FACELIFT SURGERY COMMON MYTHS
Facelift Surgery Before and After Photos

• A facelift will leave me out of social interaction for weeks. Barring a postoperative complication, the 635 laser-activated facelift combined with platelet get allows a patient to recover in six to seven days. The dressings are removed in 24 hours and the patient may shampoo. The sutures are removed in six days and makeup can be applied. In the unusual circumstance where there is bruising, light shades of makeup can camouflage it allowing the patient to resume their normal activities.

• The facelift involves an incision completely around the head over the forehead, etc. In reality a facelift is an incision that begins in front of the ear or just above it and runs down behind the ear and into the hairline. A facelift addresses the lower one-third of the face and the upper two-thirds of the neck. In effect it corrects the marionette lines, the jowl and softening of the jaw line as fat accumulates and the structures of the face drop, as well as the infamous turkey waddle deformity.Other procedures can be done along with the facelift that address the forehead, eyelids and cheeks, but these are not the “classic” facelift procedure.

• A facelift lasts a finite period of time. Most people ask, “How long does a facelift last?” They are under the misconception that a facelift will “drop” in five to ten years when in reality a facelift lasts a lifetime! Yes, the aging process and time marches on, but the changes achieved with a facelift last forever. The best analogy is a set of twin sisters 50 years of age. One has a facelift and knocks ten years off of her face so that she looks 40. Ten years later when the twin sisters are 60 and comparing how they have aged, the one sister who had the facelift looks 50 and the other, her twin, looks 60. In effect, a facelift does not suddenly “drop” and a person then looks 60.

• I don’t want a wide-mouth frog look nor a wind tunnel look. In reality, it is impossible to pull a face so tight that the mouth is distorted and a patient looks “pulled”. On the first facelift the skin has residua elasticity and because of the swelling that occurs at surgery one is not able to permanently create a wind tunnel effect. However, when one comes back for a second or third facelift 10, 15 or 20 years later then it is possible to achieve a “wide-mouth frog” look that most patients find undesirable. With judicious planning and surgery one can have multiple facelifts without creating a distortion. A facelift will correct the folds (nasolabial folds). A common maneuver that we all do as age creeps up on us is to stand in front of a mirror and pull out cheeks backward, thus softening our face and giving a more youthful appearance to the vagaries of aging. In reality, it is impossible to correct this fold with a facelift as the area of support and pull is too far removed to effect any permanent change. Yes, there will be a tightening and softening of the fold lines for six months, but after the swelling subsides and the sensation has returned to the cheeks, then one finds that there been in effect no change to the fold (nasolabial area).

• A facelift will change the lines around my mouth. The annoying vertical lines around the lip that frustrate a patient who wears lipstick as it bleeds into these lines is not effected by a facelift. The superficial changes in the skin, whether it is around the mouth or under the eyelids are not affected by lifting the deep and superficial structures. In order to correct this problem a chemical peel, dermal fillers or laser resurfacing are necessary.

• I am going to be able to carry on my normal function and social responsibilities while I am recovering from a facelift. While Dr. Dedo has refined the postoperative management to maximize the rate of healing, you must realize that a facelift is surgery and as such it requires your body to adjust to the trauma of the operation. You may find yourself looking like a million dollars, but just feeling tired and with not much energy. Healing takes time and patients are encouraged use their downtime wisely.

• I only want my neck lifted. It is the rare patient who can have an isolated neck lift. The problem with trying to do an isolated neck lift without tying it into the lower one-third of the face is that the jowls and laxity of the cheeks are not addressed and become more prominent. In addition, within two years the rest of the face is going to have to be lifted and in order to eliminate two surgical procedures in two years, it is best to do it right the first time.