i expect side effects would be pain but what about swelling and others from the face lift?
The most common side effects following a facelift are swelling and numbness. There may also be some bleeding, itchiness, bruising, tightness, a feeling of heaviness in the face, asymmetry (due to uneven swelling), and lumps or bumps. The majority of these side effects should resolve within the first two months following your surgery; however, swelling and numbness may last longer. The key to minimizing side effects is to find a skilled, qualified, board-certified facial plastic surgeon. A facial plastic surgeon devotes their entire career to surgeries of the head and neck, and generally has more knowledge of facial anatomy, skill, and experience in performing facelifts than a general plastic surgeon. Do your research and find the best surgeon, and your facelift experience should be a good one.
Swelling and bruising is normal after a facelift and, on average, lasts about 14 days. Of course, that is an average and there are people on either side of that number. There are younger patients who only bruise for 5-7 days and there are older individuals who bruise and swell for 6 weeks but on average, 14 days is what most people get.The amount and duration of the swelling and bruising depends on several factors such as diet before the procedure, medications, herbal supplements, activity after the procedure, age (vessels are more fragile as one ages), the extent of the procedure, other concomitant procedures adding to the bruising, habits such as smoking, and envirnomental factors such as heat, excessive sneezing or coughing, etc. You can help bruising by increasing your intake of pineapple, arnica montana, and papaya extract; all of these have been shown to minimize bruising formation. To improve an existing bruise, consider lympatic massage by your surgeon's office, topical arnica montana, and topical vit K in addition to increasing intake of green leafy vegetables. Hematomas, a collection of blood under the skin, even when cleared still leaves behind a residual amount of blood under the skin and can prolong the bruising period. In the end, bruising always goes away, but can be a nuisiance when it doesn't resolve as expected.Scarring is a feared complication of facelift and your choice in a facelift specialist is especially important to minimize the stigma of a facelift. For example, our Natural facelift is performed in a manner to decrease scarring so a person can wear their hair anyway they want. Other less expected risks include injury to the facial nerve, especially the branches that control the forehead and corner of mouth. This can be avoided by going to a facelift specialist who performs facelifts every week. Numbness is a side effect and can last up to 6 months but it is temporary and is something that every facelift patient experiences.
Faceliftsurgery like any other surgical procedures is expected to have some discomfort,swelling and bruising. These are not considered side affects rather normalprocess of healing. The degree of post-operative discomfort, bruising, and alsoany potential complication such as hematoma or delayed healing depends on thetype of facelift and patient’s physiology. A mini-facelift that is performed with localanesthesia and oral sedation takes a shorter time to perform and has minimal complication.A full facelift under general anesthesia takes longer to perform and prone tomore complications. Most common complicationsassociated with facelift are as follow:1-Hematoma and seroma 2-Prolonged numbness 3- Infection 4- Delayed healingEach one ofthese occurs less than 1% in my practice. In the hands of a Facial PlasticSurgeon who in is a facelift expert, these risks are very rare.
