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Will Skin Continue to Tighten 10 Weeks Post Op Face/necklift?

asked 1 year ago by Spokane6975 in Spokane, WA
Latest answer by Sam Naficy, MD
Question viewed 751 times
Tags: sagging, neck bands, tightening

I am just under 10 weeks post necklift/ lower facelift with playtsma tightening. One year ago I had lipo under my chin and this left the playtsmal banding more pronounced. Since my last surgery 10 weeks ago, as the swelling goes down, the sagging gets worse.The playtsma banding, although much improved from before surgery, is still there. I am still swollen around the ears, cheeks and under the chin. I can feel tightness and pulling when I move my neck. The scaring is healing beautifully.

20 answers to Will Skin Continue to Tighten 10 Weeks Post Op Face/necklift?

Skin tightening will continue for at least 6 months.

Skin tightening will continue for at least 6 months. Be patient and it should continue to improve with time.

Toby Mayer, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.bevhills.com

Face Lift, Mini Face Lift, The Palmer Celebrity Face Lift, Beverly Hills Face Lift

Honestly, it might get tighter or it may not as more time goes by after your Face Lift. Here are the determing factors: The amount of skin undermining dicatates how much more tightening may occur...and this can vary dramatically during a Face Lift from surgeon to surgeon. The amount of SMAS muscle tightening and the method by which it was tightening....using a suture, folding it upon itslef or trimming a section and then re-suturing the SMAS back together are all done... more

Francis R. Palmer, III, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dont confuse swelling with skin tightening

Skin will not generally tighten after a facelift. Swelling causes the face to become overly tight in the first couple of weeks. After the swelling decreases your Facelift will age like any part of your body. The key is to start out with a relatively tight lift and as gravity takes affect it will loosen. The caveat to that is if its to loose to begin with it will never tighten to the appropriate level. Hope this helps.

Ritu Chopra, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

Will Skin Tighted 10 Weeks after Facelift

As swelling resolves, skin tightness usually decrease. A facelift will remove excess skin and tighten the underlying muscles, but will not improve skin quality. Skin resurfacing with laser treatment or a chemical peel may be necessary. The normal neck 'pulling" you feel is secondary to work done on the platysma muscle - this will be temporary.

Richard W. Fleming, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Tightness after Facelift

Hi, I don't think your face will tighten any more at this point. The swelling might continue to go down but your results are what you see now. The tightness that you feel should improve over time unless the sutures where not placed right. Best, Dr.S.

Oleh Slupchynskyj, MD
New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.facechange.org

Will Skin Continue to Tighten 10 Weeks Post Op Face/necklift?

No, sorry. As you can see, as the swelling goes down, you notice more looseness. This will not improve over time.

Amy T. Bandy, DO
Newport Beach Plastic Surgeon

Skin tightening after a facelift

Your skin will be at its tightest immediately after the facelift is complete. This is due to the fact that the skin has been made tighter surgically and that there is swelling. 10 weeks after surgery the swelling is resolving and should be nearly completely resolved. The amount of swelling that persists at 10 weeks is not likely to make too much of an impact on your appearance, though it can. As a rule of thumb, I advise my patients to wait three months before viewing the results as... more

Adam Rubinstein, MD
Miami Plastic Surgeon

dr-rubinstein.com

Will Skin Continue to Tighten 10 Weeks Post Op Face/necklift?

Unlikely that the skin will continue to tighten although sometimes skin will re-drape more smoothly over time

Sam Naficy, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Skin Tightening Post Facelift

In general, one can see the final results from a facelift in 6 weeks. After this time period, one sees improved face skin tone but not tightening. Therefore, one must adequately improve skin/face reshaping intra operatively to prevent early skin sagging or re-lapse. Also, one must leave an adequate layer of fat tissue in the face and neck so there will not be post-op skin adherence of the neck platysma to the skin which causes a neck deformity which is hard to correct. more

Rod J. Rohrich, MD
Dallas Plastic Surgeon

Yes, skin tightening will continue for 6+ months

Yes, skin tightening will continue for 6+ months so just try and be patient - and good luck with your results! see video

Babak Azizzadeh, MD
Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Skin will not usually tighten more after 10 weeks post Facelift

Typically facial and neck skin become softer and looser after recovery from Facelift and Neck Lift surgery. I am unaware of any mechanism by which a Facelift tightens more after the initial Facelift surgery. Laser resurfacing, not Facelift, stimulates new collagen production which can cause visible tightening after 6 weeks because of the new collagen production. But this is a very different mechanism than that used in Facelift.

Brooke R. Seckel, MD
Boston Plastic Surgeon

www.drseckel.com

The neck and facial skin is tightest immediately after surgery

Hi spokane6975, At the time of the procedure, the skin is pulled to an appropriate tension. Immediately after surgery (first week) , things are at their tightest due to the swelling. As the swelling resolves (1-4 weeks), the tension will decrease, and the skin will start to relax (1-6 months). As these things occur, you should not expect the neck to tighten; if anything, it will become more loose. Hope this helps. Best regards, Lawrence Tong MD FACS FRCSC

Lawrence Tong, MD
Toronto Plastic Surgeon

Will Face & Neck Tighten 10 Weeks after Facelift

No, I do not expect any furthe tightening of the face or neck. In fact, even after 10 weeks the outcome is not complete as illustrated by your continued swelling and tightness feeling. There will be a little more loosening of the neck muscles over the next 3 months. I like to judge the final result not earlier than 9 months after the facelift.

Frank P. Fechner, MD
Worcester Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.drfechner.com

Skin tightening and facelifts

Generally speaking, facelift surgery corrects loose, hanging skin by removing the excess and pulling the rest of the facial skin taut. So, you can say that the skin is "tightened" across the face. As most of the surgeons here are saying, the "tight" feeling of the skin after surgery is in part due to swelling which stretches out the skin. As swelling goes down, the feeling of tightness does as well. But be clear that facelift surgery does nothing for the... more

Ariel N. Rad, MD, PhD
Baltimore Plastic Surgeon

Sagging and swelling

Your question and description of your observations raise several important post operative issues. In general, as swelling resolves and the final result evolves, you don't notice additional skin tightening. Given the complexity of your surgery, I would suggest following up closely with the operative surgeon so that he or she can complete your evaluation with serial physical exams and make certain that you are healing as expected.

Richard J. Wassermann, MD, MPH
Columbia Plastic Surgeon

Skin tightening 10 weeks after surgery

It is unlikely you will see any additional skin tightening manifest 10 weeks after your surgical facial rejuvenation surgery. If you are concerned with certain areas, please visit with your plastic surgeon to discuss your concerns. Best of luck.

C. Bob Basu, MD
Houston Plastic Surgeon

Skin Tightening after Facelift

It is very unusual to see any improvement in skin quality 10 weeks after a facelift. Based on your skin quality, you may require a laser treatment or chemical peel to achieve your best result. As with any surgery, facelift surgery has its limitations. A beautiful surgery can be performed with perfect correction of one's jowls, neck laxity, and cheek sagging; but poor skin tone and quality will always relax more quickly. Therefore, I recommend that... more

Paul S. Gill, MD
Houston Plastic Surgeon

Skin does not continue to tighten long after a facelift

Unfortunately, after a facelift, the skin is more likely to relax as time passes. This is due to the resolution of swelling that you may have had immediately after surgery. Now that 10 weeks have already passed, you may be noticing that your skin is loosening. This is unlikely to improve. However, you should wait at least 6-12 months after surgery before having any revision procedures in order to see the final results first.

Jen Yuan Chow, MD
Pasadena Facial Plastic Surgeon

Skin will not get tighter two months after facelift

Skin swelling generally will last two to three weeks after a face and neck lift. The tight feeling can be a bit uncomfortable though many patients appreciate the loss of many fine lines as the skin swells. After three weeks the swelling is gone, and certainly by 10 weeks there will be no further tightening. Best of luck, peterejohnsonmd

Peter E. Johnson, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Facelift tightening

As time passes, skin tends to relax and swelling subsides. Your surgeon has to determine how tightly he or she can make your facelift to avoid circulation problems and thus wide or poorly healed scars. Remember, plastic surgery is meant to be an improvement not a cure. If you can demonstrate an improvement in before and after photographs and the scars are well healed, I think your surgery is as successful as it can be in one stage