What causes ringing in the ears after having facelift surgery?

This is not a common feature of facelift surgery in my experience, so I would recommend you discuss it with your surgical team.

Thanks for inquiring.  True ringing of the ear or "tinnitus" comes from the "inner ear" and would not be physucally from the facelift procedure itself.  It can be caused by medications or even stress.  The facelift procedure can leave fluid in the outer ear that can cause hearing obstruction.  Have your doctor look in your ear canal to make sure.  If there is any associated hearing loss or dizziness this may point to an inner ear dysfunction as well.  

Thank you for your question.  It is definitely not a coincidence that many patients complain of the ringing in the ears after a facelift.  Many patients also complaint of the muffled sound and difficulty hearing especially when they talk on the phone.  Fortunately, all these issues are temporary and they are not related to the problems with the nerves.  Most of these symptoms appear with a particular type of facelift incision that is located very close to the ear canal (called retrotragal incision).  The swelling, that often develops around the incision, can cause the narrowing of the canal and will affect one's hearing and possibly cause ringing.  All these problems typically get resolved within two to tree weeks after a facelift once the swelling goes down.