Do facelift or eye lift patients sedated only with oral medication and local anesthetic EVER feel pain during the surgery?

However, the discomfort is easily tolerated. The discomfort is on the order of being poke by your dentist for the injection of local anesthetic. I have had facelift patients whose surgery I performed under local with oral sedation actually sleep through the entire procedure. On the other hand, this type of anesthesia is not for everyone. Some people require more sedation and benefit from intravenous sedation. You can still be awake and cooperative which in my opinion is essential for eyelid surgery but the drugs make it impossible to be concerned about the awareness and in many cases, memories of the event do not form. Oral medication does not produce this depth of sedation.

The overall facial aesthetic surgery experience should be positive in every aspect. I strongly suggest that patients who do not want to be aware of any sensation (sound, smell, the occasional "tug", etc.) undergo sedation with either "twilight sleep" administered via an IV or general anesthesia. Some patients prefer to avoid sedation while others desire a "wake me up when it's over" type of experience. There is no right or wrong- just be honest with your surgeon about the type of experience you are seeking.

If you are awake during a procedure, you will experience sensation. The injection of the local anesthesia is accompanied by a mild or moderate stinging and burning. This can be lessened by choice of anesthesia mixture and injection technique. After that, the area should be completely numb, but sometimes more anesthesia injection is needed. For a true drooping eyelid "eyelift" (ptosis repair) there is a pinching or pressure sensation as the eyelid lifting muscle is tightened. For upper eyelid skin removal, this is usually not an issue. These sensations are all very well tolerated by the vast majority of patients and should not be cause for significant concern.

Patients are aware of the sounds and smells during the procedure, but with adequate local anesthesia will not feel any pain. The surgeon can also inject more local anesthetic as necessary during the procedure to ensure maximum patient comfort.

For patient safety and comfort, we perform facelift and eyelid surgery under general anesthesia. Patients have no recollection of the injections or the surgery. Trying to perform these procedures under local anesthesia will be painful for the injection, and can be painful for the surgery as well, if the entire area is not anesthetized. In addition, patient's have conscious awareness of the sounds, smells and awareness of the situation while surgery is being performed