Is It Alright to Have Chin Lift While on Blood Thinners?

Patients cannot be on blood thinners during facelift surgery.  Contact your primary care physician to see if you can come off them for a short time.  If it is not possible, this may exclude you from having a procedure.

   A facelift should not be performed while on blood thinners of any sort.  If you are on blood thinners, the reason for the blood thinners may preclude the surgery as well.  Kenneth Hughes, MD facelift Los Angeles, CA

In general, we ask patients to avoid anything that may cause excess bleeding or thinning of the blood for two weeks prior to and two weeks following surgery. This may include ibuprofen, NSAIDS, vitamin E, fish oil, various herbal supplements, and alcohol (especially red wine). That being said, it would be best to avoid taking blood thinners before surgery. I would recommend communicating this concern to your surgeon and disclosing any additional supplements or medications you are taking prior to having any surgery performed. This will help ensure your safety during surgery and allow you to get the best possible outcome from your procedure. Thank you and I hope this helps!

One on the main risks of facelift and necklift surgery is hematoma, or a blood collection underneath the skin.  A small collection can be drained easily in the office.  If a larger amount of bleeding occurs this can be dangerous and lead to serious complications.  For an elective procedure you want to do everything you can for the best result possible.  Using blood thinners places you at significantly increased risk of bleeding complications, negatively affecting your overall outcome. You will need to discuss with your internist is it is safe for you to come off the blood thinners for any period of time.  In general you should avoid blood thinnners for 1-2 weeks prior to surgery and 1-2 weeks folowing surgery.  As with any cosmetic procedure your health should be the primary concern.

 

It is imperative to your recovery that you abstain from taking blood thinners prior to any surgical procedure.  We always require our patients to stay off blood thinners 2 weeks pre and post operatively in order to minimize their risk of complications during and after surgery.  Other products that are know blood thinners such as, fish oil and high amounts of vitamin E (taken orally) should also be eliminated 2 weeks pre and post operatively.  Not only do they increase your risk of bruising, but can greatly increase your risk of excessive bleeding during surgery.