“Lifestyle Letdown (W/neck Procedure)”

Hi Ivy. I hope that you are doing well. Pain is very relative to patients. I have had patients that after a facelift they are ready to go out for the night and others that are in agony. I assure you that many other surgeons will agree that the level of pain that is felt after surgery directly correlates to the personal paint tolerance that you are born with. I believe that you had some pain after surgery. Also all surgeons would agree that after the surgery is done and you are back home there is a limited amount of pain medication that can be given orally to minimize pain without monitoring. I am sure that you had pain medication, and I think that you were frustrated that you could not get maybe something stronger that very same night. That is understandable also and you are correct at feeling some anger. The pictures that you show online were taken 1-2 days after surgery because I can see the marker on your neck. I see some swelling that is expected no jowls, and no excess skin. I think that a before and after picture will place more objective visualization on your results.

This case highlights what many patients feel about Lifestyle Lift: oversold and under-delivered. Many patients feel anxiety, some degree of psychological stress, and even a little discomfort after a Facelift procedure. The vast majority of independent Plastic Surgeons and Facial Plastic Surgeons provide for these situations by being accessible. The complaints voiced here are not dissimilar to what other patients have reported: there was either no-one to talk to or someone to talk to, but no-one who would listen. If either a cosmetic surgery company or surgeon are not accessible within a phone call the first 48 hours after a procedure, they just aren't doing their job. Once again, my recommendations to prospective patients: go with reliable word of mouth in your town and don't believe the hype associated with Lifestyle Lift. There is nothing revolutionary about it, it does not offer less down time, and there are legions of disatisfied patients.

Dr P, You are the BEST! All we ever got were excuses. Promises made, never delivered. As we complain more, they change what is said in their website, brochures, etc. I know some women get great results, but the ones that do not, shouldn't be treated as we were! They should follow up on us& really act like they care & try to help us. That's all we ever wanted to begin with. But we are just called 'disgruntled patients' wanting to look 20 yrs younger, they say. We weren't that stupid even when that was advertized. Geez, my Dr's idea of a revision was to sew my right earlobe down& to my face to make it look even with the left one he did. Why can't they just admit that not all Dr's are good there& work with us? I know they have some really good Dr's there. Kent just blows off every complaint like we are insignificant& that hurts. Thanks for being so honest on our behalf.

I think Dr (and I use that term loosely)Gustavo must be a life style lift dr they have paid to post such crap!! I couldn't go out for about 2 weeks because of the swelling, brusing, dried blood still in my hair, and the SMELL of the dried blood because I was told to not to wash my hair until I went back and got the stiches out!! GO OUT THE SAME NIGHT, I DON'T THINK SO!!! AND, I too still have pain in my ears and nerve damage to my eyelids and I had the surgery in Sept, 2008. I am happy for anyone that was brave enough to go on to life style lifts and did well, more power to you - but I would venture to bet you are one in a million!!

Hi Ada. I do not know what I have done to deserve the treatment that you just gave me. I am a real Double Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon. I have practiced for years. You can see my website www.drgusdiaz.com. I have nothing to hide like many others here. It is too strange to me that somebody told you not to wash for a week after surgery, which goes against logical wound cleaning. I think that you are mad for other reasons and I think that taking it out on me is not a very dignifying way for you to do it. Everything I post here is voluntary and I am free to do it. Notice that I do not only give advice on LifeStyle Lift, I also do it on other subjects of Facial Plastic Surgery. Just follow all my posts.

Hi Kid. I have not done anything to you to talk back at me this way. I have done better this year that any year when I was in my private practice, so this tells you that Lifestyle Lift has not been affected by the recession. I thought that this place was to improve patient communication and understanding of procedures. As I have stated before, I talk on this board about all aspects of Facial Plastic Surgery. It is incredible how you people try to insult somebody. I do not have to go back to PR for anything. I was born American as you and can stay wherever I want to work as you. I have helped many of the patients that have complaints here. It is incredible that you treat another human that has not harmed you like you do Kid. This says a lot about you character as a person.

Hi all. I thank Chrystal for her post. Even on the face that she does not know me she gives me the respect that another person deserves. I offer her to help her at my office without asking her any questions. To all you others that bash me without even knowing my credentials first take a look at yourselves. Most of you hide behind a screen name. This falsely gives you a sense of security and courage to attack indiscriminately. I do not have anything to hide. My name, address, phone number, website is out there. My results speak for themselves. To Kid I only say that the University of Puerto Rico is the most difficult program to enter for med school in the island. It is accredited by the same accrediting institution that sees over the entire medical school programs in the United States. The same goes for my residency program. Only the top of the class will go into surgical residency programs. I attended a highly specialized fellowship in Facial Plastic Surgery here in the US. I took the same board exams as all physicians here in the US take. Why? Because Puerto Rico is also part of the United Stated. We are the only independent state of the United States. Kid, you were not able to find something wrong with my credentials and reputation, so the only thing that you were able to attack me was on my nationality. That is very wrong. That is like you use the "n" word on an African American or the "R" word on a special need kid. What you did has a name "RACISIM". That says a lot about your character and values as a person. This board is so that we can find solutions for your problems and understand each other better, not for personal attacks from the comfort of your anonymous screen name or cyber bulling. I have other physicians here that can be witness of who I am. Sadly because of this Kid I am considering not posting any more comments and only answer questions. It is sad that because of one rotten apple, all of the others loose the opportunity to improve their life, but you have to understand that I will not put up with this type of personal attacks with no foundations and evidence. Chrystal, I have a lot of respect for you. Thanks for your kind words to me even on the face of adversity and all that you have been though these 3 years. The doors of my office are open to anyone that wishes help.

Thanks Sharon for beein impartial and monitoring this. It is sad that some persons use this media for those types of insults. I did not know that you guys monitor this as strict as you do. That is very good. Thanks again.

It is unfortunate that this forum was used for personal attacks on anybody, including Dr. Diaz. However, I would like to reiterate the point that anger and distrust on this forum are really more channeled toward the marketing practices, patient care, and postoperative management of the company that is Lifestyle Lift; a company that has been the subject of multiple investigative TV series, news articles, class action lawsuits, and better business bureau complaints. This is an entity which is much bigger and leaves a much greater footprint than Dr. Diaz and the origin of this complaint was not about Dr. Diaz. To step in and defend an entity that has had the record Lifestyle Lift has had is simply asking for trouble. I think that if Lifestyle Lift would change their marketing practices, run the business whereby evaluations and decisions were made only by Doctors (not sales consultants), gain accreditation for their facilities (just like any honorable and ethical Facial Plastic Surgeon would do), fully inform patients of the nature of the procedure, the postoperative care, they would have far fewer complaints. However, Lifestyle Lift has only gained a foothold in the United Sates with its sensational marketing. Dr. Diaz knows this is not a revolutionary procedure, he knows that performing a proper facelift takes longer than an hour, he knows that IV sedation is frequently beneficial for patient anxiety, he knows that downtime associated with any procedure can be unpredictable and patients should not be oversold on lack of downtime for any procedure. Unfortunately Lifestyle Lift has in the past and currently makes promises in their advertising which are not realistic. The basis of many patients decision to go with Lifestyle Lift were based on what they believed their experience would be. I encourage Dr. Diaz to take the high road (as would Dr. McCullough) and help change the practices of his company.

Wow. Interesting comments from everyone, and I suppose I am glad to read this after some of the comments were removed. Having been through a few cosmetic surgery procedures, I can say from experience - that no matter where you go for your surgery, whether it is in-patient, out-patient (aren't they all these days? Don't you either have to go home or to a separate after-care facility after an elective procedure? I don't know of any cosmetic surgeons that use hospitals for elective procedures or admission for recovery - as it is too cost prohibitive for the patient).. Regardless - no matter what you have done - a minor repair to a gash on the face, an eyelid lift, lower face lift - whatever. Regardless of the procedure, it is still SURGERY. What else do you expect but to have to recover. And did any of you actually read the consents prior to your procedure? I haven't been to a LSL facility, but for them to be in business, they most definitely covered their bases with those consents. So things like numbness near and around the incision, tightness in the skin... those are NORMAL. Hell, I basically had a tummy tuck almost ten years ago and the area around the incision is STILL numb. But my abs look FABULOUS. And I got what I asked for. I had a breast augmentation and lift (after nursing virtually ruined my breasts), and believe me - I would LOVE to get them fixed... but I'm not bashing the doctor who did it. I went in, I looked at his before and afters, I made my choice. He did an OKAY job, but over all, I got what I asked for. And, let's face it. We are vain creatures. And we don't like to be uncomfortable. But in the end, we have to take some of the responsibility here. Where any of you told you would NOT have scars or recovery? Sheesh... I wrapped my boobs for 6 months and wore silicone strips on my tummy scars just as long... even though the docs said 1 month was fine. I had lipo once too, and the body stocking they give you - I wore that under my clothes for three months - even though six weeks was the minimum. They all agreed that more would only help - so I did my part. Surgery of ANY KIND is basically trauma to the body. You will have to recover. And everyone's body does so at its own pace, and in its own way. And, I'm sorry, but I'd be leary of ANY doctor on here that jumps on the band wagon against another practitioner or facility. I know many surgeons, and if they are not being ethical at all times and refraining from blanket comments against another, I HIGHLY suspect they are sharks and want to gain patients of their own. Anyway - good discussion here... and very interesting. I just couldn't stay quiet because I have had long recovery - and not known the full benefits of the results for a almost five years afterward... that's just how my body chose to process everything...