Definitely an improvement but not without complications

A few things I wanted to mention as there are a few reviews here that go into major detail, and I found them incredibly helpful so I’ll pay it forward. I am also happy to share pics privately and may get brave enough to post one here.
1) Why did I choose Dr. Jacono? I’ve had my eye on his work forever. The thing that sets him apart for me is that he makes women look younger (of course, you can find many surgeons who are talented with this), but the key for me is he also makes them look prettier. Do you remember the show “the Swan”? This is what Dr Jacono’s work reminds me of. It’s a transformation. I can look younger AND cuter? Sign me up.
I am brutally honest with myself about how I look and was never ecstatic about a few things - lots of asymmetry, small upper lip, loose lower face as I got older, etc. When I hear women say, “I just want to look like I did 20 years ago”, that’s not me. I didn’t like the way I looked then and I want to continue to improve - looking better and more youthful - it’s tall order! So, is he expensive? Yes. For me, it was worth it for the above reasons. I see a lot of people complaining about his prices on Instagram and other places, and I understand the sentiment. There are many surgeons out there who are very good and also more affordable. I do feel he’s the best and he charges accordingly. There is something quite special about his work that I don’t see anywhere else.
2) Recovery: for me, it took a full 3 weeks before I started to feel like I was ready for prime time (to be in public). I had bruising, swelling and some redness and creasing in my neck. I’m still not 100% healed. For some reason I had in my mind I’d be zipping around and ready to rock in 10 days. Nope, not for me - so plan accordingly and be patient with yourself. Allow yourself time to recover. I was happy that I did this over the holidays so there was downtime without calling attention to my recovery (masks don’t hurt either). For me, it got better progressively and dramatically at 3 weeks to the day and I’m told it will keep getting better. I repeat, I’m very happy.
I think one thing that helped with swelling was moving around. I started walking (not getting heart rate up) around day 7. It helped also helped in getting my mind off the surgery. I do not recommend laying around the house while recovering if you can help it. Just don’t exert yourself too much until Dr J says it’s ok.
3) The surgery/pain: The day of the surgery is now a blur, but Dr. Jacono and his staff make you feel very at ease. They are such pros, kind and down to earth. I had a full blown panic attack when I walked into the operating room and thought, “I am making a huge mistake!”. They have of course experienced this before so they calmed me down and I honestly don’t remember much after the IV was administered. I woke up from surgery, pretty pain free, spent 2 hours in recovery, and after an hour ride home I was in my bed, and it was behind me. I think the hardest part of all of this is deciding to do it. Then walking into the operating room. It sounds silly but it takes extreme faith in your surgeon and fortitude. You have to really want it and be confident in your decision.
For me, the pain was not a piece of cake. Once the numbing meds from the procedure wore off the night of the surgery, my ears, forehead, front of face (similar to sinus pain) all hurt at about a 4 on a scale of 1-10. Not everyone has this, but I want people to know that there’s potential you may be uncomfortable for a bit. They help you through with pain meds and the office is just a phone call away. I started to feel a lot better on day 3 or 4 and just kept getting better.
4) Do people notice?: when I went back to work (all virtual but I’m on a lot of zoom meetings, on camera), I was terrified someone would notice. I wanted to look natural. The only comment I got was a female coworker that I’m close with said “don’t you look pretty today”. Those who know about the surgery say I look “smoother, younger, airbrushed”. I’ll take it! What’s most important is that my confidence is drastically improved and I’m not self conscious about my profile, my neck and my jowls any longer.
5) Reviews: Lastly, I’ll say I read through every single review for Dr. Jacono before making this decision. I am a very analytical person. I agonize over choosing a hotel room, so imagine the size rabbit hole I went down in researching my facelift. It’s a lot to go through physically, emotionally, mentally, logistically, financially, etc. to not come out of it happy as can be. So I would encourage reading reviews and reaching out to people to ask how their experience was. Whatever you need to do to feel confident in your decision making. I believe in trusting your gut, but also educating yourself about the process and options.
I truly hope this review helps someone in their own decision making. I am very happy I did this. When I look at the before and after side by side, I cannot believe how my lower face had aged quicker than the rest of me. I look 100% better now than I did a month ago before surgery. Dr. Jacono is a talented genius.

Just changed a few words to that catchy Taylor Swift song. Words cannot express how this procedure has restored my confidence. I was experiencing rapid aging in my lower face after turning 45 or so, which did not match the rest of my face, nor did it match my body or how I felt as a woman. Having a necklift, facelift and lip lift with Dr. Jacono was a game changer.