Facial Rejuvenation Surgery: 5 Things You Need to Know

What is a face-lift?

Wrinkles, sagging skin, sagging jowls and neck are part of the normal and natural aging process.

Nowadays, the term “facelift” is used to describe the rejuvenation of the face or a part of the face. In fact, each region of the face (forehead, eye contour, temples, cheekbones, cheeks, neck) can be treated. This kind of face plastic surgery is also known as rhytidectomy.

Thanks to light and localized lifts, micro-liposuction of fatty areas, very short scars and lipofilling which restores the natural volumes of the face, the results have become very natural. The secret of youthfulness and a healthy glow lies in the correct use of these different techniques according to each face, by an experienced surgeon in cosmetic surgery.

The localized facelift is the lightest; it leaves few traces and allows a quick recovery. A complete facelift can nevertheless be proposed by the plastic surgeon if a more important intervention is necessary.

How long does it take to recover?

The recovery after a facelift is soft in general, and doesn’t take a lot of time.

The treated areas may be a little painful during the days following the operation. The plastic surgeon will systematically prescribe painkillers.

The first few days, bruising will be visible in the neck and on the treated areas, as well as oedema (slight swelling).

Avoid going out for the first 3 to 6 days after the operation and use sunglasses if you must go out.

Afterwards, with a scarf, a turtleneck and some make-up, you can resume most activities normally. In 6 to 12 days, the most visible traces will have disappeared.

The scars around the ear take a few weeks to whiten and fade. Only your hairdresser will see them.

Plan to take 10 to 20 days off work.

In order to promote healing and the success of the treatment, certain activities or habits will have to be suspended.

After a facelift, try to avoid :

• sports and major muscular effort for a month;
• driving (car, bicycle, motorbike) for one month;
• going to the hairdresser or having your hair dyed for at least 6 weeks;
• exposure to the sun for 2 months.

It is strongly recommended to stop smoking.

What are the benefits of a face-lift?

Facial aging is a natural process that neither men nor women can escape. The loss of skin tone, which causes the skin to become thinner and looser, the melting of facial fat and the appearance of wrinkles, which are much more pronounced at the age of 50 than in the past, are all signs of aging that the face experiences.

Even if the result of a face-lift is visible within two months, it is only after three to six months that the process will be fully completed. The face lift is discreet, rejuvenating while giving a harmonious effect to the face. This surgical procedure can be repeated 2 or even 3 times in a lifetime, its benefits last on average 10 years.

There is never a sudden recurrence and the aging process resumes a normal course, but with 10 years of rejuvenation.

What are the risks and drawbacks of a face-lift?

Like any surgical procedure, facelift surgery is not without risk. Haematomas, infections, necrosis, scars and paralysis are among the complications that, in theory, are rare in expert hands. The more you pay attention to the contraindications, the more likely it is that the procedure will be successful.

If you want to rely on cosmetic surgery, you must be aware that a number of factors predispose you to the risk of complications. For example, necrosis is more common in smokers, and infections are more frequent in people with diabetes or a lack of immune defenses. These infections can be manifested by fever, chills, inflammation or itching. Fortunately, however, they are relatively rare. Another much more frequent complication is haematomas, which are especially favored by smoking, the use of certain medicines (aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) or high blood pressure. Sometimes impressive in appearance and often painful, these bruises appear in the twelve days following the operation.

However, the real risk that is feared in any face cosmetic surgery procedure, is the paralysis that can result from the accidental injury of a nerve, particularly a branch of the facial nerve. However, it is generally for other failures that patients consult a doctor after a facelift: hypertrophic scars, or even more budding red scars, called keloids, which are evidence of an excessive healing reaction. Not only do they seriously compromise the aesthetic success of the operation, but they often require lengthy treatments.

Will people be able to tell?

The aim of the facelift is not to change the shape or appearance of the face but to restructure the anatomical constitution of the face and neck (skin, muscle, fat) allowing patients to regain the appearance they had a few years earlier.

More generally, if the facelift is performed without excess correction, it will save 10 years for 10 years, and 5 years less during the following 5 years.

In the long term, if the facelift allows to fight against the ravages of time, aging continues to do its work and one can envisage, according to the wishes of the patients, a new intervention after about ten years.

Actually, what patients demand in terms of facial rejuvenation is a result that has three main characteristics:

• a perfectly natural result, i.e. neither the family nor the friends, nor those who work around the operated patients should notice anything other than an apparent good appearance;
• an operation that is performed with a minimum of dressing and reduced post-operative care, so that there is no need to worry about removing unpleasant staples;
• long-lasting results as much as possible, without going too deeply into the technique used by the surgeon, in order to reduce the costs of an operation which nevertheless remains the most expensive among known cosmetic surgery operations.