Which Should I do First, Facelift or Fractional Laser Resurfacing?

My advise is if your plastic surgeon agrees - do both procedures at the same time and just have one recovery. This is what I recommend to the majority of my patients ( for example I do not offer this option to smokers). If you are determined to do them separately there is some theoretical advantage of doing the laser period secondly and including the facelift scars that might also benefit from the laser treatment as well as giving further tone to the facelift skin.

There is not set rule.  I recommend either facelift first followed by resurfacing at six weeks or facelift and fractional laser resurfacing at the same time.

To be sure you are a good candidate for these procedures. See two or more board-certified plastic surgeons in consultation.

I hope this helps.

Resurfacing laser can be done before surgery (usually 2weeks) or after (usually 4weeks). Some surgeons also combine the facelift with resurfacing lasers. Ultimately the two work really well together so I highly recommend it

There is no set rule. However, I generally try to determine what the predominant factor is that needs to be addressed: is it a structural change that facelifting techniques use or is it a textural change that peels or lasers are designed for? I usually advise the patient to perform the predominant correction first. If they are equal, then I approach the structural changes first.

Robin T.W. Yuan, M.D.

A combined facelift and laser resurfacing is a very common procedure in our practice (with fat grafting as well). The key is to limit the amount of laser on the lifted portion of the skin. This is a very safe combination in experienced hands and  I have written many articles about this technique. If you prefer a staged procedure it really does not matter which is performed first.