What type of nutritional supplementation can support healing after facelift? Can taking type 1 collagen with HA help?

You should try to eat a healthy balanced diet to promote healing. - fruits, veggies, fish.  Taking collagen and HA does nothing to promote or improve the collagen in the skin. Waste of money.  If you want take a multi-vitamin.  Some Omega-3 supplements are also good for skin hydration.    

There really is no benefit to any nutritional supplements and a healthy individual. Anything you take should be reported to your surgeon as some of these are biologically active and can actually create problems.

There is no need for any special diet - just a healthy well balanced diet (and this applies to all procedures).  Patients always ask these questions, and unless you are eating a really poor diet, not getting enough proteins or calories, and you are deficient on nutrients because you are malnourished, there is not much to alter in your diet.  In general, I recommend vitamin C and folic acid found in prenatal vitamins.  However also as a general rule, I recommend patients stop all non-prescription vitamins, supplements, herbals 2 weeks before surgery as some can cause increased bruising or bleeding during and after surgery.

My suggestion would be to contact your surgeon or his/her clinical staff and discuss your concerns with them since they are most familiar with your pre and post surgical experience.

See your surgeon to discuss your healing and make recommendations. In general I tell my own patients who are healthy and have never had a bariatric surgery to eat a good diet with lots of fruits and vegetables in many colors along with sufficient protein.Skin care may be beneficial for your dry skin, and that is something you should discuss with your surgeon.

Dear Seajay:Proper nutrition including vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and protein are essential to optimize your life and your facelift healing.At 5 months into the healing process, if you are without a chronic illness and the incisions have healed, it sounds like you are moving along on schedule. After 3 months, as you mentioned, collagen 3 formation remodels into a smoother, stronger and softer collagen 1. The building blocks required during this process came from your diet and with improper diet comes from the breakdown of your muscle; so it is essential to continue a nutritious diet.There is no known benefit to eating collagen nor hyaluronic acid other than they are broken down in the GI tract to be absorbed and used as building blocks. Vitamin C, of course, has relevance in healing but additional dosing is necessary only if you are deficient. A properly absorbed multi-vitamin will be sufficient. I have found and recommend lymphatic-style massage in upward fashion to reduce swelling and assist in remodeling scar 5 minutes, 3 times a day. If you feel stiffer one day, try ibuprofen 200 mg after breakfast and dinner to reduce low grade inflammation. Of course, you should discuss your thoughts and concerns with your surgeon. I hope I was helpful! All the best!