Something’s wrong under my chin 5 weeks post face/neck lift. Is it feasible to revise 8-9 months post-op? (photos)

Hello,In my opinion a revision can be done prior to eight or nine months.   While I agree it can take six months or so for a facelift to heal completely, revision surgery can be accomplished prior to this depending on certain factors.  The opinion I am providing here is based only on viewing your photos without having the ability to physically examine you or know what procedures exactly you had performed. Revision surgery after any procedure must take into account the specific post operative appearance that the patient must show in public every day. If after having a cosmetic surgery on the face and there is obvious and visually attracted  unnatural facial anatomy I think performing a revision surgery even possibly at three months is reasonable. Each patient must be handled on a case-by-case basis and if it at 90 days you are healed and the tissues are soft, revision surgery can possibly performed at that time.  If the appearance of your neck is disturbing you to a point that it affects your quality of life you may talk to your surgeon about having this done as soon as possible. 

I would suggest to wait at least a year before revision. A personalevaluation is necessary to determine the best plan of action butI will suggest a facelift technique with a vertical vector of correction.Best wishes.

Thank you for the question and the photos. Five weeks post-op is still quite early. However, your photos seems to show some issues that may require revision. the central depression under the chin could be from overly aggressive fat removal. The fullness laterally and residual jowls suggests that the vector of the lift was primarily horizontal. It is best to stay in touch regularly with your surgeon. If you are not able to for any reason, you will need to seek second opinions. Generally I recommend that patients wait a minimum of 6 months before revising this type of surgery. If you re-operate too soon, you may end up with more issues, not less. Best of luck moving forward.

As the body of your question states, 5 weeks postop is still very early in the postoperative phase.  Lymphatic massage and patience is required for the time being.  In general, it is advisable to wait at least a  year for a revision, but sometimes earlier intervention can be considered. Maintain good lines of communication with your Surgeon and let him understand your concerns. 

HI C,  Not sure what happened, but I can certainly understand your distress. You might try some massage in the area, but consult with your surgeon first as he/she knows exactly what was done and can advise you the best. It is possible that you will need a revision, but it is much too early to do this now. It seems that scarring  developed in the area due to fluid or tissue shifts. Some ultrasound treatment to the area might help with the scarring, but again, consult with your own surgeon first!Good Luck!,Dr. Christine Rodgers

Your photos 3 weeks after surgery appear to show good contour but you later developed a depressed puckered area which make me think you may have had a unseen fluid collection which caused scarring as it resolved.  I believe it is best to allow the scarring to fully soften before proceeding with a revision of your neck.  This will taken about 6-9 months and may be accelerated by external ultrasound treatments.  Follow up closely with your plastic surgeon so you can be monitored during this improvement.

Hello and thank you for the question. A lot of what you are experiencing should get better over the next 3 months or so , with a combination of massage and at times local injection of steroids to thickened/irregular scar tissue. Your surgeon is the best person to guide your through the process. Please follow up with him/her frequently. Best,

Thank you for your question and photos. Based on these photos, you have excess skin in the neck, an irregular jaw line. You should wait at least 6 months prior to considering a revision and yes, you will need a revision if you want to improve your results. If you were my patient, I would propose the following correction: 1. Renuvion J-Plasma to tighten your neck skin. You do not have platysmal bands, and 2. fat grafting to the pre-jowl and post-jowl areas to give a nice jaw line definition, fat grafts to the marionette lines. Discuss this with your surgeon or seek a second in person opinion. Good luck with your healing.

You seem to have change from week three to week 5.  Its best to follow with your doctor in order to watch out for fluid collections.  At this point, I would treat this expectantly week by week to make sure you don't have an acute process which would need treatment.  Also, a great deal of this may settle with time depending on its etiology.  Your doctor would be the best judge of how long to wait for the revision.

Assuming that you have had a procedure performed by a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon who has vast facelift experience-I would not panic yet.  I would follow up with your original surgeon for a reassessment, to see what may be done to expedite healing.  I have a very concrete rule in my practice concerning facelift surgery-I would clearly wait 12 months following surgery to give the surrounding tissues time to settle before re-entering the site.  Some patients heal faster and better than others, and perhaps all you need is more time for the underlying tissues to re-assimilate and smooth out-but your fantastic selected surgeon would be the best to judge that.  Good luck to you and your new face !!