Facelift cannot stop but it can correct aging process.
The purpose of a facelift surgery is to raise and tighten the facial skin eliminating overhanging folds or lines. This surgical procedure removes, thereby, excess fat, tightening underlying muscles, and redraping the skin of your face and neck. A facelift can be done alone, or with other procedures such as eyelid surgery.
As people age, the skin loses its elasticity, the muscles of the face lose tone and stretch and the fatty tissue shrinks in volume. The eventual result of this is that lines and wrinkles begin to appear and they become more prominent due to the effects of gravity and muscular action.
THE BEST CANDIDATES FOR A FACELIFT
The best candidate for a facelift is a man or woman whose face and neck have begun to sag, but whose skin still has some elasticity and whose bone structure is strong and well-defined.
A facelift can make you look younger and fresher, and it may improve your self- confidence, but it cannt give you a totally different look, nor can it restore the health and vitality of your youth.
Before you decide to have surgery, think carefully about your expectations and discuss about the different surgical treatments available with your surgeon and therefore surgical treatment to match with your particular aims.
RISKS AND COMPLICATIONS
Postoperative complications that can occur include:
- Bleeding – as after any operation, and, if severe, the face swells up resulting in a collection of clotted blood under the skin flap called haematoma.
- Bruising and swelling – In most facelift cases there should be minimal bruising and swelling. Bruising is a result of bleeding after drains have been removed.
- Infection – It most frequently occurs in the part of the wound that lies behind the ear because this area of the skin flap has the lowest blood supply and because this area get most dirty.
- Numbness – temporary numbness is common in the neck and cheek areas as well as around the ear.
- Change in previous hair pattern – change of the hairline will be altereted because the facial skin has been moved to a new position as a result of lifting it.
- Hair loss – this can occur in the scalp adjacent to the incision lines. Hair growth usually recovers within a few months.
- Scars – facelift incisions are placed where they are generally inconspicuous so scarring is not a problem.
You can reduce your risks by closely following your surgeon’s advice both before and after surgery.
PLANNING YOUR SURGERY
Facelifts are very individualized procedures. At the preliminary consultation the surgeon will carefully assess which of the different surgical procedure will suit you best and he will evaluate your face, including the skin and underlying bone, and discuss your goals for the surgery.
Yours surgeons should check medical conditions that could cause proplems during or after surgery. Many patients undergoing this operation are elderly and may be suffering from medical conditions such diabetes or hypertension.
If you are taking aspiring or other blood thinning medications you should desist on account of the increased risk of postoperative bleeding.
If you are a smoker you should stop smoking at least six weeks prior to surgery and for at least a month afterwards. The reason for this is that smoking reduces the blood supply to the skin flap, which can lead to flap necrosis (death of skin, resulting in an ugly scar). Smoking also delays healing and leads to infection, particularly behind the ear.
You should also not drink any alcohol for at least two weeks before the operation, because it can cause postoperative bleeding.
PREPARING FOR YOUR SURGERY
Your surgeon will give you specific instructions on how to prepare for surgery.
You will be admitted in hospital on the morning of surgery and since local or general anaesthesia is administered, you should not have
including guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking, and taking or avoiding certain medications. Carefully following these instructions will help your surgery go more smoothly. If you smoke, it’s especially important to stop at least two weeks before and after surgery.
If your hair is very short, you might want to let it grow out before surgery, so that it’s long enough to hide the scars while they heal.
You should arrange for someone to drive you home after your surgery, and to help you out for a day or two if needed.
WHERE YOUR SURGERY WILL BE PERFORMED
A facelift may be performed in hospital as day surgery when done in local anesthesia and sedation, but when using general anesthesia one overnight may occur.
Patients with medical conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure should be monitored after surgery, and may also require a short inpatient stay.
TYPES OF ANESTHESIA
Most facelifts are performed under local anesthesia, with a sedative to make you drowsy. It can also be performed under general anesthesia. You’ll be awake but relaxed, and your face will be insensitive to pain.
THE SURGERY
The incisions usually begin behind the hairline, curving downwards to the top of the ear through the crease in front of the ear or slightly inside the ear canal. The incision proceeds underneath the earlobe and then upwards in the groove behind the ear. It then extends horizontally inside the hairline towards the back of the head.
The skin is then lifted from the underlying deeper tissues and moved upwards. This surgical procedure can be extended into the eyelinds, over the cheeks to the corners of the mouth and over the jaw line into the neck.
Excess fat in the neck that causes a double chin can be removed by liposuction and the neck muscles tightened to produce a rejuvenation of the jaw line.
If patient has a droop of the muscle layers of the mid-face, it is possible to perform a shorter skin incision, and just pull up the muscle – this technique is called “S” Lift.
“S” Lift because there is very little pull on the skin, suitable for people that have main skin wrinkling and droop of the muscle layers of the mid-face.
AFTER YOUR SURGERY
There isn’t usually significant discomfort after surgery; if there is, it can be lessened with the pain medication prescribed by your surgeon.
Strict bed rest is advised in the immediate postoperative period to reduce the risk of bleeding. Do not do quick movements like bending, straining and lifting and if possible, avoid sneezing. Keep to a minimum facial movement. Drink with a straw and avoid chewing.
Some numbness of the skin is quite normal; it will disappear in a few weeks or months. Main complaints are do to the tightness of the face.
Your surgeon may advice you to keep your head elevated and as still as possible for a couple of days after surgery, to keep the swelling down so sleep with the head elevated.
Bandages are removed generally within a week from surgery. Aspirin and alcohol are forbidden before and after surgery for al least a month.
Most of your stitches will be removed after about five days. Your scalp may take longer to heal, and the stitches in your hairline could be left in a few days longer.
At home, the hair should be washed not before a week from surgery, after that period hair should be washed frequently to prevent infection , especially behind the ear.
GETTING BACK TO NORMAL
You should be up and about in a day or two, but plan on taking it easy for the first week after surgery. Be especially gentle with your face and hair, since your skin will be both tender and numb, and may not respond normally at first.
Avoid strenuous activity, including sex and heavy housework, for at least two weeks (walking and mild stretching are fine); avoid alcohol, steam baths, and saunas for several months. Get plenty of rest and allow your body to spend its energy on healing.
By the third week, you’ll look and feel much better. Most patients are back at work about ten days to two weeks after surgery. If you need it, you can put makeup which can mask most bruising that remains.
Full recovery can take several months but normal activities can continue within the second week from surgery and when you feel confident to appear in public.
YOUR NEW LOOK
The chances are excellent that you’ll be happy with your facelift-especially if you realize that the results may not be immediately apparent. Even after the swelling and bruises are gone, the hair around your temples may be thin and your skin may feel dry and rough for several months. Men may find they have to shave in new places-behind the neck and ears-where areas of beard- growing skin have been repositioned.
You’ll have some scars from your facelift, but they’re usually hidden by your hair or in the natural creases of your face and ears. They’ll fade within time and should be scarcely visible.
