Recovery from facelift, fat transfer and CO2 laser procedure.

Everything you describe is very normal one week following surgery, fat transfer and CO2 laser. You are likely quite swollen from this combination of treatments, which can  can diminish your smile and make your face feel puffy and firm. Things should certainly improve greatly in the next two weeks, with diminished swelling, tightness and the return of your smile.  The long term results with fat transfer are quite variable but in most case fat survival is less than 50%. Remember, it will take several months before you feel back to "normal and numbness can take 6-12 months, or longer, to resolve. The speed of healing benefits from a positive attitude, good nutrition and sleep. You can also ask your doctor when it is appropriate for you to consider massage and range of motion exercises. Best wishes.

The numbness may take as long as 6-8 weeks to go away.  The hardness you feel is tissue swelling from the procedure and can also take that amount of time to resolve.   This goes as well for the tightness around your neck relaxing.  Due to your laser treatment you should allow your skin to heal fully before doing any massage therapy.  Best wishes, Dr. T.

The recovery from facelift alone is usually quick but the combination with fat grafting can delay the healing and recovery. Some of the swelling is not fat but just edema that will settle down in 3 weeks. The numbness around ears can take months to get better. As the swelling goes down smile will look more normal. The tightness takes about 3 months to get better. To facilitate healing use warm compresses and gentle massage. RegardsDr J

Everybody heals differently, but for the most part, numbness typically lasts for several months or even longer before it resolves. Swelling greatly improves over the first 2 weeks, but minor swelling can last for up to 3-4 months. Your laser resurfacing can take 1-2 weeks to heal and 6 months for the redness in the skin to completely resolve. Overall, most patients look pretty good at 2 weeks with a little makeup. I'd discuss your concerns with your surgeon.Andrew Campbell, M.D.

Facial Plastic Specialist

Quintessa Aesthetic Centers

The symptoms and physical signs you are describing are perfectly normal and even expected one week out from facelift, fat grafting, and CO2 resurfacing.  Sensation will return over the next few weeks and almost never stays numb.  Much of the firmness you describe is swelling that will resolve over the next weeks to months.  Around 4 months after the procedure is a good time to reevaluate swelling and the amount of fat retention.

It is completely normal to have numbness after a facelift. Typically slight numbness can last about 3 months and in rare cases even up to a year. As feeling returns you may experience some tingling and even slight shooting pains which is a good sign that the nerves are beginning to regrow and sensation may be improving.

Being that you are only a week out from surgery, you are very early in the healing phase and need several months to heal. Best of luck.

Because you have had three procedures all at the same time your swelling will last for several weeks and 4 weeks to even 6 weeks is not unexpected. It will get a little better each day.You have a lot of questions and have had a complicated set of procedures, so call your doctors office and go thru your questions one by one to be sure you have the guidance that you need for a satisfactory recovery.

You have many questions 1 week following your face lift.  These questions should be answered by your surgery team.  Swelling is variable but most patients look decent in about 2 weeks but the total swelling will last much longer.  The tight feeling is actually good because it implies that you had a good tightening procedure and it will loosen up as the swelling abates.  Numbness is almost universal and will improve although some may be permanent and any improvement may take months.  The stinging, itching and shooting pains that are very common are evidence that the nerves are healing.  Massage and rarely injections may help these.  Please be patient and you will probably be very pleased at the final result.