1. How long is the recovery time?
For a mini face lift, the initial recovery may take only a week. There will be some swelling and bruising; each person is different…some more, some less, but when having only a mini lift the patient may be able to get out in public in a week or so. For full face lifts we recommend 2 weeks for initial recovery. However, patients don’t have to stay in bed, they can move around without causing any healing problems. Just avoid driving, straining, turning the head or exercising until we feel you are healed enough. Total healing (the point at which there is no numbness, incisional pinkness has gone, and firmness has softened) actually takes several months.
2. How long does a facelift last?
What is removed is gone forever, but the procedure will not stop the normal aging process and cannot restore the tissue elasticity that was present in youth. It is the patient’s state of elasticity that determines how much skin and muscle relaxation they have and how quickly they develop it. The real question is, “how long before I need a tuck up” to compensate for the aging process. The answer to that depends upon one’s age, hormone status, health, lifestyle, etc. and where a person is in the normal aging process. If one is right in the middle of the rapid aging phase of life, then they will need a tuck up much quicker. Otherwise, they may not need any additional support for years. The other point is that right after surgery, things will be as snug as we can achieve while leaving a natural looking result (we will not leave a patient looking windblown). However, during the first 12 months after surgery, every patient sees some tissue relaxation.
3. How is a facelift different than a mini-facelift or midface lift?
A full facelift involves working on the cheeks, jowls and neck. A mini facelift usually involves only the cheeks and perhaps the jowl region but the tissue movement is much less than with a full face lift. A mid face lift involves only the upper cheek.
4. How long should swelling and numbness last after a facelift?
Most swelling is gone by 2 weeks. However, there may be some slight swelling and some numbness that can take an entire year to resolve.
5. How can I avoid getting a pulled up look from a facelift?
The pulled look sometimes seen in some facelift patients is due to the way the doctor did the surgery. It is not caused by having a “face lift” but by the way the doctor did the surgery. Our technique produces very natural looking results.
6. How to avoid bruising after a facelift?
You cannot totally avoid bruising, but staying off of aspirin, high doses of vitamin E, fish oil, ginkgo, garlic and a host of other medications, herbs, and certain vitamins will help lessen bruising.
7. What are potential facelift side effects?
Some incisional scarring or hair loss along the incision lines. Risks can be anything from death to disfigurement. However, in healthy patients, done under IV sedation, the risks are minimal.
8. Will I have visible scars from a facelift?
Anytime an incision is made, the body heals by producing collagen tissue (scar tissue). We plan our incisions along the hairline and at key junctions so that they are minimized and difficult for the casual observer to identify; a small trade off for improvement of sagging and bagging tissue. Our average patient has very inconspicuous incision lines. However, if one smokes or is in poor health, the incisions may take longer to heal and may be more apparent.
9. Is there a non-surgical alternative for facelift?
When one is not sagging too much and has only lost facial volume, sometimes facial fillers can produce a more youthful appearance, BUT they don’t actually lift tissue…they re-plump tissue that has “sunken in” with age.
We do not offer the machines that manufacturers claim to tighten sagging skin because we have not found the purported “non surgical face lift machines” to meet most patient expectations. In fact, we have many patients come to our office complaining of the failure of such treatments at other facilities in our community. Until the technology advances to the point that we are seeing patients who are satisfied with these machines, we will not offer such treatment.
10. What is a liquid facelift?
Three things happen as the face ages; sagging & bagging, volume loss, and wrinkles. Facial re-inflation with injectable fillers can restore the fullness of youth. …and in that sense it can make some people look younger like when their face was more full looking. However, nothing will really remove and lift sagging neck or jowl tissue…other than a face lift.
11. Liquid Lift vs Midface lift?
Injectable facial fillers can restore a sunken mid face. Lifting can move tissue around but it does not really restore the fullness of youth.
12. How long does a liquid facelift last?
Some fillers last longer than others and the answer depends upon what area of the face was treated and what filler is used. Some products last up to 2 years; others last from 6 months to 1 year.
13. How often can I have liquid facelifts?
Once a patient has achieved total correction, a visit once a year can keep things touched up. Sometimes this can be achieved in one visit, but if aging has advanced it may take a few visits, rather than one. If someone gets less than the number of fillers required to meet the need determined……and total correction is not achieved, it will take more repeat visits until the patient is totally restored. Repeat treatments are usually not a problem with most fillers.