Lifestyle Lift: Stories

I had a standard LSL face lift on July 9, 9 days ago. Right now I am feeling devastated. Immediately post surgery, and for the next several days, my pain was excruciating to the point of being incapacitated. I stayed on pain meds round the clock for almost a week. Just before returning for my 1 week follow-up to have sutures removed, it was obvious that something was very wrong. I appear to have some major nerve damage, (what looks like Bell's Palsy) on the right side of my face. My eye will not close and my mouth is drooping. I was supposed to return to work today, but now have another week off, at least. I can't look in the mirror without wanting to cry. I have read hundreds of things on the web and don't know what to believe. Every night I have to put an ophthalmic ointment in my eye and tape the lid closed. I can only advise anyone considering any face lift from any surgeon to think long and hard about letting someone slice and dice your face.

I'm interested in results from the Houston Tx. Yorktown location.

hi earthgirl...where did u have ur procedure done?...:))

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....:)))

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

I am hoping so too! Thanks for the info.

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!!

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?

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.