My Face is Swollen After Deep Plane Facelift, When Will This And Bruising Subside? Worried About Returning To Work.

Presuming you have another 5 days or more.  A lot of improvement will take place over the next 5 days or so.  Ready for "Prime Time" no one is really ready for prime time 10 days after a facelift.  We advise celebrity clients to  put off TV appearances for at least 4 weeks and movie or photo sessions for 6 weeks.  The camera will easily pick up traces of swelling.  From most social situations that the average person will be dealing with, it really is true that at 2 weeks with a little make up, one can pass in most any social circumstance.  This is provided you don't have profound bruising.  If you have more than normal bruising (no photo so I will take you at your word)  it might take you a little longer to reach this point.

Another issue after surgery is what happens when you are healing from major cosmetic surgery.  It is very common for individuals to be blue or even frankly depressed.  I think this occurs because surgery takes you out of your routine.  Generally treatment is not necessary because as soon as your bruise improves enough that you feel comfortable leaving the cabin, the feels begin to lift.  Day five is often the low point because cabin fever is at its maximum.  So hang in there, I think soon you will feel you have turned a corner.

At 5 days post-op, it’s completely normal to be
swollen and bruised. Most of my patients are able to return to work with some
makeup at 7 to 14 days post-op, depending on how comfortable they are with
going out in public with minor swelling and bruising. After two weeks, it
should be fairly easy to cover up any remaining swelling or bruising, and you
should certainly be able to go back to work no problem. While swelling can
remain for a few months after surgery, it should not be that noticeable to
anyone but yourself. It’s far too early to panic, please be patient and you
should see your condition improving over the next week or so.

Swelling and bruising is normal after a facelift and, on average, lasts about 14 days. Of course, that is an average and there are people on either side of that number. There are younger patients who only bruise for 5-7 days and there are older individuals who bruise and swell for 6 weeks but on average, 14 days is what most people get.  The swelling and bruising usually peaks at 5 days so you're seeing it at its worst.  The amount and duration of the swelling and bruising depends on several factors such as diet before the procedure, medications, herbal supplements, activity after the procedure, age (vessels are more fragile as one ages), the extent of the procedure, other concomitant procedures adding to the bruising, habits such as smoking, and envirnomental factors such as heat, excessive sneezing or coughing, etc. You can help bruising by increasing your intake of pineapple, arnica montana, and papaya extract; all of these have been shown to minimize bruising formation. To improve an existing bruise, consider lympatic massage by your surgeon's office, keeping your head elevated, cool compresses, topical arnica montana, and topical vit K in addition to increasing intake of green leafy vegetables. Hematomas, a collection of blood under the skin, even when cleared still leaves behind a residual amount of blood under the skin and can prolong the bruising period. In the end, bruising always goes away, but can be a nuisiance when it doesn't resolve as expected. Good Luck!

Swelling can take up to a year to subside. During this time, you should restrict sodium intake and sleep on your back as much as possible. Lymphatic massage can also help.

There is a good reason most facelift surgeons do not use the deep plane technique: long recovery, increased complication rate, and many other negative factors. It is however a great technique in the right hands but losing popularity because other facelift procedures also give great results with less risk and morbidity. The tingling and numbness can occur after many different types of face lifts, but prolonged swelling seems to be part of the recovery process in a deep plane technique that can last several weeks.

 

   While the deep plane facelift is associated with a longer period of swelling, this can be hard to predict.  You should look much better in 2 weeks.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA