
- You may also want to allow your hair to grow out if it is sure this will help hide scars after surgery.
Recovery
You should expect some bruising swelling and feeling of tightness while your face is swollen it probably look and feel strange to you. Stitches will come out or be absorbed on their own between a week and ten days. Bruising and swelling will subside significantly within a week to ten days. If you feel like you have lost sensation in the treated areas don’t be alarmed as your nerves began to regenerate. Feeling and sensation should return to normal. Pain is moderate with this procedure but a pain medication will be prescribed to control any discomfort. However, if you began to have sudden onset of pain or if your pain become severe contact us immediately.
The recovery process is different for everyone. But within a day of your face lift you should be up and walking around. Keep your head elevated at all times for two weeks following surgery. You may also apply small ice packs to help reduce swelling and discomfort. Over the next couple of weeks your face may be very sensitive and you may want to use special camouflage make up as you heal. For the first week or two you should plan on being out of work and away from your usual activities. After this period, you may gradually return to activities such as lifting exercise and sex. Avoid any high impact activities for about one month. Stay away from sun for a few months as the steam can affect healing. These precautions will help you avoid stress to your scars and allow time for your facial tissues to heal and recover.
Well, there will be permanent scars. In most cases they will be well hidden. The scars are usually small and become difficult to see as they heal over time. Your facial appearance should approve over a period of several months.
What are the risks of face lift surgery?
This information is not intended to frighten you but to help you make an informed decision. No question or concern is silly or insignificant. We will be happy to discuss the full range of potential complications and answer any questions you might have regarding this procedure. Thankfully, complications are in frequent in face lift surgeries and many thousands of procedures are successfully performed each year but they can occur. Complication can include and are not limited to hematoma infection, reaction to anesthesia, nerve damage and damage to under lying facial structures. As with all medical procedure be sure to choose your surgeon wisely. It is important to choose an experienced cosmetic surgeon you can trust and develop a good report with. So that you can openly discuss your concern and particular needs throughout the process of consultation, surgery and after care.
Should you decide to move forward with your face lift a surgery day will be scheduled prior to surgery? You will be given complete preparation and recovery instructions. Remember to keep your follow up visits as we are here to help make this a wonderful experience for you. Feel free to review any part of this presentation you like and be sure to take a look at our before and after gallery to get the better idea of the results you may achieve.