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Red Lines from Face Lift Sutures

asked 3 years ago by NewMexico lady in Los Alamos, NM
Latest answer by Elizabeth Morgan, MD, PhD
Question viewed 2,385 times

I had a Face Lift 45 days ago. In the past week, I have been seeing thin red lines developing from the suture areas behind my ears and scalp incisions. What and why is this happening? Will they go away?

12 answers to Red Lines from Face Lift Sutures

Pink scars are new scars

If the scars appear to be fine lined, flat, narrow but red-pink, the color is a consequence of their newness. All scars undergo a process of maturation and remodeling, which occurs until they are flat, narrow, white lines. Scar maturation also involves softening and flattening of the scars; it typically requires a minimum of 90 days, during which time the "inflammatory process" or pinkness will decrease, progressively. Since your surgery was only 45 days ago, it is likely... more

Lavinia Chong, MD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

www.chongmd.com

Facelift Scarring

During wound maturation after surgery the incisions always look worse berfore they get better. The operative word (no pun intended) is you describe thin lines. If these red lines get raised, thicker, or tender see your surgeon because hypertrophic (enlarged) scars could be forming. Be observant, but don't panic. This is not likely and they would develop very slowly.

Richard W. Fleming, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Cortisone injections can help

The red lines that may be occurring can be hypertrophic scars occurring on the actual incision sites. These, when they occur, need to be addressed immediately by placing cortisone injections into them to smooth and flatten them down. They will eventually settle down and go away, but the cortisone shots will start to make them shrink.

William Portuese, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattlefacial.com

Red lines at face lift incision is normal and will go away

Red lines along the incision line is a normal process that happens after a procedure that creates an incision. The incision is the area that is exposed to the environment the most and ultimately is the area that undergoes the most inflammation. This obviously will lead to more of a reaction that creates more blood supply that leads to the redness in the area. There are many ways to improve this. After the incisions heal, any silicone gel based scar gel can be used on these incisions to... more

Philip Young, MD
Bellevue Facial Plastic Surgeon

Wound healing

The body heals incisions by increasing blood supply to the area.This brings oxygen nutrients and all the cells active in healing the surgical site. Generally speaking the incision itself may remain red for a few months until the process is resolved. Complete healing and remodeling continue up to 1 year. You are still in a very early stage of healing. When you mention red lines developing from the suture area behind the ear a few things come to mind. Sutures are considered foreign bodies and... more

Robert W. Kessler, MD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Red scars after a face lift

Two possibilities - both normal. tiny capillaries. They appear in young scars, usually fade in 6 months but can also be removed with a laser, such as ND YAG Thickening scar - from collagen protein. Treatment - time as excess protein is absorbed and occasionally steroid injections. How to tell which you have? If the tiny red lines are completely flat, a capillary is more likely. If it is a raised thick line you can feel, it's probably protein. Do they need... more

Elizabeth Morgan, MD, PhD
Atlanta Plastic Surgeon

www.drelizabethmorgan.com

Redness Along Incisions

Scars undergo various changes until they are completely healed, one year after surgery. Early on, it is normal for a small amount of redness to appear. Ideally, your scars will convert to a thin white line which is difficult to see. see video

Anil R. Shah, MD
Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon

Redness at incisions

At about 7 weeks it is common for the incisions to appear a bit red as they heal. Usually this improves with time.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Redness after a facelift

The redness you are seeing can be caused by the bodies reaction against the sutures which is what causes them to dissolve. This is a normal reaction and should resolve shortly.

Jason B. Diamond, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Red Lines and Scars Following Facelift Surgery

What you describe is a fairly normal occurrence following facelift surgery. At 7-8 weeks there is a moderate amount of wound healing ongoing. In fact, there is quite a bit of collagen remodeling taking place along the incision lines. What you see in terms of a fine red line represents to some degree preferential blood flow to these areas as they continue to heal. As long as the redness remains confined to a fine line you will see progressive improvement with time. If, however, the... more

John M. Hilinski, MD
San Diego Facial Plastic Surgeon

Red lines from sutures

Dissolvable sutures under the skin disappear over 4 months after surgery and can cause redness as the body reacts against them to dissolve them. These should all resolve in time.

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Your facelift incisions are on their way to maximal healing

Surgical incisions undergo several phases of healing before they mature and become less visible. By your description it sounds like your surgical incisions are taking the usual course toward maximal healing. The redness that incisions develop is just part of a healing phase where the process is very active with the development of new blood vessels that delivery healing cells to the area. Once the healing cells have been delivered and mature collagen and fibrous tissue have been placed by... more