Where can I go to get proof it's smoking causing skin to die after facelifts?

I resist facelift operating on any smoker as the risks to facial flap survival are imo unnecessarily high. At the very least you should give up for 2 weeks prior to surgery. I would also ask you to sign a consent form specifically for smokers that confirms that you understand the risk of complication is significantly higher for those that smoke. Lastly I would only performed minimal undermining of the facial flap and apply nitroglycerin paste to it in the first 12 hours.

Kind regards

When one smokes, or uses tobacco, there is vascular constriction. Nicotine is a major vasoconstrictor. There are others in tobacco as well. Good wound healing is all about getting enough blood supply to the area. In a facelift operation the thickness of the flaps are thin, making the bloodflow even more important. The incision will also be put on some tension. Tension is the enemy of good wound healing, and coupled with decreased blood flow in smokers, finds the patient at higher risk of wound problems. The SMAS facelift technique is excellent, but the surgeon has to work with the tissues given. Our office does not do facelifts on smokers. Some respected colleagues still may do them, but usually the extent of the dissection is less. The older plastic surgeons in our community have books of photos with "scared straight" type disastrous outcomes, (referred to their practice for treatment) from when lot of people used to smoke, (think Mad Men).  Please stop smoking, (for dozens of reasons). If the prospect of a facelift is a motivation to quit, then so be it.

virtually every surgeon you were to ask would council you that smoking is either an absolute or relative contraindication to facelift surgery and the majority will in fact refuse to perform facelifts on actively smoking patients. 

Mario J. Imola, MD, DDS, FRCSC, FACS.