“Lifestyle lift; evidently i am one of the lucky ones.”
Lifestyle lift: NOT worth it
Pain: Severe
I had my Lifestyle Lift along with upper & lower eyes and the additional neck tightening procedure done February 9, 2009. So I am writing this about six weeks after everything was done.
Immediately following the procedure I experience swelling and bruising, which is fairly normal. The pain I experienced however was awful! The pain meds I was given hardly made a difference. I am no baby either. I had this Lifestyle Lift procedure done because ten years ago I had gastric by-pass surgery to lose weight so I could have a hip replacement done. I lost 186 pounds, and had the replacement done! I am familiar with surgical pain. My main reason for having this procedure was the removal of the "turkey waddle" I had hanging from beneath my chin because of the massive weight loss from my gastric by-pass. The eyes and mid face lift to me where just "vanity add-ons" but I wanted it all so that I looked younger and felt better about myself. The weight loss left me looking so much older I had self image problems!
To the point. The surgical procedure to me was a nightmare and extremely traumatic. I was constantly being administered more of the local anesthesia because I was not staying numb. But the WORST for me was that I could see and hear everything! It was traumatic. Hearing the muscle being sliced, seeing the tools, hearing the doctors and the assistants, hearing the liposuction sucking the fat from the jowls, feeling the jabbing pressure. NOT GOOD!
Following the procedure I spent the night in a hotel because I had driven 2 hours to the city where the closest clinic was located. No sleep - much pain. Follow-up with the doctor the following day was short, short, short! She changed the bandaging and told me to return in two weeks, if I could. Well of course I could!!! Who, in their right mind wouldn't????
At home I faithfully followed the post-op instruction sheet. My partner helped me and if anything we went overboard on keeping the incisions cleaned and covered. I kept the neck wrap on 24 hours a day for the first three (not just the two weeks recommended) and then slept in the wrap for the remainder of five weeks after the procedure. I took the round of Z-pack (Zithromax) that I was prescribed. However the pain - Oh goodness! NOT GOOD AT ALL! My ears hurt so badly I couldn't get comfy - I slept in a recliner for three straight weeks. There was a place on my right temple that at times I would experience such a sharp stabbing pain that I thought something had struck me. The wrap around my face and under my chin went over my oh so painful ears but I did it anyway and took pain meds so I could. I knew that the skin had to re-attach itself to the underlying muscles and tissue. I wasn't going to risk having that awful turkey waddle back in any way!
The Zithromax didn't keep the infection away and I knew enough to call the Lifestyle Lift clinic and tell them immediately. They gave me more pain meds (stronger) and another round of antibiotic (not a Z-pack) to take for another ten days. Still, I had the lower edge of the incision in front of my left ear open up. I kept it very clean and covered. I emailed a picture of the wound to the clinic manager and she gave it to my surgeon. I did receive a reply via a phone call from the clinic telling me to continue with what I was doing and stating that my smoking had most likely caused this. (Funny but all my other incisions were healing quite nicely - how come my light smoking effected only this ONE spot????)
At my next follow up, the Dr. blew into the room, looked at the wound, stated that she could not stitch it closed because the tissue was too fragile. She said to continue what I was doing, she also hypothesized that the stabbing pain I was experiencing was a migraine (?) that my hair looked great (?) and the assistant would remove my stitches. She then blew-out of the room, never to return. The scared silly young lady who tried to remove all my stitches was inexperienced and ill trained, bless her heart. She missed a number of stitches and was shaky, worrying that she was hurting me...I was (and still am) without feeling in the areas she was working so she couldn't hurt me.
When I finished my second round of antibiotics, I still felt that there was infection so I made an appointment with my family physician. My wonderful family doctor immediately prescribed another Z-pack and told me to continue with the pain meds, and the topical antibiotic crème.
I had another appointment with the Lifestyle Lift Dr in two weeks (my six week follow-up) Between the time I saw my family doctor and returning to Lifestyle Lift my daughter, who is a nursing student came to visit. One look at the wound in front of my ear and she asked "why in the world I was keeping it covered all the time?" She went on to say that the healing process requires air to dry the wound allowing it to scab over and heal from the inside out. By keeping it covered all the time I was creating a warm, moist environment for bacteria to grow."
Well, thinking back I knew that was true because of my own first aid training, however I found it strange that at NO TIME did the Lifestyle Lift Dr. tell me to uncover the wound for even a little time much less even mention uncovering the spot at all. When I did uncover it, the scabbing occurred and by the time I went back to Lifestyle Lift the Dr. wiggled the skin around the area and said that yes it was closed and healing (she knocked off the scab) and that it might scar. I asked her what she would do about that because I did not pay $8500 for a scarred hole in front of my ear or the still loose skin under my chin (not a waddle but, not smooth either!) Dr. W said that she could remove the scar if after six months it was still bad enough to bother me and that some neck - firming crème might help tighten up the crepe-like skin under my chin. (Hey, if that had worked I wouldn't have paid thousands of dollars for surgery!!!) But she didn't give me any names of neck firming topical nor did she write any prescriptions. She did mention that I might look into a Dr who did laser firming in my hometown (more $$$ out of my pocket!!)
After sitting for over an hour in the separate waiting room for post-surgical people and talking to five others who had used the same Dr. I must admit that only one other man (of Latino descent) and myself (Caucasian) looked decent. One woman's ears had a quarter of an inch height difference and a big fold in one ear lobe that she stated wasn't there prior to the surgery. Her face and the face of another African-American lady looked as though they were pre-surgical NOT post-surgical! Both were really angry and upset! In my opinion they had every right to be upset. The other lady in the waiting room had awful scarring around the ears, jowls that were still prominent, and many large, deep wrinkles around the mouth (smile lines) - it was bad!
If I had known about this web-sight, had thought about the difference in local and general anesthesia (hearing and seeing everything) I certainly would have spent the extra money, gone to a board certified plastic surgeon and had this done in a hospital setting under general anesthesia. Also, I caught an interview on television with the "inventor" and founder of Lifestyle Lift . He stated that the optimal age for someone to have this procedure is in their late 40's early 50's - At NO time was this fact mentioned to any of the people in the waiting room that I spoke with nor was I told this.
Even though my resuults are FAR better than those I encountered in the post-op waiting room or have seen on this web-site I still am not 100% happy and I would NEVER encourage anyone else to undergo this procedure with this company!
Updated on Jun 3, 2009:
Mar 25, 2009Comments and replies (48)
377 posts
27 Mar 2009
Hi, and welcome to the forum. I am sorry that you such problems with your LSL. So did I. I also saw Dr. W. for a couple of follow-up visits (but she did not do my surgery) and I found the same thing true about how fast they try to get in and out of the room. I think this is because they overbook and only have 2 doctors that work at that office full time. I hope you heal well and find something that helps the skin under your chin. BTW, Congrats on your weight loss -- You look great. Best, Chrystal.
19 posts
27 Mar 2009
Hi Onebamalady! I am the one that told you about this site while in the waiting room. When I saw Dr. W she said she could redo my neck but would like to wait until it has been at least a year-which will be in Sept-but I am very, very scared to let her do anything else to me. She said my lumpy neck is due to my pituitary (she called them spit) glands! I couldn't believe she said that and asked didn't she know and compensate for that - after all she is supposed to be a certified plastic surgeon and that I paid to get rid of all the fat and skin under my chin. She of course had more excuses and said there is nothing wrong with my ears - they had a big crease before the surgery. I got ugly, told her I paid a great deal of money to look and feel better about myself and felt very cheated and I would be talking to an attorney. She said she would be glad to do whatever I wanted in order to make me happy (except give me my money back) but to wait at least the year. There is a group of us that are beginning a law suit against lsl if you would like to be included just post it on this site, someone will get in touch with you. Hope things get better and glad you joined the site.
1 post
30 Mar 2009
I went for my first office visit and never got to see a doctor. The person that gave me the consult was someone that appeared to be more of a sales pitch person.I had to make a 45-min drive back to sign a paper to waver the surgery and fee that was charged for the credit card of $400.00. I did not find this site until today, I wish I had. I have made an appointment to see a doctor there but wihs now I could get out of it after reading this. The women I spoke with made it sound so simple along with the vedio. I had looked at their web sight checked out the doctors, read all about them now I wonder how can I get out of this. This makes me so angry that doctors can do this to people and get away with it. Good Luck to all of you. Also I do not do pain very well.
25 posts
30 Mar 2009
Look at your "agreement" with LSL. I believe that legally you have a certain period of time in which to cancel any contractual agreements. If you really don't want to go through with this call an area lawyer and get a free consult (they all do that.) You DO NOT have to go through with this! The person you spoke with is a sales person - they work on a commission basis!!! I asked the young lady who spoke with us if they worked on a percentage commission and she told me they did. PLEASE do not go through with this if you have ANY doubts!
1 post
30 Mar 2009
I am new to this board but after finding and reading the horror stories here and at infomercial scams.com, I wish I had cancelled my surgery. The young woman that gave me the presentation was very unsure of herself and there was many questions that she could not answer to my satisfaction. I believe that legally you have 72 hours to cancel the contract and probably longer if the date was set ahead (couple of weeks) of time. I am sure Clark Howard could answer that question easily for you.
25 posts
3 Apr 2009
Thanks for all the comments and support I've received. I hope that everyone who has suffered through this meat market surgery can find compensaton in some manner. I've also located another website that has LSL reveiws, it is InfomercialScams. Type "LifeStyle Lift" into the search bar on the upper right side of the page and hit enter, then you'll have to scroll more than half way down the page. After all the rants about Ebay Auction Packages, and the Video Professor you will see a paragraph headed in boldfaced type "last Words." There you will find over 200 negative LSL reviews and 18 (yes eighteen) supporters of the procedure. I ceratinly wish a lawyer would take this on as a class action lawsuit!
25 posts
14 Apr 2009
I would think that a nationwide firm (one like Johnny Cochran's) would be the most likely to take on something of this scope. Or sometimes you'll see commercials that say things like "if you or a loved one has died or suffered from...whatever. call... those are also huge firms. Did you have anything or someone in mind?
12 posts
22 Apr 2009
Thank you for your honesty and for taking the time to warn others. Much appreciated!
1 post
25 Apr 2009
I am so happy I decided to look up remarks about the LifeStyle Lift before I made my decision. I have decided NOT to consider this option anylonger. I am sorry for everyone who is having problems, but thank you for keeping me from the same mistake! Best of luck to all those who are unhappy.
1 post
10 May 2009
I am a Lifestyle Lift surgeon, and I am interested in the reputation of my company so I took some time to read these comments. No surgeon or practice wants unhappy patients, so I found these stories to be troubling - I am not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone; I just want to express some empathy for those who are unhappy, no matter what the reason, and I hope that you will eventually be happy/satisfied with the outcomes, whatever they may be. Since I have a lot of experience in the world of facial plastic surgery, I would like to at least provide a few points to consider for those considering a LSL procedure. This is not necessarily a defense of LSL; I know the company is not perfect. These points will hopefully help prospective patient have a good outcome, no matter where they go. First, every plastic surgeon in the world has unhappy patients. My fellowship director was literally "world famous", and yet there were some patients who asked for their money back. So, if someone writes off LSL, and has a procedure by a privately practicing plastic surgeon, this does not provide a guarantee of a good outcome. I understand, though, that many of you may think the chances are worse at LSL. I don't agree with that, but I'll comment more on that later. Second, some reviewers are distrustful of LSL consultants because they are paid on commission. There is a fear that unnecessary procedures may be pushed. The truth is that every doctor, in every medical specialty, is essentially paid on commission. If no procedures are done, the doctors do not have any revenue. So, LSL consultants are really no different. One must be hopeful that the consultant is ethical enough to promote only the procedures that each patient desires, needs, and can afford. I am very confident that the vast majority of LSL consultants are ethical in this manner. Another point to consider is that the doctor makes the final decision about what is done, and I frequently modify the consultants' recommendations based on what I see. A third point, and I think the most important, is that each patient's experience at LSL is based on the doctor providing the treatment. The staff certainly affects the happiness of patients, but in the end the outcome comes from the surgeon. All LSL surgeons are very well trained in facial plastic surgery, but as I mentioned above, all plastic surgeons have the potential for at least a few unhappy patients. The responsibility of prospective patients is therefore to find the best LSL surgeon for their concerns. So, rather than avoiding the whole company, prospective patients should simply consider the qualifications and personality of the doctor they meet. This is the same responsibility patients have with any plastic surgeon. In closing, I would like to make a recommendation. If you are interested in a LSL procedure, talk to other patients of a particular surgeon. They are the best judges of that surgeon's ability. Comments from patients of other surgeons may be somewhat irrelevant. In addition to asking for a list of "happy patients", you can also just hang out in the waiting room after your consultation and talk to a more random sample of patients. Believe me, there are many, many happy patients of LSL who can help to clarify the work of the a particular surgeon. I would also recommend that you do not base your surgeon selection on experience alone. I have seen so many "experienced" plastic surgeons who are technically poor and have horrible "bedside manners". If you find a LSL surgeon whom you like, and who talks to you in language you can understand, and makes you feel comfortable, and has a good number of happy patients, you will be doing much better than patients who choose a doctor solely on experience. If you follow these steps, I truly believe that you have a very good chance of being a happy LSL patient.