Facelift

If you’re considering having a facelift, get to know as much as you can about the procedure beforehand. In your consultation with Dr. Iteld, you will discuss your medical history with him, and you may be asked to have a medical exam, facial exam, or lab testing done. He’ll also talk to you about your expectations and goals.

Patients may be advised to quit taking some medications—or at least adjust how they’re taking them. These include blood thinners or anti-inflammatory medications that increase the risk of bleeding. This is to reduce bruising and other complications and side effects from surgery, but health always comes first. Do not stop taking necessary medications without discussing the move with your physician who can potentially work out alternatives or adjustments to your care and allow for the facelift.

Patients who are smokers will be asked to stop several weeks in advance of their surgery, since the chemicals in cigarettes can impair healing. After that, why not keep it up? If you can quit for a while, you can quit for good.

Incisions, contouring techniques, and sutures can lead to mild bruising and swelling in the days after a facelift surgery. This is natural and to be expected, with the effects fading and resolving on their own. Most patients are pleasantly surprised at how easy the recovery from facelift surgery can be—and that it is virtually painless.

After the facelift has been completed, it may take several months before the full results can be seen. Recovery times vary from person to person, depending on their age, health, and personal facelift details. Patients typically feel tired, weak, and uncomfortable during the first few days after facelift surgery.

This is when they will experience swelling, bruising, and numbness. Bandages will be wrapped around the incisions on your head and neck to help keep swelling down, and tubes are placed under the skin for drainage. The swelling typically improves after around one to two weeks.

Surgery does not have to be automatically followed by a painful healing process made bearable with narcotics. Dr. Iteld has worked for years to develop a sophisticated approach that focuses on surgical techniques designed to allow for a recovery that doesn’t require opioids. Most of his facelift surgery patients require little more that Tylenol during their recovery.

Men and women who notice laxity in the mid and lower face or have prominent facial folds and jowls and who want to do something about it are great candidates for a facelift. If you are considering the procedure, you should be in good general health and understand what a facelift will and won’t do. Patients who have pre-existing, underlying health conditions may not always make good candidates as surgery could be too much of a risk or healing could be delayed. Keep in mind that the surgery is intended to alter facial contours, not skin tone.

Ideal candidates for this procedure have still maintained some skin elasticity and flexibility along with a strong, defined facial bone structure. Patients who have to use fillers constantly and find the injectables no longer effective might benefit more from having a facelift.

This surgery is primarily meant for correcting signs of aging on the cheeks, jawline, and neck area. If your main concerns are around the eyes (such as fine lines and bags) or on the forehead, another type of treatment would be more appropriate. And people with fine lines, uneven skin tone, and hyperpigmentation due to sun damage will need treatment that enhances skin quality.

Given the fact that a facelift is for repositioning tissues on the middle and lower portions of the face, patients who want a more youthful look may also consider procedures and treatments for the rest of the face. A brow lift addresses contours above the eyes, while a blepharoplasty corrects drooping and sagging eyelids.

Patients who want to avoid surgery, but who still want to work on their contours, may opt for Silhouette InstaLift^™, which repositions midface tissues with injectable threads. Kybella^® is another injectable, though it focuses on clearing out fat cells that cause a double chin. FaceTite for nonsurgical skin tightening is especially effective on the jawline and neck, bringing more definition to these important areas.

For wrinkles, BOTOX^® and Daxxify can smooth out lines caused by muscle action, while dermal fillers can reduce the appearance of folds caused by volume loss. Let Dr. Iteld and his team help you figure out which approach is best for you.

Facial fat transfer can be done as a stand-alone procedure or in combination with a facelift.
This is an alternative to dermal filler that provides a more lasting way to add or restore fullness and fill hollow or flattened areas. Some of the main benefits of this procedure include:

• adding volume to the cheeks.
• reducing wrinkles.
• restoring volume to the under-eye area.
• minimizing deep creases around the nose and mouth.