Facelift Barely Lasted a Year

Been dragging my feet on any major changes while still feeling buyer's remorse over the surgery but decided I needed to perk this face up for the holidays. I went for a consult for filler based on a referral from a friend. I took with me a photo of my face taken right before surgery and basically said what non surgical wizardry can me me look like this again? The answer? 10+ syringes of filler!! Excuse me? Comparing the before and after images the hollowing in my face is significant, especially in the area affected most by the operating (see photo). Oddly, two other people I have been in contact with have also experienced dramatic flattening in this area and are also complaining about their cheeks falling. Does anyone know why that may be? Long story short it will take 2 syringes to each side of the face just in that area alone to prop it up, then more in the cheekbones, under the eyes, the chin, the temples. The areas that were deeply sutured (under the chin, in front of the ear and temple) have hollowed the most. 10+ syringes of filler means its going to cost me close to $6000 to look as I did before surgery. I will restrain myself here from stating the obvious. 2 syringes down and I feel slightly less ugly, but I've got my work (and my budget) cut out for me.

Most of us do everything we can to hold out before having a facelift; there is the cost, the fear we will end up looking unrecognizable and the down time. As a result many people have been turning to quick lift with small price tags, shortened healing times and purported "limited" risks. Many get out relatively unscathed, but the truth is there are significant side effects that no one discusses or finds out about until its too late. Did you know that even a mini facelift can:
1) Make you look older. If you aren't getting a fat transfer with the lift, the surgery can leave you with a face that is flatter than before the surgery which can harden features and make you look older.
2) Make you look ODD. Unfortunately when surgery is not done correctly, it can change your face in subtle ways that make you appear odd, unnatural and unattractive. The windswept pulling, excessive fat removal, assymetry; your mouth becomes wider; your nose may look suddenly out of proportion and you may end up with lumps and bumps you didn't have before the procedure.
3) Leave you with nerve pain, damaged glands, tethered muscles and excessive scarring. Even if you come out of surgery mostly unscathed with no major motor nerve damage, you still may end up with health problems that may or may not ever be resolved. And this applies to mini lifts too, not just deep plane or more invasive surgeries.
4) Ruin your self esteem. Low self esteem is often the driving factor to getting a facelift and its hard to believe you could spend your entire savings and actually end up feeling even worse about the way you look. Way worse. Those of you who can't afford surgery may have gotten a blessing in disguise.
5) Leave you in need of another surgery. When facial surgery goes wrong, its not something you can hide. You almost have to plan to be able to afford a second surgery going in, unless you are in very good (an expensive) hands the first time around. Facelift redos are often more expensive, and may end up making you look even more unnatural.
All of it affects your life in ways you can't imagine, from your romantic relationship with your husband, to your ability to find work. When you look odd, unnatural, older, less confident it literally ruins everything. When the doctors are telling you about the small percentages of people who end up with nerve damage (everyone's biggest fear) they are not being honest about the large number of women who have life impacting negative outcomes. I know its expensive. I know you are desperate not to look older. But if you don't have the money to be worked on by one of the top docs in your state/region please consider the impact this surgery can have on your future happiness. If there is ever one time in your life NOT to make a decision based on money and "down time" this is the one.

I wish I had some good news to report but as time goes on my face just keeps looking weirder and weirder after this surgery. I've continued to get consults on how to fix what was done. Recently a doctor showed me a picture of myself from the side to demonstrate there are some things even another surgery will not fix. So much fat was taken under my chin (and I didn't have much there to begin with) that my face now looks like the bottom 1/4 was lopped off. If you don't have a bony chin/jaw structure then a surgery like this accentuates it and throws the balance of the face completely off. The soft lines I had before surgery have been replaced with a witch like jutting jawline that is neither feminine nor pretty. Its hard to explain, but I would actually need to get a fat graft under my jawline for it to look balanced and normal again. My mid face has also completely fallen - it does not look like I ever had a facelift and my nasolabial folds are quite noticeable. What started as being disappointment over money wasted for this surgery, is now utter despair that even if I can come up with the money for another procedure I cannot permanently fix what was done to my appearance. Its odd to see so many good reviews for this procedure when I know of at least 5 people (including myself) who had this surgery within the same 12 months and are seeing revision because of very bad results. Please be careful with the decisions you make for surgery as you will be looking in the mirror at the results for the rest of your life.