One of the most common questions from my San Francisco facelift patients is, "How long will my facelift recovery take?" The answer varies based on individual circumstances, but here are 10 surefire ways to help you recover from your facelift as quickly as possible.
BEFORE SURGERY
#1 Stop Taking Blood Thinners
#2 Optimize Your Health – Reduce High Blood Pressure
#3 Tell Your Plastic Surgeon/ Anesthesiologist EVERYTHING
#4 KNOW Your Surgical Technique
# 5 Read the Post-Surgery Instruction Booklet
#6 Better Skin Care
AFTER SURGERY
#7 Reduce Swelling
# 8 Optimize Your Diet
#9 Lymphatic Massage
#10 Reduce Pain
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#1 Stop Taking Blood Thinners
Aspirin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen and other medications related to aspirin thin the blood. Taking these medications can cause increased bleeding and bruising during facelift surgery and should be avoided for several days before your procedure.
#2 Optimize Your Health – Reduce High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure should be controlled before surgery and after surgery. If your high blood pressure is not well controlled, you may have excessive bleeding during and after your procedure, resulting in potentially more swelling, bruising and slow healing.
#3 Tell Your Plastic Surgeon/ Anesthesiologist EVERYTHING
Don't hide anything during your medical history consultation with your plastic surgeon or anesthesiologist. Even seemingly benign facts such as how many glasses of wine you drink per day are important. We are not going to be making character judgements. We are simply trying to give you the fastest and best result possible.
#4 KNOW Your Surgical Technique
The less surgical dissection you need, the fewer procedures you get and the shorter the time in the operating room, the less swelling, bruising, and pain will occur thereby making your recovery faster. It's important to understand exactly what facelift procedure you will undergo to figure out exactly how much healing time you'll need.
# 5 Read the Post-Surgery Instruction Booklet
Yes, it may be long, and it may not seem interesting, but going over your Post-Surgery Instructions will help with your recovery. The more you understand and know before surgery, the less anxious and nervous you will feel after.
#6 Better Skin Care
The better condition your skin is in before your facelift, the faster your recovery should be afterwards. The bottom line is that if your skin is healthier, your collagen is ready to heal and your overall pain, redness and swelling should be improved if your skin is ready from the get go.
AFTER SURGERY
#7 Reduce Swelling
ANYTHING that helps reduce swelling will help you heal after your facelift. Common sense things include icing, elevating your head above heart level, walking around to increase blood flow, drinking plenty of fluid and other techniques that may be suggested by your plastic surgeon.
#8 Optimize Your Diet
I believe that increasing protein intake after surgery helps with improving healing after your facelift procedure. A well-rounded diet should take care of any micro nutrients, macro nutrients, vitamins and minerals that may help with healing. Drinking plenty of fluid will also aid with flushing out post-surgical fluid from your system.
#9 Lymphatic Massage
In general, gentle to firm compression of your face and the lymph nodes around the incisions should help reduce swelling after your facelift surgery. You may want to discuss this with a massage therapist, or you may find that doing compression and massage on your own helps to reduce swelling.Â
#10 Reduce Pain
With my patients, I make sure to use special medications injected at the end of the surgical case that help to reduce pain for 72 hours after surgery. This will help you feel better and recover faster after your facelift. If you need pain medicine, you should make sure to take it as needed and try to stay "ahead" of your pain.
BEFORE SURGERY
#1 Stop Taking Blood Thinners
#2 Optimize Your Health – Reduce High Blood Pressure
#3 Tell Your Plastic Surgeon/ Anesthesiologist EVERYTHING
#4 KNOW Your Surgical Technique
# 5 Read the Post-Surgery Instruction Booklet
#6 Better Skin Care
AFTER SURGERY
#7 Reduce Swelling
# 8 Optimize Your Diet
#9 Lymphatic Massage
#10 Reduce Pain
              Â
#1 Stop Taking Blood Thinners
Aspirin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen and other medications related to aspirin thin the blood. Taking these medications can cause increased bleeding and bruising during facelift surgery and should be avoided for several days before your procedure.
#2 Optimize Your Health – Reduce High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure should be controlled before surgery and after surgery. If your high blood pressure is not well controlled, you may have excessive bleeding during and after your procedure, resulting in potentially more swelling, bruising and slow healing.
#3 Tell Your Plastic Surgeon/ Anesthesiologist EVERYTHING
Don't hide anything during your medical history consultation with your plastic surgeon or anesthesiologist. Even seemingly benign facts such as how many glasses of wine you drink per day are important. We are not going to be making character judgements. We are simply trying to give you the fastest and best result possible.
#4 KNOW Your Surgical Technique
The less surgical dissection you need, the fewer procedures you get and the shorter the time in the operating room, the less swelling, bruising, and pain will occur thereby making your recovery faster. It's important to understand exactly what facelift procedure you will undergo to figure out exactly how much healing time you'll need.
# 5 Read the Post-Surgery Instruction Booklet
Yes, it may be long, and it may not seem interesting, but going over your Post-Surgery Instructions will help with your recovery. The more you understand and know before surgery, the less anxious and nervous you will feel after.
#6 Better Skin Care
The better condition your skin is in before your facelift, the faster your recovery should be afterwards. The bottom line is that if your skin is healthier, your collagen is ready to heal and your overall pain, redness and swelling should be improved if your skin is ready from the get go.
AFTER SURGERY
#7 Reduce Swelling
ANYTHING that helps reduce swelling will help you heal after your facelift. Common sense things include icing, elevating your head above heart level, walking around to increase blood flow, drinking plenty of fluid and other techniques that may be suggested by your plastic surgeon.
#8 Optimize Your Diet
I believe that increasing protein intake after surgery helps with improving healing after your facelift procedure. A well-rounded diet should take care of any micro nutrients, macro nutrients, vitamins and minerals that may help with healing. Drinking plenty of fluid will also aid with flushing out post-surgical fluid from your system.
#9 Lymphatic Massage
In general, gentle to firm compression of your face and the lymph nodes around the incisions should help reduce swelling after your facelift surgery. You may want to discuss this with a massage therapist, or you may find that doing compression and massage on your own helps to reduce swelling.Â
#10 Reduce Pain
With my patients, I make sure to use special medications injected at the end of the surgical case that help to reduce pain for 72 hours after surgery. This will help you feel better and recover faster after your facelift. If you need pain medicine, you should make sure to take it as needed and try to stay "ahead" of your pain.