Do you stay in hospital overnight for a smas facelift?

Staying over night  will depend on your surgeon. Depending on how much surgery is included with your face lift will also make a difference. Face lift surgery for the most part is not painful, most patients feel tightness with the swelling, but minimal pain is controlled with pain medication, and is usually only needed for a couple of days. Hopefully your surgeon is Board Certified and you have confidence in him/her to determine if an over night stay is recommended for you.

Staying overnight after a facelift would be usual. The reasons are 2 fold; mainly for pain relief and also to monitor for and post operative bleeding. Although rare, there can be some bleeding under the skin after a facelift. If it happens, it'll usually be within 24hrs of your surgery, so staying in hospital is the safe thing to do. You typically won't need large amounts of pain killers, but I find that it is reassuring  and more comfortable for my patients to have a nurse look after them and tend to their needs overnight.

A traditional rhytidectomy, which includes repositioning and tightening of the SMAS, is surgery that will require 1-2 weeks of recovery time. I recommend that my patients either remain overnight in our private recovery suite with a dedicated nurse to change the dressings or go home with someone they trust to help with simple wound care.  I check all patients the next morning to make sure your healing is progressing well.
Some patients opt to go home directly after their procedure. In these cases, you need to pre-arrange for someone to pick you up and drive you home, plus help take care of you during those first 24 to 48 hours. I hope this helps.

Thank you for your question. Usually, Plastic surgeons will preform the procedure and a family member will take them home that day.  Recovery time will vary from person to person. To help with healing, you will be asked to keep your head elevated as much as possible. Also, you will be told to avoid Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications as well as smoking because this may delay the healing process. Be aware that once your bandages and drains are removed, you may notice bruising, discoloration, and even some unevenness. This is normal and will resolve the coming weeks following your procedure. Usually, swelling will alleviate within 24-48 hours while bruising may take up to two weeks. Occasionally, you will notice numbness at the surgical site, this should resolve itself within several months. Within a week of surgery, you will have your stitches removed. If you are feeling concerned about how long the healing process may take, you may want to look into a MACS facelift. This modern procedure usually allows patients back in public within three weeks with possibly only minor bruising. Best of luck!Dhaval M. Patel Double Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Hoffman Estates Barrington Oakbrook Chicago 

Face lift is not a painful surgery, most of the patients feel comfortable going home after surgery, unless there are medical issues that need to be dealt in hospital. 

Facelifts and ancillary procedures are usually performed as outpatients in a surgery center. However, a one night stay in post-operative care facility may be advisable in some cases. Local #anesthetic combined with intravenous sedation is usually used. This will allow the patient to sleep through most of the procedure. General #anesthesia is available upon request but usually is not necessary. 

It really depends on the surgeon. Many surgeon's will send their patients home with a nurse, some have other facilities that can care for them overnight, including hospitals. 

Thank you for your question.  I have pioneered a revolutionary technique call The Concept™ Face and neck lift. This is a local anaesthetic procedure I provide to my patients is suitable for patients wanting to reduce sagging in the lower face and neck and regain a more natural, rejuvenated appearance.  It targets the jowls and neck, creating a contour and smoother appearance.  As the procedure is performed under local anaesthetic you can go home the same day and their are no additional anaesthetic or hospital fees. Overall the Concept Facelift procedure is less invasive than a traditional facelift and there is less scarring, bruising and swelling for a significantly quicker recovery period. The Concept facelift procedure targets the muscle and skin therefore giving a longevity of 7-10 years, the same as a traditional facelift. It can be combined with other procedures as well.

Please make sure you find a reputable and qualified plastic surgeon who can assess you properly to give you a realistic idea of what outcome you can achieve.  All The Best 

My patients do not stay overnight after their facelifts.Interestingly, the vast majority of facelift patients do not report having very much pain after their operation. In fact, most of my patients only take narcotics for a day or two. Best of luck to you!

if your procedure can be considered as an outpatient or inpatient procedure depends which type of anesthesia will be used, the length of your surgery, how extensive your procedure will be,  and your overall medical health. In our practice healthy  patients stay usually 1 night in the hospital after a full face/neck lift. The procedure itself is not perceived as that painful by most patients. But since the perception of pain, can vary quiet a bit from patient to patient good pain control should be ensured. 

I hope this helps.



Kind regards

Bianca Knoll