Should I stop skin resurfacing when preparing for a facelift? 60 y/o female.

Question

I am a 60 year old female, good health, never smoked. I am looking into a facelift. I have stopped getting botox and fillers, thinking to prepare for a facelift. Should I wait to do resurfacing as well?

Maribel Belmontes Castillo, MD · Answer

You can continue with botox, but stop fillers because when the doctor lifts your face, you can have a problem with an overfilled face.

Ryan Rebowe, MD · Answer

When a face and neck lift are performed, this will reorient the position of the facial skin, When performing facial resurfacing, the laser is typically utilized in a specific pattern to produce particular patterns on the face. Performing the resurfacing prior to getting the face and neck lift will reorient these particular patterns and can cause the skin to look unnatural. The gold standard for these procedures, when performed together, is to wait until after the facelift to get resurfacing.

Bryan Brandon, MD · Answer

This is a great question, but one that should be answered by your surgeon. In general, if you are planning on having a facelift in the next few months it is likely a good idea to pause on fillers and skin resurfacing procedures.

Warren Schutte, MD · Answer

Hello, congratulations on your choice of having a facelift. I would recommend doing your last skin resurfacing treatment 6-8 weeks prior to your facelift. It is great that you are focusing on dermal health as well as the surgical correction of skin excess and muscle laxity with the facelift. I would resume resurfacing techniques 6-8 weeks post surgery as well.

Angelica Kavouni, MD, PhD, FRCS(Eng) · Answer

It is a good idea to stop the injectables at least for three months before the facelift. Also I would not recommend laser resurfacing before because it may delay wound healing However six weeks after the facelift it would help a lot and improve the scars also

Zoran Potparic, MD · Answer

We generaly suggest our patients to stop all unnecessary remedias for skin and body treatment 3-4 weeks before face lift surgery. However, it is always the best to ask your surgeon about his/her opinion and practice. Good luck.

Dean P. Kane, MD, FACS · Answer

Dear Tasteful48640, 
Thanks for your question. If you mean by skin resurfacing, the use of alpha / beta hydroxy fruit acid exfoliation, general facial cleansing or the use of retinol / tretinoin, then no, do not stop. These activities keep the skin clean, exfoliating and up-regulating the cells to bring fresh growth cells, improved barrier function, reduction in bacteria and encourages good blood flow. All of these assist your tissues in healing following a face lift. Depending on where you are in the process, continue botox of the forehead and fillers of the central folds prior to face as a facelift will not affect these areas. Discuss your meaning of resurfacing with your surgeon. I would recommend holding off a chemical or laser peel within 3 months of a face lift. I hope this helps. All the best.

Jorge Molina, MD · Answer

Hola, espero que te encuentres muy bien. 
Con máquinas el bótox y el filler lo que haces es darle mantenimiento a tu rostro, si realizas tratamiento de láser también sirven para darle mantenimiento y prolongar el envejecimiento. Si tienes 60 años y estás sana, sin enfermedades, te recomiendo que lo hagas ahora porque vas a tener un buen resultado y vas a mejorar la calidad de tu piel. Aprovecha ahora que puedes, quien sabe qué pase en unos años. 
Saludos y buen día. Visita mi perfil para ver mis resultados de facelift.

Leo McCafferty, MD · Answer

I think your plan is a good one with you stopping Botox and fillers prior to the facelift.  Also I generally recommend skin resurfacing after a facelift because it allows the resurfacing tool, whether this be a laser or a chemical, to work on a 'tighter canvas'.  Certainly there are exceptions and I would discuss this with your plastic surgeon.  Good luck!

William Portuese, MD · Answer

It's certainly acceptable to undergo laser resurfacing before or after a facelift procedure. You should probably wait at least a month between both procedures. Probably best to undergo the laser resurfacing after the facelift. Choose your surgeon very wisely based on extensive experience. Study your perspective surgeon's before and after facelift photo gallery to make sure that the results look very natural

Should I stop skin resurfacing when preparing for a facelift? 60 y/o female.

Answers (10)

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