Facelift Aftercare: How to Prolong Results

Chances are good that if you’re concerned about the appearance of sagging skin, jowls, and deep wrinkles, a facelift is the cosmetic surgery that can provide the most dramatic, contour-restoring results for you. Dr. Timothy Greco frequently fields questions from patients who want to learn more about what they can expect after facelift surgery from his Philadelphia-area practice. For them and others with similar questions, he emphasizes that a healthy skincare routine is essential for maintaining beautiful results from facelift surgery. Steps can be taken during the early postoperative stages, as well as in the years that follow, to optimize the outcome.

Aging can cause our skin quality to deteriorate significantly, from the cheeks, chin, and neck to the forehead and eyelids. Facelift surgery specifically involves restoring the youthful symmetry and natural contours of the lower portion of the face. It remains the gold standard for removing excess facial skin and repositioning or extracting unwanted fat.

A facelift has the added benefit of sculpting and defining the face as a whole. The procedure is designed to repair moderate to severe damage, as opposed to minor, superficial imperfections on the skin’s surface. During surgery, the skin on either side of the face is pulled upward and backward, while underlying tissues are adjusted. This creates a refreshed, “lifted” appearance that can take years off of the face.

Each person’s recovery experience varies, depending on several factors, such as the extent of surgery itself, their age, their gender, and the current state of their health. While a facelift does involve surgery, and as such requires a longer recovery period compared to minimally invasive cosmetic treatments, it is possible to accelerate healing by following your surgeon’s advice for self-care.

You’re likely to feel drowsy and disoriented in the first 24 hours after waking up from anesthesia. Physicians strongly recommend having a friend, partner, or close relative care for you during this time. In the following days and weeks, patients can expect some level of bruising, swelling, discomfort, and drainage of excess blood or fluid. It helps to plan ahead by having a supply of comfortable clothes to wear and to keep any prescribed pain medications handy. To prevent infections, it’s critical to keep the incisions as clean as possible. Within a few months, the ultimate effect of the facelift should be fully visible.

Results from a facelift generally last around a decade. Unfortunately, there’s no way to stop future aging, and the surgery can’t protect against the ongoing effects of gravity and other external factors on the face. One of the best ways to preserve the benefits of a facelift, however, is to avoid too much sun exposure. Routinely applying a broad-spectrum sunscreen, wearing sun-protective clothing, and avoiding direct or indirect sunlight during its peak hours of intensity during the day can help to mitigate skin-damaging UV rays.

A patient’s choice of plastic surgeon also has a significant impact on the type of outcome seen from a facelift. The more experience a particular surgeon has with the procedure, the better. Keeping an ongoing line of communication open with the provider is also important after the surgery. And, of course, maintaining a stable weight and healthy diet are essential for retaining slim, well-defined contours.

Combining a facelift with other procedures—such as eyelid surgery and fat injections—can also help to give you the best possible improvement. Facelifts aren’t intended for repairing tone imperfections or some texture concerns, such as leathery patches caused by photodamage. They also won’t get rid of crow’s feet, frown lines, or worry lines.

In some cases, patients may wish to pair a facelift with complementary skin rejuvenation or resurfacing procedures, such as a chemical peel or lasers, to reduce blemishes, discoloration, scars, and hyperpigmentation that are not corrected by contour-altering surgery. Injectables can help to further smooth wrinkles and lines, particularly for the upper third of the face around the eyes and forehead.  

Looking to learn more about how a facelift can revitalize your appearance? Contact the Philadelphia area’s Timothy M. Greco, MD, PC, directly by calling (610) 664-8830 or request a consultation online.