When Will I See Results After a Neck Lift?

Fluid may collect under the skin after a face lift or neck lift cosmetic surgery. Small fluid collections will absorb naturally, while larger collections normally are drained by your plastic surgeon.

Swelling after cosmetic surgery is expected. This plastic surgery swelling after neck lift or face lift usually resolves within a few weeks or longer, mostly dependant on the specific procedure performed and one's natural healing ability. Cosmetic surgery patients may help reduce post-treatment swelling via a variety of methods, such as keeping your head elevated, reducing your salt intake, and gentile facial massage.

Lastly, swelling or edema in the face may be due to allergies, thyroid condition, medication side-effect, or other medical conditions. Speak to your plastic surgeon to help determine methods to help reduce facial swelling that is appropriate for you.

then this should be removed. It sounds like you could have a seroma. Your plastic surgeon's examination must have shown something different given that he treated it with steroids.

If you still have fluid under your chin you should see your Plastic Surgeon and have it drained.  The fluid can prolong the healing and cause extra scar tissue that can take a long time to resolve.  The fluid may need to be drained on a repeated basis- daily or every other day until it resolves.

With Kind Regards.

In some individuals, it can take a month or more to see the results of the improvement in the neck area although generally you should see some improvement right away compared to the preoperative photographs. Prolonged swelling can delay those results, however, Unfortunately, even if you need a touch-up, it is best to wait and follow the advice of your surgeon.

If you have fluid in your neck it is most likely seroma or hematoma which is best treated by aspiration.  Once that settles down you have to wait months for the final result.

Any amount of swelling in the neck can be visualized for a very long time. For example, if your cheek was a bit swollen it may be hard to see the difference form the opposite cheek, but a small amount of swelling in the neck completely changes your profile. The good news is that this is normal and will resolve eventually.

Keep your chin up!

Neck lifts usually take several months for all the results to show. Meanwhile swelling is common and it may be hard to appreciate the benefits which are coming later. Trying to "fix" the unfinished result risks making things worse.

Actual fluid, or the percieved sensation of fluid under the chin after a necklift is quite common. It is of great importance that you see your necklift physician if you are still concerned.

Depending upon the type of necklift, there is a risk of an acutal fluid collection (serum or blood) between the skin and the underlying muscle. This type of fluid collection can be diagnosed clinically or by an ultrasound and frequent sterile needle based drainage or catheter drainage is recommended. Failure ot drain a seroma (serum) or hematoma (blood collection)  may compromise the long term aehstetic appearance of the neck. Alternatively, the fluid under the chin after a necklift may NOT be collected betweent he skin and the neck muscles, but may be acutally inside the skin, a process call edema. Edema is not the kind of fluid that can be drained with a simple needle and responds better to supportive neck garmetnes, utlrasound, massage and even mild steroids. It sounds as though your physician has diagnosed edema, rather than seroma in your case, but, if you continue to have these symptoms, you should see your operative surgeon immediately.