Facelift

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If You're Considering a Facelift...
Changes in the face are caused by various factors such as the age, gravity, exposure to the sun, and stress. Deep folds appear from the nose to the corners of the mouth; creases and fat deposits form around the neck.
A facelift, or rhytidectomy, will not stop aging, but it can “turn back time” by minimising the most prominent marks of aging. The procedure involves removing excess fat, tightening underlying muscles, and re-draping the skin of the face and neck. A facelift may be performed alone or may be combined with other procedures, for example, forehead lift, eyelid or nose surgery.
If you’re thinking of undergoing rhytidectomy, this information will give you general understanding of the procedure – when it can improve your appearance, how it’s done, and what outcomes can be expected. However, it can’t cover all questions you may have because many answers depend on the individual patient and the surgeon.

The Best Candidates For a Facelift
The best candidates for a facelift are people whose face and neck skin has begun to droop but still hasn’t lost elasticity and whose facial bone structure is strong. The age of facelift patients varies from 40 to 60, however, facelift operations are successfully done on people aged over 70 or 80 as well.
A facelift procedure may improve your face making it look rejuvenated. A facelift may also boost your self-confidence; but it won’t give you a totally different appearance nor return the energy and health of your youth. Before making the decision to undergo the surgery, consider your expectations and discuss them with your surgeon.

All Surgery Carries Some Uncertainty and Risk
When a facelift procedure is carried out by a skilled plastic surgery specialist, complications are rare and usually minor. However, every case is individual, patients differ in their anatomy, possible reactions of the body and healing abilities, so the result can never be absolutely predicted.
Complications that can occur include hematoma (a collection of blood under the skin as the result of internal bleeding), injury to the facial nerves (usually temporary), infection, and reactions to the anaesthesia. The risk of poor healing of the skin is increased in smokers.
The risks may be minimised or avoided carefully following the surgeon’s instructions before and following the operation.

Planning Your Surgery
A facelift is an individual procedure. During your first visit, the surgeon will evaluate the features of your face, the skin and the facial bone, and discuss your expectations for the surgery.
Your surgeon should check for medical conditions that could cause problems during or after the surgery, such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, blood clotting, or the formation of excessive scars. Inform your surgeon if you are a smoker or are taking any drugs or medications that could cause clotting problems.
If you decide to have a facelift, you will be informed about the chosen surgery techniques and anaesthesia, the type of facility where the procedure will be done, the potential risks and costs involved. If you have questions, ask your surgeon without hesitation.

Preparing For Your Surgery
You will be given detailed instructions on how to prepare for surgery, including guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking, taking or avoiding certain vitamins and medications, and washing your face. Closely following these instructions you may expect that your surgery will go more smoothly.
Smokers should quit at least a week or two before and following the operation because smoking hinders blood flow to the skin, and can hamper the healing of cut areas.
If your hair is shortly-cut, you can let it grow out before surgery, so that it will be long enough to cover the scars while they heal.
While preparing for the surgery, make sure that someone will be able to drive you home after your surgery and be near for a few days if any help will be needed.

Types of Anaesthesia
Facelifts are mostly performed under local anaesthesia with sedation. You’ll remain conscious but relaxed and pain-free. (However, you may have a sensation of some tugging or occasional discomfort.)
Some surgeons may prefer a general anaesthesia. Then you’ll be “put to sleep” for the duration of the procedure.

The Surgery
A facelift lasts a few hours or a bit longer when combined with other procedures. Longer procedures may require two sessions.
The procedure may be approached differently from surgeon to surgeon. Some surgeons first finish one side of the face, and others work on both the sides at a time, moving from one to the other. The placement of incisions and the succession of events depend on the patient’s structure of the face and the surgeon’s chosen technique.
Incisions typically start above the hairline in the area of the temples, extend downward in a natural line in front of the ear (or just inside the cartilage at the front of the ear), and continue behind the earlobe to the lower scalp. If the neck needs improvement, a tiny incision may also be made beneath the chin.
In general, the surgeon frees the skin from the underlying tissues of fat and muscle. Fat may be removed from around the neck and chin to improve the contour. The surgeon then tightens the underlying muscle and membrane, pulls the skin back, and trims any redundant skin before closing the incisions. Stitches secure the layers of tissue and close the incisions; metal clips may be used on the scalp.
After the surgery, a small tube may be temporarily inserted underneath the skin behind your ear to drain any blood that might collect there. A dressing is usually applied in order to protect the incision areas and reduce bruising and swelling.

After Your Surgery
If there is discomfort after the surgery (which is a rare case), it can be reduced with the pain medication prescribed by your surgeon. (If you feel severe or persistent pain or an abrupt swelling of your face, call your surgeon immediately.) The numbness of the skin is quite normal and disappears in a few weeks or months.
To lessen the swelling, you will be advised to keep your head upright and as still as possible for some two days following the operation.
A drainage tube is normally removed after a day or two, and bandages, when used, are removed after one to five days. Don’t panic about the paleness, bruises, and puffiness in your face. Just think that in a few weeks it will be looking normal.
Your stitches will be removed after about five days. Your scalp may take longer to heal, and the stitches or metal clips in your hair line could be left in for two weeks.

Getting Back to Normal
You should be up and about after 1-2 days. However, be especially gentle with your face and hair, since your skin will be both vulnerable and numb.
Your surgeon will give more specific guidelines for getting back to your normal activities. They may include the following suggestions: Avoid tiring activity, including sex and hard housework, for at least 14 days (although walking and easy stretching are fine); avoid alcohol and steam baths for several months. In general, rest well and let your body use its energy for healing.
At the beginning, your face may look and feel rather strange due to the swelling and scars; but by the third week, you’ll be much better. Most patients are back at work about ten to fourteen days following the operation. If there is a need, bruising can be masked with special makeup.

Your New Look
Patients have more chances to feel satisfied with the surgery if they understand that the results do not come out immediately. Even when the swelling and bruises have disappeared, the hair at the temples may be thin and the skin may be coarse and dry for a few months. As the skin is repositioned during the facelift procedure, men may discover new areas to be shaved, i.e. behind the neck and ears.
There will be some scars from the surgery, but they are hidden under your hair or in the natural lines of your face and ears. Anyway, they will become scarcely visible with time.
A facelift will not prevent you from aging and you may want to have another procedure in the future. On the other hand, the effects of even a single facelift are long-term: the following years you will still look better than if you had never undergone a facelift at all.

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