“Recovery from Upper and Lower Face Lift ”

I'm five weeks post op and finally feel normal enough to be in public. Didn't have much bruising, but my ear canals swelled and made me feel like I was under water for four weeks. My eyes looked weird, too, until this week. Now it's all looking pretty good but I still have numbness and swelling on my forehead and along the sides of my face. My neck is sore. Don't expect to return to work in less than four weeks if you have a physical job. Even now I wrap my chin when I do heavy lifting. But, I did return to treadmill just a few days after surgery. Overall, don't think one week recovery is a fair expectation unless you have a desk job.

Updated on 14 Dec 2010:
There was more discomfort and down time than I expected. I am 2 months post-op and my neck and jowls are back and look worse. The eyes look much better. Now the surgeon is talking about a revision for the neck and jaw. No one said anything about 50/50 chance there would be any improvement in my neck/jaw. I'm only 57 years old and the surgeon pumped fat into my labial fold to get rid of the crease. In doing so my face is now more rounded to add to the sagging jowls. And, I picked, what I thought was the best surgeon around in Oklahoma City. I'm upset and depressed.

Updated on 19 Dec 2010:
I am now three months post op and my jowls are getting worse. One side is "puffier" than the other. I don't want to wait 6 months for a revision. I hope it won't be too big of a deal since other than the jowls/neckline the rest of the face is okay. I still have some numbness around the periphery of the face and neck but that's less every day. My surgeon injected botox in my neck one month post op to relax the muscles while I healed but that hasn't made a difference with the jowls. I'm so depressed!

Updated on 24 Dec 2010:
As soon as the swelling started going down (2-3 weeks post op) I realized that the surgeon had under-corrected my jowls. One side where he released a pucker in my cheek has more jowl fullness than the other side. I'm not sure the point of waiting 6-12 months post-op to correct this. I expect the skin will continue to tighten, but the fat pad hasn't been corrected. I had SMAS procedure but the surgeon said revisions can be 50% for him. Probably because he is so conservative. He never suggested a revision pre-op. I am disappointed.

Updated on 21 Mar 2011:


Updated on 21 Mar 2011:

Updated on 28 Mar 2011:
I am two months post-op from a revision and the results are great. The neck was undermined more completely by the same plastic surgeon and feels secure. Recovery is going very well. Aahhh... Now I can say I'm happy to have had this procedure!