A facelift (technically known as rhytidectomy) can’t permanently halt the ageing process, but it can “set back the clock,” improving the most visible signs of ageing, and you will always have this advantage.
Does a Facelift treat the entire face and neck – including the brow, eyes?
- Most people think that a “Facelift” addresses the entire face – as it sounds. However, this is incorrect.
- Facelift surgery addresses from the cheeks to the clavicle only. This does include the jawline and the neck.
- It does not address the brow or eyelids.
- If you have a heavy brow, drooping upper eyelids or puffy lower lids, these will require separate procedures which are commonly performed at the same time as a facelift.
- If your problem is your neck and chin only, you may be suitable for a Necklift, which is the lower part of a facelift.
How will a facelift improve my appearance?
- Facelift will lift sagging cheeks to a more youthful position
- Improve heavy nasolabial lines (lines the run down each side of the mouth)
- Improve the jawline by removing fat under the chin and through the lifting of underlying tissues of the face.
- Slim the face by lifting the tissues and removing the fat.
- Returns your face to a youthful oval shape.
- An aged face becomes squared off due to sagging of facial tissues.
How old are most people that have a Facelift?
- Most people asking for a facelift are around 50 -70 years of age.
- However Dr McGovern has performed facelift on clients as young as 42 years of age and he has done quite a few 80-odd year old’s as well..
- The majority of Dr McGovern’s facelift clients are in the early 50’s to late 60’s.
- If you are fit and healthy and have a problem with your appearance, it doesn’t matter how old you.
- We believe in biological age, not chronological age!
Are there many complications associated with a Facelift?
- When a facelift is performed by a qualified plastic surgeon, complications are infrequent and usually minor.
- Complications risks and rates are increased in smokers and anyone with a high BMI and Dr McGovern will not operate on clients with any of these risk factors in place.
- Dr McGovern will discuss all risks associated with Facelift in detail at consultation.
How long before surgery do I have to give up smoking?
- You must have no nicotine in your system for a minimum of 3 weeks and preferably longer before a Facelift
- This includes nicotine in vape form
- It also includes passive smoking
- If you live with a smoker it is imperative that they smoke well away from you – outdoors.
Why do I have to give up smoking before a Facelift?
- Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor (closes down small blood vessels in the body).
- After surgery, we rely on these small vessels to start the healing process immediately.
- A delayed healing process results in the death of the overlying skin – which in a facelift starts around your ears and can spread to the neck. A complication we will not accept.
- We do not do surgery on smokers to protect them from complications.
- We are doing surgery to improve the way you look, not to create problems.
- Smoking is also one of the main contributors to people requiring facial surgery.
How long is the recovery after a facelift, or facial surgery?
- Most people are back to their normal routine in 2 weeks.
- If you have eyelid surgery at the same time as your facelift, you may like to take 3 weeks or more, as people look you in the eye and swelling can be obvious.
- Initially, you will have some bruising which may last up to 10 days.
- People that follow our pre-facelift surgery recommendations have very little bruising and can happily go out in public at about day 5 after surgery.
How many years will a Facelift take off me?
- Depending on how bad you looked before your facelift, you might find that you look 5 years younger, or 15 years younger.
- The more sagging you have before a Facelift, the more dramatic your results will be.
- Many people chose to have a facelift when their face first starts to show signs of ageing and sagging. This way the problem is solved before it gets extreme, and the results are not so blatantly obvious.
- You will always have the advantage that you have achieved through your facelift surgery, but you will continue to age.
- If you continue to use medical skin care products, you will find that your skin will continue to look youthful and will not age as quickly as you did previously.
How long will the results of a facelift last?
- You will continue to age from the day of your facelift surgery. Therefore, what you do in maintenance skin care and sun prevention will directly affect the longevity of your facial surgery
- Of course, genetics play a large role in facial ageing, but most of the problems we see on the Sunshine Coast are directly related to sun exposure. Protection from the sun is paramount.
- Our dermal therapists are here to help you look after your skin so the benefits of your facelift last long term.
Your surgeon will give you specific instructions on how to prepare for surgery, including guidelines on eating and drinking, smoking, and taking or avoiding certain vitamins and medications. Carefully following these instructions will help your surgery go more smoothly.
If you smoke, it’s especially important to stop at least three weeks before and after surgery. Smoking inhibits blood flow to the skin, and can interfere with the healing of your incision areas. 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. Get your hair coloured before surgery as you won’t want to do so for some weeks afterward.
Changing your hairstyle radically after your surgery will help to disguise your recent facelift.
You should arrange for someone to drive you home after your surgery, and to help you out for a day or two if needed.
Facelift surgery is sometimes done on an outpatient basis, under local anaesthesia and intravenous sedation. However considerable discomfort during this long procedure is the rule. General anaesthesia and an overnight hospital stay is preferred, you may decide to stay two or more nights.
A few facelifts are performed under local anaesthesia, combined with a sedative to make you drowsy. You’ll be awake but relaxed. However, you may feel some tugging and occasional pain, as well as discomfort due to lying still for several hours.
Many surgeons including our surgeons prefer general anaesthesia. In that case, you’ll sleep through the operation.
A facelift usually takes several hours and somewhat longer if you’re having more than one procedure done.
Every surgeon approaches the procedure in his or her own way. The exact placement of incisions and the sequence of events depends on your facial structure and your surgeon’s technique.
Early facelifts simply pulled the skin tight, giving an unnatural “wind-swept” look to the face but taking only two hours or so to perform. Many “cosmetic clinic” general practitioners use these simple techniques. Modern plastic surgeons elevate the “SMAS” (fat and fibrous tissue) layer to correct jowling. Your surgeon uses an “extended SMAS flap technique”, as described by James Baker and Jim Stuzin of Miami, Florida. A “corset platysmaplasty” technique (as described by Joel Feldman of Boston) is used to reconstruct the neckline.
Incisions are hidden in the hair wherever possible. These usually begin above the hairline at the temples, extend in a natural line in front of the ear and just inside the cartilage at the front of your ear, and continue behind the earlobe to the scalp. If the neck needs considerable work, a small incision will also be made under the chin.
Your surgeon will separate the skin from the fat and muscle below. Fat is commonly trimmed or suctioned from around the neck and chin to improve the contour. Your surgeon will then tighten the underlying muscle and SMAS membrane, pull the skin back, and remove any excess. Stitches secure the layers of tissue and close the incisions, metal clips may be used in incisions hidden in the hair.
Following surgery, a small, thin tube will be temporarily placed under the skin behind your ear to drain any blood that might collect there. your surgeon will also employ an elasticized compression garment over your cheeks and neck to minimize bruising and swelling.
There isn’t usually significant discomfort after surgery; if there is, it can be lessened with the pain medication prescribed by your surgeon. (Severe or persistent pain or a sudden swelling of your face should be reported to your surgeon immediately.) Some numbness of the skin is quite normal, this will disappear in a few weeks or months.
Your surgeon will ask you to keep your head elevated and as still as possible for a couple of days after surgery, to keep swelling to a minimum. Ice packs applied frequently will also help to keep swelling and bruising to a minimum.
Your drainage tube will be removed one or two days after surgery. Don’t be surprised at the pale, bruised, and puffy face you see. Just keep in mind that in a few weeks you’ll be looking normal.
Your stitches will be removed in stages over the first 7 to 10 days.
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.
Your surgeon will give you more specific guidelines for gradually resuming your normal activities. Avoid strenuous activity, including heavy housework, for at least two weeks (walking and mild stretching are fine), limit your exposure to the sun for several months. Above all, get plenty of rest and allow your body to spend its energy on healing.
At the beginning, your face may look and feel rather strange. Your features may be distorted from the swelling, your facial movements may be slightly stiff, and you’ll probably be self-conscious about your scars. Some bruising may persist for two or three weeks, and you may tire easily. It’s not surprising that some patients are disappointed and depressed at first.
By the third week, you’ll look and feel much better. You may decide to take three to four weeks off work. Our nurse aestheticians can help you with makeup advice to cover any remaining bruising.
The chances are excellent that you’ll be happy with your facelift – especially if you realise 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. This problem is easily adressed, once you are fully healed, using our state of the art hair removal laser.
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. In any case, they’ll fade with time and should be scarcely visible.
Having a facelift doesn’t stop the clock. Your face will continue to age with time, and you may want to repeat the procedure one or more time – perhaps ten years or more down the line. But in another sense, the effects of even one facelift are lasting – years later, you’ll continue to look much better than if you’d never had a facelift at all.
If you have further questions, write them down and ask your surgeon and his highly trained staff at your consultation.
