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

Question

I realize it’s only five weeks, but now that the swellings gone down, I see quite a bit of puckering around the scar under my chin, And weird swelling or protruding platysmal bands. bands tightened during the surgery. No lipo under chin, but he said he manually removed some fat. I am healthy 58 y.o. & I don’t smoke. I healed very nicely last year after a breast reduction. I don’t want to wait a yr. for revision. It is feasible to revise 8-9 months post op? Will be seeing my dr, about this

Gurkan Kayabasoglu, MD · Answer

I'm very sorry for your failed surgery experience you've had. As a triple board certified facial plastic surgeon it seems that a very accurate planned and delicate operation was not performed obviously. In my opinion submental fat tissue were removed, but the skin is not sufficiently released. I would advise you not to wait for the revision for a very long time. A three-month post-op will be sufficient for a rigorous revision surgery. I advise you to ask your surgeon for releasing these adherent neck tissues and then the actual jowl and neck stretching and lifting surgery.
    
      As a surgeon mingled with many revision facial lifting surgeries and cancer operations of the head and neck area, there is no need to wait for a year or more in this area. Don't be so desperate about that.

Fernando Colon, MD · Answer

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.

Evan Ransom, MD, FACS · Answer

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.

Stephen Prendiville, MD · Answer

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.

Ryan Mitchell, DO, FAOCO · Answer

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.

Christine Rodgers, MD · Answer

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

Jeffrey M. Darrow, MD · Answer

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.

Pejman Aflaki, MD · Answer

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,

George Marosan, MD · Answer

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.

Brian K. Machida, MD, FACS · Answer

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.

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

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