Facelift

What do we need to know about facelift?

Facelift cosmetic surgery is intended to improve your facial appearance and make you look good for your age.
In time, gravity, sun exposure, and the stresses of daily life take their toll on our faces: deep creases appear beside the mouth, the jaw line slackens, and folds and fat deposits appear on the neck. Facelifts counteract these problems by removing fat and tightening the skin and muscles, giving your face a fresher, youthful look. After surgery, some patients appear 10-15 years younger.
A facelift can be combined with a browlift, eyelid surgery or nose reshaping, or it can be restricted to the neck (necklift) if the patient’s problems center there. Incisions are made in inconspicuous places such as behind the hairline and in natural folds of the face and ears, and scars fade to near invisibility in time.

Instructions before surgery

• Do not eat and drink anything six hours before the surgery.
• Do not take aspirin or any medicine containing aspirin for two weeks before the surgery.
• The surgery of women must be performed outside the menstrual period.
• Inform your surgeon and anesthesiologist about your medical problems: hypertension, vascular problems, heart failure, diabetes, lung problems, bleeding problems, epilepsy, neurological problems, allergies to certain drugs, etc.
• Tell your surgeon if you’re wearing dental prosthesis or contact lenses.
• For smokers, please stop smoking for two weeks before the surgery and avoid smoking for at least two weeks after the surgery;
• Avoid extra exposure to sun before and after the surgery.
• Do not keep a strict diet before the surgery because it may delay the healing procedure.
• Should you catch a cold or have any kind infection, the surgery must be postponed.

The facelift procedure

There are many variations of facelift surgery. You should ask your doctor about them. A facelift may be performed by making an incision at the temples behind the hairline. The incision generally extends downward, along the natural creases in the skin, in front or on the edge of the ear, in the crease of the ear lobe, and behind the ear. The surgeon then separates the skin and muscles of the face from the deeper facial tissues. In some cases, the skin is removed; in others the skin and muscle tissues are reshaped. The underlying muscle may be tightened with the skin, or separately. After the tightening or removal of excess skin, the skin is re-draped and sutured or stapled in place.

Facelift patients normally undergo general anesthesia. Time in surgery is approximately 90 to 180 minutes. In some cases, drainage tubes are left in place under certain areas of the skin for several days to reduce post-surgical swelling. Depending upon the extent of the procedure, a facelift may be performed under local anesthesia. After surgery, a bandage is put around the head.

Recovery after facelift surgery

After surgery, patients may experience moderate swelling of the eyelids and other facial areas. Immediately, after the surgery a bandage is usually applied. Typically, within one day after the surgery it is removed and may be replaced with an elastic wrap. There is normally some discomfort following facelift surgery, which can be managed with medications. Strenuous activity should be avoided until the swelling has subsided. This can take four to six weeks. The skin may feel dry and feel rough for a few months.

Complications

As for complications, hematoma, infections, the lesion of a facial nerve, a widened scar, thinned out hair on the temple scar may occur.

Can I smoke after a facelift surgery?

Smoking reduces blood flow to areas of the facial skin, so you shouldn't smoke for a month before and a month after the surgery. Stopping smoking will help the healing process. One in ten smokers will experience skin death at the incision site if they continue to smoke after the surgery.

Who are candidates for facelift surgery?

Patients in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s are the most common facelift patients, but others in their 70’s and 80’s have had successful surgeries as well. Facelift surgery may improve some of the damage from aging, such as loosening of the facial skin and creasing around the nose and mouth. Facelift is not primarily a treatment for wrinkles.

What can you expect from a facelift surgery?

Facelift surgery can make you look younger and fresher by improving the appearance of the face. A facelift may also boost your self-confidence and improve the way others interact with you, but that is not the purpose of the procedure. A healthy facelift procedure is designed to make you "look good for your age" and provide a rejuvenated facial appearance.
Some degree of facial rejuvenation will be permanent, improving laxity and sagging of the face, but some wrinkles may not be resolved with surgery. Particularly, more superficial wrinkles are less likely to be improved by the facelift procedure.

Facelift Variations

Almost any variation and extent of surgery is available to meet the needs of your facial-improvement goals.

• Thread Lifts
• Eyelid surgery is a specialized procedure that corrects oversized, nerve-damaged, or disproportional eyelids.
• Brow Lift (Forehead Lift): Commonly performed on people between the ages of 40 and 70, a forehead lift (or browlift) treats deep lines and furrows that accumulate with age.
• Neck-lift surgery is often performed at the same time as a facelift. As a facelift rejuvenates skin around the face, a neck-lift helps achieve a more balanced youthful appearance.