Is It Unwise to Chew Gum After Facelift Surgery?

    Compulsive gum chewing may not be a great idea after surgery, but it is hard to limit many aspects of life such as talking and food chewing.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

You should allow your face rest and heal post surgery. Therefore, I advise my patients to avoid excessive jaw movement (such as that caused by chewing gum) for the first several days.

For the first few days, I advise my facelift patients to not engage in excessive chewing or foods.  Too much movement may lead to seroma formation and require intervention.  A few minutes of gum chewing, however, can satisfy your craving and not lead to significant problems. 

In the first few weeks after surgery it would be a good idea to avoid excessive jaw movement such as caused by chewing gum - this could disrupt some of the deep sutures

I would avoid chewing gum for the first 1-2 weeks after surgery. During this time I like my patients to have their face be relatively "quiet" to allow it to heal the best.

Chewing gum may be a pleasurable experience for some, but it is neither good nor advisable for healing facelift patients. As the skin flaps heal, gum chewing can cause a couple of (serious) problems.

One, repeated contracture of the facial (jaw) muscles could cause bleeding in incompletely-healed blood vessels, causing lumps and irregularities (minor bleeding) in your face, or hematoma requiring re-operation to evacuate the clots beneath the facial skin.

Two, gum may stimulate significant parotid gland saliva production, and if the gland was irritated or slightly injured in the facelift skin flap elevation, saliva could collect beneath the skin flap rather than draining into the mouth as it normally does. Salivary cysts can cause healing problems, infection, and may require re-operation.

If you really believe that you can "exercise" a double chin away with ANY kind of facial exercise, I could probably interest you in a Mark Eden bust developer! (This was a plastic spring-loaded device from the 1970's that a woman could use to "exercise" her chest muscles for breast enlargement--it worked as well as the estrogen bust creams and the breast-growth pills sold today!)

Also, you should not chew gum on the morning before surgery. Even though you are not "eating or drinking" as advised, chewing gum stimulates stomach acid production and increases the risk of lung injury from aspiration pneumonitis.

Just say "NO" to gum! At least if you're having surgery. And for at least a couple of weeks after facelift. Best wishes!

In general since we are tightening the facial structures it is best avoid stretching or taxing those structures as is the case with other types os surgical procedures around muscles and joints and areas of movement.  Some period of immobilization or limited movement is very common.  I recommend less chewing and opening the mouth very wide which most patients will do anyway because the face is tight and it will feel tight with these maneuvers.

As a side note exercising the facial muscles will not have any effect on reducing lines or preventing or treating a "double chin"

Thank you for your question.

testingcapturing the arm after a facelift is really not advised during the early recovery. But by the second month or so it's really not a problem. The sad fact that we cannot exercise our skin is evident in the failings of all of the various types of mechanical exercises and treatments advocated in the press. Exercising the underlying muscles of course can occur it doesn't seem to translate into improved facial form or aesthetics. Minimizing facial movement for the first few weeks after surgery is encouraged to allow the skin to properly adhere to the underlying muscle preventing the creation of fluid that can cause firmness for scarring both very undesirable. Openface those should be almost painless. That is because the areas are in general numb for a number of weeks or months following surgery.

 

No. I do not tell my patients to avoid gum after a facelift. I suppose your plastic surgeon may want to avoid tension on the wound but compaired to all other mimetic and masticatory function that you are constantly using, I don't think gum chewing makes much of a difference.

Hello and thank  you for the question.

In general, following a facelift, I suggest my patients refrain from gum chewing or anything that involves repetitive facial motions, for a period of no less than 3 weeks. This allows ample time for the face to heal. 

Best of luck,

Glenn Vallecillos, M.D., F.A.C.S. , Diplomate, American Board of Plastic Surgery