If You Are on Blood Thinner Can You Get Lift?

As a dermatologic surgeon, I do not perform facelifts or neck lifts, but I do perform a large number of reconstructive cases on my Mohs surgery patients. Those patients who are taking Coumadin are told not to stop their medication but we work with their internist or cardiologist to maintain their INR in a reasonable level. This type of surgery, for skin cancer, improves the benefit to risk ratio but elective cosmetic surgery does not have such a good ratio because the need for surgery does not exist. There are times for reconstruction that the Coumadin can be stopped under supervision by the cardiologist and a replacement, short term blood thinner Lovenox, can be used to keep the blood thin while the coumadin's effect lowers. The surgery can then be done and the coumadin then is resumed. The problem with neck lifts is that their can be significant bleeding after the coumadin is resumed and a hematoma, blood collection, can cause very serious risks. If there is delayed bleeding, and the coumadin has been resumed, it's effect can't quickly be eliminated even after it's stopped because Coumadin's effect lasts long. In summary, NO, it's not worth the complication of having a STROKE by stopping coumadin for an elective cosmetic procedure. This decision should be ultimately up to you and your internist or cardiologist and/or cardiothoracic surgeon.

hello the king To go over some simple, general rules: smokers will need to stop smoking well before their surgery, you may be asked to stop certain medications that may contribute to bleeding. #blood #pre-op

I would not recommend a face and neck lift if you are on a blood thinners such as coumadin or warfarin.  There are instances that under appropriate cardiology care, one can come Off these thinners and have plastic surgery. I would discuss with your cardiologist first.