• Video
  • Numbness Following a Facelift Is Normal
{{ showTranscript ? 'HIDE' : 'SHOW' }} TRANSCRIPT
Hello. I'm Michael Epstein and I'm going to answer a question on Real Self. Today's question is how long does the numbness after a facelift stay? And the first thing to understand is that numbness after a face lift is an expected part of the recovery process and in fact, there is always going to be some residual numbness after a facelift. In fact after just about any surgical procedure where there's an incision made, they’re some altered sensation and typically with the facelift, incisions are placed around the ears and even under the chin and the skin is undermined so that the skin and the soft tissues can be lifted into a more youthful location.

Once everything is in set and the suture line is put back together and the healing process starts, the sensory nerves which were divided as a part of the procedure start to heal and initially you'll find that after a facelift, there is a much wider zone of numbness that starts out around the ears and even into the fronts of the cheek for a typical facelift procedure and gradually over the course of weeks to months, the zone of numbness will get smaller and smaller and approach the incision line, to the point that somewhere between eight months and 12 months, you may always have or may have a little bit of residual numbness right at the suture line itself. That's typically what happens with a facelift and in regards to numbness after the surgery. Thank you.

Numbness Following a Facelift Is Normal

Dr. Michael Epstein answers a question directed to him from a RealSelf user regarding a numb sensation in their face following a facelift. Is this normal and how long will this last?