Are these my internal sutures snapping?

Hello, and sorry to hear about the issue you experienced following surgery. After 3.5 weeks, you are still going to have significant stiffness from your surgery. In general, the side effects of a facelift can include the following:

1) Swelling
2) Redness
3) Bruising
4) Stiffness
5) Tenderness

The snapping you felt was likely a result of scar tissue, but without knowing the details of your surgery it is difficult to pinpoint the problem and say for sure if they were your internal sutures. This should not be of great concern, but I would recommend speaking with your surgeon. He/she knows the extent of your surgery and will be able to advise you. I hope this helps, and best of luck!

    This snapping sound could have been suture or it could have been scar band.  If your contours have not changed, then you are likely fine.  Followup with your plastic surgeon for confirmation.

the snapping my have been sutures breaking..   i wouldnt do anything now but let it all heal and see if you look fine in 3-6 months

Hi.  I tell patients not to turn their head too much for the first 6 weeks after facelift surgery to prevent sutures in the muscle layer from tearing.  I tell patients that they can turn until it feels tight.  I recommend that they turn at their waist more than at the neck.  

3 1/2 weeks is still in the initial stages of the healing process following a facelift. It is not uncommon to have all sorts of strange sensations at this stage of healing. Typically, by 3 1/2 weeks the muscle layer will already be partially scarred down and providing some strength to the lift meaning that the sutures are not doing all of the work. It may also be scar tissue forming in the neck as well. If you appear to be healing normally I would not be too concerned about it. Regardless, you would need to wait several months to have any revision work. Make sure that you follow up with your surgeon so that he or she can closely evaluate and make sure there is nothing that needs urgent attention.

Thank you for the question. You are still in the early phases of healing. At 3 1/2 weeks there is sufficient scar tissue that is actually stronger than the suture material itself. If your appearance has not changed after the "snapping", continue to follow up with your surgeon for now. A re-evaluation of your results in 3 to 6 months will reveal if anything was affected. If so your surgeon will be able to make appropriate recommendations at that time.

Best wishes.

The  situation you describe could be several things- while it is possible that some of the internal sutures have snapped, it is also possible that these feelings are from stretching of healing tissue or other aspects of postoperative inflammation.  

At this point, regardless of the reason, there is not much to be done surgically until the healing progresses.  Even if some of the sutures have ruptured, there is still an excellent chance that things will look good.  After 3 weeks, your body has started the healing process with the tissues in the new correct position.  Wait and see how things look in a few months, but certainly discuss the situation with your surgeon as I'm certain he or she will want to  remain involved with your care.

 Snapping sensation under the chin is most likely from the internal sutures either breaking or going through the Platysmal muscle layer which is not an ideal situation after a Face Lift especially if your plastic and cosmetic surgeon used suspension sutures to hold up the muscle layer.

I recommend that you see your surgeon to answer that question.  The sutures used to tighten the tissue under the skin are usually dissolving sutures.