From Consultation To Recovery: The Process Of Getting A Facelift

Health & Medical Articles

A facelift is an elective cosmetic procedure that can improve your appearance and self-confidence. The procedure involves a cosmetic lifting and tightening of the skin on your face to give you a more youthful appearance. If you are considering a facelift, you may want to know more about the procedure before you make a decision. Here is a systematic look at a facelift from your first appointment through recovery.

Consultations

Before going under the knife, you will attend two or more consultations with your cosmetic surgeon. The first consultation is a discussion about your concerns, expectations, and general information about the surgery. You can tell your surgeon about the issues that bother you most about your face. Your surgeon will tell you what he or she can do for you, along with going over the pros and cons of cosmetic surgery.

If you decide to move forward with the surgery, you will schedule at least one more consultation with your surgeon. The next consultation will involve a detailed imaging system on a computer. Your surgeon will show you images of what your face will look like after specific procedures and tailor a surgery plan to meet your specific needs.

The Day of Surgery

On the day of your surgery, you will be admitted into the hospital. A nurse will take your vitals and possibly discuss the specifics of aftercare with you at this point. Before you are taken into the operating room, your surgeon will visit you for pre-surgery markings. He or she will mark specific areas of your face with a surgical marker while you are still awake. You will sign off on the markings, stating that they match the plan that you and your surgeon made for your facelift.

The operation will take between two and six hours depending on the procedure. Younger patients often need a quick lift that doesn't last more than a couple of hours. Older patients may need liposuction, eyelid surgery, a brow lift, and other procedures that last much longer.

Your surgeon will make incisions around your hairline and ears, and behind your ears. This gives your surgeon access to the SMAS layer of your face without having to make incisions where scars will be apparent. During a traditional facelift, a surgeon will reposition deep tissue, trim some muscles, and redistribute fat to tighten the face and make sure everything looks even. This will leave some excess skin as it is pulled tighter, which will be trimmed off at the end of the procedure.

If you need any additional work, your surgeon may remove fatty deposits from under your eyelids, add cheek implants, and/or resurface your skin to improve its texture.

Your surgeon will close the incisions with sutures. Your surgeon may use a combination of dissolvable sutures and ones that you will have to have removed. You will need the stitches for about a week post op. After stitching, your surgeon will wrap the wounds in a light bandage for extra support and hygiene. You may be prescribed a mild painkiller along with an anti-inflammatory medication for the pain after surgery.

Post-Operative

Your stay in the hospital depends on your surgeon. While some surgeons may send you home a couple hours after surgery, most will keep you in the hospital for at least one night. Any nights after depend on how extensive your facelift is.

While in the hospital, your support dressings will be changed for you. When you go home, you don't have to change them at all. You can remove your dressing to wash your hair, but it's advised to keep it in place as much as possible until your post-op appointment. The appointment is usually about a week after your surgery. You should feel okay to move about after returning home from the hospital. Your face will be swollen and you may not feel up to leaving the house for the first week after your surgery. After the first week, the majority of the swelling will be down, but it takes about three weeks for your face to look completely normal.

A facelift is not something that takes months to plan or recover from, but it is a surgery and requires you to want it 100%. If you are interested in having tighter, younger looking skin, you can schedule a consultation with a cosmetic surgeon to discuss a facelift. Visit http://www.myplasticsurgerygroup.com for more information. 

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30 December 2014

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