Lifestyle lift before & after photos
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389 reviews
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Lifestyle Lift Cost $6,000 average cost

Lifestyle Lift Worth It, but Remember It Still is a Surgical Procedure

Comments (15)
Updated 19 May 2009
Posted 18 May 2009
Worth It
Spent: $4,400 in Houston, Texas

I had my LSL 4 days ago and after seeing all the reviews decided to add my two cents. I wanted to get rid of my turkey neck at the age of 49.

You are awake during the procedure and will hear what is going on in the surgical suite. You get a mild sedation-vicodin before the procedure to relax you. For better results, my doctor also suggested that I have lipo under my neck area so I did.

The day of my surgery, my pain on a scale 1-10 was an 8 and the painkillers prescribed help manage the pain. The next day my pain was about a 2-3 and 3 days post-op I am not experiencing any pain. I am still swollen though with some bruising (post op day 4). However I am very pleased with my results so far.

The only thing I found misleading with Lifestyle lift was that the procedure was a little more involved than I expected. It was closer to a mini-face lift with pulling back the muscle, than just a "tightening". So I expected a quicker recovery time than what the consultant or LSL leads you to believe.

The Dr. that performed the surgery gave me an accurate account of my recovery time and I didn't feel he mislead me at all. My surgeon didn't have a great bedside manner, but he did tell me like it was and didn't sugar coat anything. He is board certified in Otolaryngology and Facial and Plastic Surgery, which gave me a better feeling about him--especially him being certified in Head and Neck.

So far I am pleased with my results and will review again as I progress in my treatment.

This review is the subjective opinion of a RealSelf member and not of RealSelf, Inc.

My Doctor:

My rating:
Did very nice work. Can hardly see the stitches and did undermine and pull muscle tissue back. He was highly recommended and appears to be very well respected in the community.
Vote: 124 members found this review helpful

Comments (15)

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Mr. Bill (13 posts) 19 May 2009
I am glad you are pleased with your procedure. But as someone tld me after my surgery in January - give it (6) months before you get to overjoyed ......... I too found my procedure worth the expense and the results as advertised although I do have to go back in July to remove some pockets that formed post-op under my chin.
tehjan (unregistered guest) 20 May 2009
As the title reads......remember that it is a surgical procedure. In other words, there is no "Magic lift" in about an hour....unless you own a magic carpet
earthgirl (14 posts) 21 May 2009

please don't post your excitement about your lsl, until you wait for at least 3 months post lift. looking for others who have had the standard lsl and now are being told they need additional surgery because the lsl lift did not work and the neck is drooping, the platysmaplasty is performed at the underside of the jaw area, the neck muscles pulled together etc,,, plus at an additional cost?

stayingyoung in TX (5 posts) 21 May 2009
Apparently Lifestyles lifts are performed differently from site to site. They all contain the no anesthesia, and are a less drastic procedure than a full facelift. My LSL had stitches that extend from the bottom of my ear into my temple area and then I had more stitches from behind my ear into the base of my hairline. I don't believe they all do this procedure. I also had Lipo under my chin. I got my front stitches out today. Several of the other patients there that were waiting to have their stitches removed had come to LSL via their friends who had the procedure done. Unfortunately this was not my case. I spoke to them about this very thing..people who were dissatisfied with the procedure because it had not held up. Three of the women there all had friends who were post procedure 4-5 years and still were quite happy. This is the very reason I decided to share my experience, is to see how it goes post-op,3 mos., 6mos, 1 year... and longer ... so I intend to make updates to this area. Like everything else, there are good Drs. and less desirabe Drs. and I know that this is probably true with LSL. I will keep my progress posted.
rukus (12 posts) 29 Jul 2009

Earthgirl can I get your e-mail address. I would like to ask you some questions about the lipo. Mine is not looking so good and I had the same Dr. Should I expect any difference @ 6mo. I'm 4 mo. out. You wanted me to write you a while back but i'm sorry I didn't get a chance to.

earthgirl (14 posts) 22 May 2009
Hi staying young, you had the standard lsl with additional lipo, that is what I had done, appearently when speaking with the office I am the only one that needs extra work (hard to believe)!There are many variables from person to person, age, skin amount of fat and so on. The procedure is not revolutionary it's been around for years. I hope you get great results!!
stayingyoung in TX (5 posts) 23 May 2009
I am hoping so too! Thanks for the info.
Leslie Davis (1 post) 22 Jun 2009
I work with plastic surgeons and it seems that the real issue in most of these posts are that the patients expectations are not managed. I can tell you that many surgeons and their staff get you in and out and that they do tell you many times that the problems experienced after surgery will go away. Cosmetic surgery is SURGERY. You are going to experience pain and discomfort and there is no way to get around this. I personally would not want surgery w/o anesthesia, I am not that tough and really do not want to know what is happending during the procdures. I have friends that have had surgeries by private physicians and experience the same things that I am reading here. I am not defending LSL, in fact, just doing research since I was interested in using them. I am going to schedule a local consult just to see what is going on in these offices. I am very sorry for all the pain and discomfort experienced by many of you on here but it just all sounds so familiar. I see it happen time and time again with cosmetic procedures--even the non invasive such as fillers and botox. Every patient is different and the staff may or may not be trained or skilled in what they do--at LSL or ANYWHERE. Do your research before you let someone touch your FACE.
stayingyoung in TX (5 posts) 27 Jun 2009
I agree with you. I think that the ads give a certain degree of expectations and then they are not managed realistically. I am now post op from my LSL about 5 1/2 weeks. I am pleased with my results, but I noticed that there was just a slight relaxation of the skin after the swelling had gone down. However, then I realized that if there had been anymore tightening that my mouth would have looked like it was spread from ear to ear, and that is not the look I want. There were a couple of areas that I had treated with Juvederm to correct some small areas. However, I can see where your expectations might be shot down. I am 49-now 50 and wanted to look 20 something again. That wasn't going to happen. But I do feel that I look in my mid to late 30's/or eaarly 40. That good for me!
Seattlite (1 post) 3 Jul 2009
Has anyone had a LSL at the office in Seattle. I'm considering the surgery for turkey and sagging neck. I'm over 60yrs old. Also please explain what exactly is done. Are there sutures? Where? Are there permanent scars? Would love to hear anyones experience with this particular facility and surgeons.
stayingyoung in TX (5 posts) 5 Jul 2009
I had the procedure done in the Houston area in mid May. But I wanted to share some of the info of the LSL procedure with you. I am in the health care industry, but try to offer a neutral perspective. I hope this info will help you. I do think that the LSL marketing is a little misleading... I thought I would be in and out, and looking great with only mild pain. I must tell you there is pain which is managed with painkillers (usually only for 1-3 days). Everyone has a different perspective of pain so to one person the pain may be a 3 and to another it may be an 8. So the pain is relative. They give you a mild sedation before the procedure, then before they start cutting, they give you injections around your ear from your temple to behind your ear where you can feel the bone (about 2 inches behind the ear)to numb the area. These shots do hurt, but after the first one the pain tends to lessen. The most painful are the ones closer to the bone behind the ear. The procedure takes about 1 hour or so, depending if you have another procedure done (ie eyes, lipo under neck, etc.). You can hear the procedure and the cauterizing. When they are close to closing you will feel the pull and then they suture the area. I don't remember the suture part. You will leave with a wrap around your face and neck. You will probably swell for 3-7 days, and you may experience slight pain for about 14 days (but remember I said pain was relative). My left side seemed to bother me a little more, but did go away after about 2 weeks. I did make several return visits back to the office to make certain nothing was wrong. The office always got me in, and it nevered seemed to be a bother--although I mainly saw the surgical tech and not the Dr. After the swelling, the skin does relax a little, which is natural. (From what I can read from the other reviews, many did not anticipate this, and I also did not...but they did tell me it would happen after the procedure and it was even in my post op notes.--Also if they had pulled the skin really tight, I may have had my lips going from ear to ear with that stretched look--not what I wanted). My husband has commented several times that he can really tell a difference. You may feel like your ears are not attached to your head for about a month, but tht feeling will subside. If the surgeons are good (mine were) the scars around your ear and behind will be slight and over time should fade. When you go in, ask LOTS of questions so that you have a good idea of the procedure. Remember it is still a surgical procedure and you will experience some pain with it. You are the only one that can determine whether it is worth it for you. A full facelift will have pain too. I hope this forum has helped you get some real life information and will help you make informed decisions about whether this procedure is for you. I will be happy to answer any questions. Hopefully I can post some pics sometime soon.
niptuckhopefulintexas (1 post) 21 Aug 2009
I too am in the Houston, Texas area and I have a LSL consultation on Monday, August 24, 2009. I was wondering if you would send an update on your results...?? I would love to hear how you are doing now and if you are still pleased with your results. I am in the process of gathering as much information on the doctors and staff that I can and compiling a list of questions for the consultation. Any words of advice or suggestions will be most appreciated... wish me luck!
dylan (5 posts) 19 Sep 2009

hi, i live in houston too and plan to have a lsl there...ive heard about dr. p...he is very professional and does not dillydally...he is retired military so that explains his conservative manner....happy for ur results....be glad when mine is over....blessings....:)))

dylan (5 posts) 19 Sep 2009
hi earthgirl...where did u have ur procedure done?...:))
Mimi1488 (1 post) 18 Nov 2009
I'm interested in results from the Houston Tx. Yorktown location.

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