How long does facelift recovery last?
The facelift has been the gold standard in cosmetic surgery
for surgical facial rejuvenation to address sagging cheeks
and neck skin for many people it’s what first comes to mind
when thinking of cosmetic surgery and it is assumed to
require a long healing time for years face lips were viewed
as an exclusive procedure done by wealthier people who
didn’t mind a prolonged recovery process until they were
ready to reveal their new face to the world in my practice
I’ve developed strategies to help my patients have the full
range of facelift procedures with minimal risk minimal downtime
and quicker recovery I’m Dr. Amiya Prasad I’m a Board-certified
facial cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon I’ve been in practice in
Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years during my training
in facial cosmetic surgery the facelift surgery involved general
anesthesia overnight hospital stay a large dressing drains a
lot of swelling and weeks of not so comfortable recovery at
that time I began thinking of ways to make facelifts be less
difficult for patients to experience with a shorter recovery
time without sacrificing the results and the longevity t he
first thing that contributes to longer facelift recovery is
general anesthesia for many people who undergo general
anesthesia recovering from the effects of general anesthesia is
equal to or worse than recovering from the surgery itself side
effects from general anesthesia include nausea vomiting and
lightheadedness patience after having general anesthesia are
often required to stay at a facility with nursing care overnight
and have a large facial bandage with drains when I perform facelift
surgery I use local anesthesia with LITE IV or intravenous
sedation rather than general anesthesia the patient is more
comfortable with a twilight-type of sedation throughout the
procedure we perform surgery within our own office facilities
which are certified by the Joint Commission after surgery patients
only need to stay in our office for about an hour or two before
returning home a light facial dressing is used without any drains
basic aftercare involves putting antibiotic ointment where the
sutures are placed and these sutures are removed after one week
patients can return to work in about a week to two weeks after
surgery the same standards for surgery ranging from limited mini lifts
to extended face and neck lift surgery are applied the deeper tissue
often referred to as the muscle is addressed the same way as any facelift
procedure performed under general anesthesia this layer of tissue is called
thus masked which stands for superficial musculo aponeurotic system I
perform the full range of facelifts from short scar mini lifts to SMAS
flaps and deep plane facelifts speaking of deep plane facelift it’s
important not to be overly impressed by doctors claiming to perform deep
plane facelift exclusively to imply that they know techniques that other
surgeons don’t in fact all experienced face of surgeons are trained in
all face life techniques less aggressive facelifts such as short scar
face lift is not actually a shortcut procedure but it is appropriate
for people who want to lift a sagging jawline but don’t have significant
laxity of skin and deep tissue under the chin on the neck a deep plane
facelift is actually another procedure performed by experienced facelift
surgeons which involves undermining and tightening the deep tissue
layers beneath the skin and thus masts the face and neck lift is a
procedure typically suited for older patients who have significant
laxity in the neck and under the chin so a longer incision is needed to
lift the face and neck at the same time I regularly performed these more
involved face and neck lifting procedures for my patients and still able
to get them back to normal life in a week to two weeks another way I
expedite facelift recovery is with advanced wound healing methods I apply
the wound healing material extracellular matrix or Acellular matrix which
consistently helps the incisions heal faster and make them virtually
imperceptible even after about a month recovery time is important but
recovering quickly doesn’t matter if you don’t like the results from
eyelid surgery – facelifts I approach all my patients and their procedures
with a natural aesthetic I believe my patients should always look like
themselves after any procedure and in the case of facelifts a version of
themselves which looks five to ten years younger in my practice recovery
from facelift surgery is optimized by using local anesthesia with sedation
efficient and meticulously performed surgery and the use of advanced wound
healing technology I hope you found this information helpful thank you for your question