Cosmetic Procedures - Facelift - After Surgery

The facelift procedure is usually done as an outpatient and the patient is sent home after adequately recovering from the anesthetic. The patient is asked to return the following day and the bandages are removed to check for proper skin healing and that no bleeding has occurred underneath the skin flaps. An elastic supportive strap is then worn for another week to ten days. Sutures are removed in five to seven days to minimize scarring even though they will be very imperceptible due to their placement in natural skin creases around the ears. Swelling and bruising are mostly gone in two to three weeks. Numbness of the face and neck skin is typical and will usually recover normal feeling in the skin within three to six months. Patients should avoid strenuous exercise and sun exposure for four to six weeks after surgery.

The final result after a facelift may not be apparent for several weeks after surgery until all bruising and swelling have disappeared. Complications from the procedure are uncommon but excessive bleeding (hematoma) and delayed healing of the skin incisions are the most common, particularly in smokers, and may require further surgery. Injury to the flower branc of the facial nerve, which is reponsible for downward movement of thge lower lip, is very rare.