content frame face lift

The General Purpose of This Operation The basic goal of a face lift is to improve the appearance of the jowl area and the neck by smoothing the jaw line and smoothing the neck. It also re-creates an angle between the jaw line and the front of the neck. This angle, called the cervicomental angle, is what makes a neck look more youthful and this is also described on the neck lift page. As the face ages the facial skeleton shrinks and the soft tissues of the face descend. The excess soft tissue and lax skin hangs down and creates a a jowl at the jaw line and a straight line from the bottom of the chin to the lower neck. There is loose skin on the front of the neck and the underlying neck muscles can also get lax. The nasolabial fold, the crease between the cheeks and the lips deepens.

A standard face lift will help re-position these tissues on the lower face. The upper face is handled separately by using a forehead lift with or without eyelid surgery. The most difficult thing to fix is a deep nasolabial fold. No matter how hard you try to pull the tissues in a face lift, this natural anatomic landmark cannot be pulled flat. Luckily, the nasolabial area is improved by using filler substances such as Restylane^®. Click here to go directly to the Restylane^® page. In addition, BOTOX^® injections can be used to further enhance the facial rejuvenation. Click here to go directly to the BOTOX^® page.

Before Face Lift	Before Face Lift	Before Face Lift


After Face Lift	After Face Lift	After Face Lift

Insurance Coverage This is never an insurance covered procedure, it is considered cosmetic surgery.

Before Face Lift	After Face Lift	Before Face Lift	After Face Lift

This Patient Demonstrates a Large Degree of Neck Skin Laxity That Needs the Techniques of a Face Lift To Correct. This Amount of Laxity Could Not Be Handled With Neck Lift Procedures Alone.

The Operation The face lift operation is done as an inpatient procedure at Decatur General Hospital using general anesthesia. It is done in the main operating rooms at Decatur General Hospital and takes about 5 hours to perform. We do the operation in the morning and you will get admitted to the Women's Center after the recovery room. Admission to the hospital allows me to follow your progress better and allows you to have nursing help the first night after your surgery. You will be wearing wearing a neck and face compression garment. You will have a number of drainage tubes in place and the nurses will care for these tubes. The night of surgery and the next morning you just relax in the hospital and take pain medications as needed.

The next day I will change your dressings and remove your drain tubes and you will be discharged to home with prescriptions for narcotic pain pills, antibiotics and nausea medicine. You can shower and wash your hair the day after you are discharged.

It is crucial that for 10 days prior to your surgery you do not take any aspirin, arthritis or other muscle ache pain medicines. These medicines will make you bruise more and can lead to other complications. The ONLY pain or headache medicine that is safe to take is Tylenol (acetaminophen) because this does not affect blood clotting and bleeding.

Postoperative Discomfort All patients are unique and the response to post-operative discomfort is variable. Most patients state that face lift surgery is not that uncomfortable. Patients say that the face and neck feels bruised and stiff. Most patients take the narcotic medicine only for a few days and then switch to Tylenol for pain. As I said, patients are all unique and their pain tolerance is very different.

I will begin to remove skin sutures in the office 5 days after the surgery. Removing the sutures pinches but is not that uncomfortable.

Time Off From Work A face lift is a major operation and causes significant swelling and bruising. I do not like to under estimate the amount of time I tell patients that they will have to "hide out." I tell patients to plan for 2 weeks off from work. After seven days you do not have to wear the neck compression garment during the day, you only have to wear it at night. By the end of two weeks you will be acceptable to go in public with make up on although there still can be some residual effects of the operation visible. For a job that requires physical exertion or heavy lifting you should expect to be away from work for 2 or 3 weeks. Your appearance should be back to perfectly normal by 3 to 4 weeks.

Postoperative Visits To The Office You will need to come to the office 4 days after you are discharged from the hospital so I can begin to get your sutures out. Arrange for someone to drive you to this appointment because you will be on narcotic medications and your face and neck will be sore and stiff so you will be unable to drive safely. You will also be wearing the face and neck compression garment. At this first postoperative visit I will just do a quick check your face and neck and begin to remove sutures.

Your next appointment will be in 5 or 6 days so that I can remove more of your sutures. I will see you every few days to continue to monitor your progress and remove all of the sutures.

Then I will see you monthly for a couple of months. Then I will see you at approximately 6 months and 12 months after your surgery and do a final assessment of your result, assess the quality of your scars and get your final opinion on the surgery.

Resuming Normal Activities As discussed in the above sections, you can shower daily beginning 24 hours after your discharge form the hospital. You take your face and neck garment off to shower and when you are done you immediately put the garment back on. You cannot do any strenuous work or heavy lifting for at least 2 weeks after the surgery. By 3 to 4 weeks you should be back to normal.

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