Facelift After Eyelid Surgery? Doctor Answers, Tips
Eyelid Surgery: Q&A
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Facelift After Eyelid Surgery?

I'm thinking of having an upper and lower eyelid surgery first by an eye specialist and then have a separate facelift later. How long should I wait after the eyelid surgery to schedule the facelift?

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18 Doctor Answers | Asked by Flower Power in Los Angeles, CA
+1

Wait one month before proceeding with facelift

The time allotted between the eyelid surgery and facelift should be approximately one month so as to ensure good healing. It is important not to be taking any aspirin, ibuprofen, vitamin E, or herbal supplements prior to both surgeries to keep bruising and swelling to a minimum.
+1

Eyelid surgery and Facelift Surgery

I believe that you will obtain a much more coherent appearance if you have both procedures together. You can definitely find a surgeon who is expert in both. Take your time to find a qualified surgeon with the experience necessary to perform your surgeries. There is little benefit to staging them . Thank you.
+1

This is not a good plan.

Hi! I am sorry I did not see your question before, but I feel strongly about this. The different parts of your face (brows, lids, cheeks, mouth, jowls, neck) age together and in relation to each other. How one part ages affects the parts next to it. The lower eyelid can look hollow, and it is because the cheek next to it has sagged and exposed the bone, for example. So the surgical plan and the surgery itself need to be INTEGRATED to make your whole face look fresher and younger. How... more

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+1

Wait about 1 month

I would agree that if you have two surgeons that can communicate and work at the same facility, them attempt to coordinated both procedures on the same date. If this is not possible then I typically have recommended deferring the facelift for approximately 1 month.
+1

Not necessary to stage these, but if you do, about 3 weeks would work

Most patients who need a facelift and eyelid surgery will find the right plastic surgeon who can do both for them in one setting with one recovery. That would be the best plan for sure but if you really believe that an ophthalmologist would be better for your eyes, then waiting about 3 weeks between procedures would be reasonable. The last plan would be to find 2 doctors who could coordinate this and work together. This might be a bit of a challenge for many reasons.
+1

They can be done together.

 The two operations can be done the same day by the same surgeon or two different surgeons. In our facility we offer both. Unless you have some special ocular problem, you will get the same result either way.
+1

No reason to wait

There really is no reason to wait. In most cases, I do both the eyes and the facelift in the same operation. The advantage is one recovery. If you choose to spread the procedures apart, then waiting several weeks may be the best option. This will allow the tissues to settle and the majority of the swelling to resolve before the next surgery. Good Luck.
+1

Do facelift and eyelid surgery at the same time

Most excellent facelift surgeons are also excellent eyelid surgeons. The benefit of having both done at the same time is one anesthesia and one operation with one recovery. If you decide to have 2 different operations my personal opinion is that you should wait three months for recovery between cases. You can see the results of a combined facelift and blepharoplasty in the photos below. Recovery time was 2 weeks for both together. See before after photos of facelift and eyelid surgery.... more
+1

Eyelid surgery timing and facelift

You can have them done at the same time if you prefer one to perform the eye surgery and the other to perform the facelift.  Or you can have one surgeon do both of the procedures.  If you have to space them apart, I would wait a few weeks until the eye swelling goes down.
+1

A few weeks?, if you ask both surgeons to coordinate in advance.

As surgeons commenting on generalities, we can only say: 1. Discuss with both surgeons, and let them decide, based on their planned techniques. 2. A few weeks would proably be the minimum for average procedures, but your surgeons may not be planning average procedures. 3. It seems unnecessarily complicated to do separate operations by different doctors. Perhaps you would be best to allow two surgeons to work the same day or pick a single plastic surgeon who you feel is experienced and... more
+1

No exact answer

I would recommend that you wait several weeks so that swelling and some bruising will be gone.  There isn't an exact answer to this however.  Why not let the plastic surgeon do it all?   sek
+1

Timing between blepharoplasty and face lift.

This is a good question. Why are you separating the operations? Facial and eyelid rejuvenation surgeries are usually performed together, and you should be able to find an experienced board-certified facial plastic surgeon to help you in this regard. You should consider doing the operations together since face lifting tends to increase the amount of lower lid skin which could be judiciously removed (lower eyelid skin-pinch) at the end of the face lift. Best regards.
+1

Separate face and eye surgery - artwork vs. Mr. Potatohead approach

Almost always, we combine the face and eye surgeries. The reason is that the eyelid surgery must blend harmoniously with the cheek area and the rest of the face. These are not separate, non-interconnected parts like a Mr. Potatohead toy. This is your face and should constitute one unfied aesthetic picture. However, it if you want the very best result, and are considering the eye area and want it to blend with the cheek area, the eye cheek junction, the tear trough, are considering... more
+1

Have your surgeons speak to each other

It is important that your specific surgeons are in syncrony with each other. Have them discuss your situation with each other and determine the timing for you.
+1

Facelift After Eye Lid Surgery, How Soon?

Hi Flower Power, You may have the procedures as close together or as far apart as is convenient for you. You may speak to your surgeons and see if they can coordinate the surgeries at the same time. If you are up to it, you can have the surgeries within days of each other so that the recovery periods overlap. Or you may decide to wait weeks or months until you feel you are ready. Peace. Dr. P
+1

Delay for Facelift after Blepharoplasty

Although there is no strict rule, I would recommend to delay the face lift for a minimum of 6 weeks after your eyelid lift. It is good to know that the the healing process of the eyelids is well advanced before taking on the next "adventure". Sometimes, patients feel that they are not ready for the recovery from another facial cosmetic procedure so soon and prefer to wait longer than initially planned...
+1

These procedures can easily be done together

Eyelid surgery and a facelift are easily and routinely performed at the same time. It not only allows the surgeon to achieve the best balance between your upper and lower face, but in general the costs are less, and you can recover from both procedures at the same time (usually 2 weeks or so). If you do want to have them performed separately, you may want to wait several weeks or even a couple of months between procedures, just so you can recover and have some down time during which you can... more
+1

Talk to both Doctors

Hello Flower Power, The question you are asking is not an uncommon one as many patients either have two different Surgeons do their surgeries or they space their surgeries apart for various reasons. There is no specific timeline to follow - the best thing to do would be to let both Surgeons know your plans so they can best advise you as to how to proceed. This is important because there are different ways of doing eye surgery and facelifts (in terms of approach and technique used, amount of... more
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