Deep Plane Facelift - Adelaide, Australia

I thought I would share my brow/neck/facelift experience here in Adelaide, South Australia.
Nearly three months after the procedure and it's still something of a work in progress but I thought I would document some of my experience to date.
For as long as I can remember I have hated my neck and profile, having been blessed with unfortunate genetics in this regard. No jaw definition, a turkey neck and lots of excess skin and tissue that served no purpose except to humiliate me and left me avoiding photographs, tshirts and anything else that exposed that area. I never verbalised my embarrassment about it to anyone at all (friends, family, partners) - to do that would somehow make it even more real. Crazy but that's how I reconciled it in my head for all those years.
I decided that 2021 would be the year to actually investigate doing something about it.
I've rarely been more nervous than I was when I 'confessed' my interest in having surgery to my partner. As is often the case, my fears were unfounded and she was nothing but supportive. So the research began! The first cosmetic surgeon I met with was lovely....but I wasn't left feeling like she was the right person for the job. Something just didn't seem right. The second cosmetic surgeon seemed competent (almost cocky to be honest) but I still just had lingering doubts. The third cosmetic surgeon I went to was Dr Ha. And he was just right! He came recommended to me by another surgeon who no longer performs this procedure. I contacted him via his website and was super impressed with the time he took to compose a detailed reply and he requested that I send through photos and we communicated via email about my concerns prior to even making an appointment. Super impressive and spoke volumes about his commitment to his craft.
When I entered his rooms I was immediately impressed. Immaculate, professional and friendly. But I told myself to remain neutral and not be swayed by such things! Dr Ha greeted me and I was immediately comfortable, at ease and instantly felt heard and understood. We spoke at length about my concerns (and I had a lot!) and my 'wish list'. Not once did I feel hurried or under pressure to commit to anything. He recommended a deep plane face, neck and browlift - not just a neck lift. This way I would avoid a disjointed outcome where I had a rejuvenated neck but still had sagging, ageing facial features. I was so focussed on my neck situation that I hadn't really considered what was happening elsewhere. And a deep plane procedure where work is performed on a much deeper, structural level with longer lasting, natural results is the best way to avoid that pulled, windswept look that you so often see and know immediately that work was done.
At the end of the consultation, he advised me that he was available to address any additional questions I may have after this appointment. And he was, and did. Given that I suffered from considerable anxiety about the whole thing, I absolutely took him up on that!
I will add that it might seem as though you're throwing money away by going to multiple surgeons before choosing one....but it's not! In the grand scheme of things when you're looking at paying thousands it is literally a drop in the ocean - it's just part of the process and when it comes to your face you have to be sure. It's not like surgery to other parts of the body where you can hide it away if you're not happy.
I bit the bullet and booked in for my face, neck and brow lifts for March 2022. It was to be overnight surgery under a full anaesthetic and was expected to take 8-10 hours. While it certainly wasn't the cheapest of the quotes that I received; at the end of the day it needed to not be about the money, but about the outcome. So my budgeting plan got underway with a vengeance!
I'd be lying if I said I didn't have moments of doubt and severe anxiety about the upcoming surgery. In fact I was a mess in the leadup. My anxiety went into overdrive. To be honest, there's a part of me that still can't believe I went through with it, given my state of mind about it!
Surgery day:
I remember waking up at 5-6pm-ish in recovery after the surgery and being told that it was all over and went well and I was taken to my room. I'll be honest and say that it was a pretty rubbish night's sleep. Between the uncomfortable inflating, pulsating contraptions that were placed on my legs to avoid DVT; having to sleep on my back, and the head discomfort, pain and nausea that left me keenly waiting for the time that I could next have my pain meds - it wasn't the greatest and felt like I had hardly slept. And I will admit to feelings of 'what have I done?' and 'what made me think this was a good idea?' when I woke up the next morning - particularly when Dr Ha came in to check on me, check for nerve damage and removed the bandages to show me my swollen face. The poor man was bombarded with 'I won't always look like this, will I?' a million times! He reassured me, as much as he could, that I looked just as he would expect me to, and if anything, I looked better than he would have expected. I tried to stay calm but must admit that my anxiety that first day was fairly significant. I will admit here too that I totally underestimated how I would feel post-surgery. I took in a book, iPad, headphones, snacks.....others may be different but I had no interest in any of that stuff - I literally laid there in my own discomfort the whole time - ha! I left the hospital with a head dressing and two drains that stayed attached to my head for four days. I was able to shower with them, though they did get a little tangled in amongst the shower-head at times!
The next few days were a bit of a blur. Eight-hourly Panadol, Endone and Ondansetron (for nausea). And antibiotics twice a day (a precautionary move), and applying antibiotic cream to stitches and staples. Sleeping was really difficult. I'm not a back sleeper at all and sleeping while elevated (recommended) wasn't easy either. Eating was challenging as I couldn't open my mouth very widely. Straws were essential!
Four days after surgery the drains and bandages were removed. While I could see a difference in my neck already by this stage I was still too obsessed with whether my eyes would ever look normal again to really appreciate it, to be honest. If I could tell myself what I now know it would've saved me a lot of anxiety! I was now able to wash my hair - yippee! (though it was a very delicate procedure!) During this time Dr Ha was always available and responded to all of my concerns and questions quickly, and with care. (I had read reviews where people had said that Dr Ha was readily available post-surgery and I can honestly say that that was the case for me too.)
Ten days after the surgery I had the stitches and staples removed. There were 150 stitches altogether! I was told that Dr Ha spends 4-5 hours on suturing alone and his handiwork is incredible, particularly when I compare it to others that I have seen on this site. Within days some of the suture lines had healed so well that they were virtually invisible! I was able to feel more positive about the whole thing after seeing my neck progress and my eyes had settled down more by then too. I was given instructions on how to massage my neck twice daily to help with draining, swelling and lumpiness and was given a scar ointment that I would need to apply every night along the scar lines. The lumpiness was a bit unsightly to look at, to be honest. I still felt like I wanted to hide my neck area while this was the case. Even now, nearly 3 months post-surgery, I still have some residual swelling in my face and neck, but it's vastly improved on what it was. I will also mention that I wasn't expecting the weird feeling that came with sleeping on my side - the only way to describe it, for me, was that it felt like I was lying on a stone, or a foreign object. It didn't feel like an ear at all - it was the craziest sensation and really annoying and uncomfortable and lasted a few weeks for me.
I chose to take one month off work so I could minimise the likelihood of any awkward work conversations. I'm glad I did this. It really took the pressure off, confidence and anxiety-wise. I also chose to be a bit of a hermit during this time as well. The surgery was a big deal and I decided to go easy on myself. In theory I could maybe have gone back to work one week earlier but for me, it was the right decision to take that extra time.
In terms of discomfort, I do feel like I underestimated how uncomfortable I would be. That's my experience anyway. There was much tightness of the neck and face, tenderness, swelling and a feeling of ‘woody’ thick cheeks. I still get the odd pain here and there, three months later, but they are usually short-lived discomforts. I experienced some odd pinching and pulling pain around my ears and up towards my temple and that was the only real pain that was still present 2-3 weeks after surgery that warranted use of any painkillers.
Day 17 - I still had numbness on the top of my head, under chin, on cheeks near my ears and the bottom half of my ears were still numb. I started to get 'electric shocks', pins and needles in spots - all normal apparently as sensation starts to come back. Sleeping elevated was still a bit annoying but I persevered for the greater good! At times it almost feels a bit claustrophobia at times, for wont of a better word….having no control over when the sensation starts to return and the slightly constricted feeling that comes with the swelling.
Since returning to work one month after surgery I have had a few people comment that I 'look different somehow' / 'you look refreshed, like you've had a good holiday' / 'something is different about you, you look really relaxed' / 'you look different, your face looks different, you look younger' / 'you look like you've lost weight - I can see it in your face' / 'you look so much brighter and refreshed. Did you have botox on your break? You literally have no lines anywhere!' - but no one asked outright if I'd had any surgery. The same applies to family since seeing them. And this is exactly the response I would've wanted when thinking about having this surgery - a natural, refreshed look. And that's what I feel like I received!
For the first month or so, sleeping on my side and elevated was really challenging and wasn't really conducive to getting a good night's sleep, I must say - mostly due to the weird ear sensation.
I still to this day experience what I refer to as the 'party hat sensation' under my chin at times where it feels I am wearing one of those old school party hats! Odd and rather uncomfortable but fortunately it doesn't last for long. And sometime it does still feel a bit claustrophobic - like you're trapped in this foreign, weird head. A difficult sensation to describe but that's my best shot!
While the feeling under my chin and on my cheeks and in front of my ears is still yet to come back, for me, probably the most challenging and uncomfortable part of the process (which is still persisting three months later), is the weird feelings on the top of my head. It really is the strangest thing. It is so, so itchy that I just want to scratch my scalp off altogether sometimes, mostly at night! The really perplexing part of that is that I still have no feeling up there....so how can it even be itchy?! Apparently it's what happens when the nerves over your scalp reconnect and reattach and is a normal part of the healing process - but it feels anything but normal! It feels like ants crawling along my head, sometimes it's a sensation that feels like cold water is running along my scalp... and sometimes it's like electric shocks and tingling sensations. Unfortunately it doesn't seem as though there is anything that you can do to ease it - I just have to ride it out and wait for all of the nerve endings to reattach!
I've read a lot of reviews where people have reported on pain-free, worry-free, discomfort-free procedures where people virtually skipped home and through recovery with the greatest of ease. That wasn't entirely true, at least not for me. I do feel like I was somewhat oblivious to what I was to face, pardon the pun, and to some extent still am facing, three months on.
Do I regret it? Not for a second! The pain/discomfort I felt (and am still experiencing) is definitely outweighed by the result and progress I have seen so far. I've heard that the full results can take up to a year to see so I'm practising a lot of patience! I've written a lengthy review here about some of the not so fabulous aspects that I have experienced as I wanted to provide a balanced perspective on how things can be. Forewarned is fore-armed! Good luck to those that sailed through it pain and discomfort-free but that wasn't the case for me. Had I known then what I know now, would I still go through with it? Absolutely!! I've got a great result that just keeps getting better and I get shocked when I see pictures now of my profile and jawline (and regular pictures of my face where I look much more refreshed)!
Would I recommend Dr Ha to anyone thinking about having the same procedure(s)? You bet! His care, professionalism, skill and commitment to his patients is A+. I would encourage anyone to go along and have a consultation with him. You won't be disappointed!!
(I know that a lot of people will say that without including photos a review means nothing but I think that's a little unfair. There are many reasons why people aren't comfortable in doing so. While I'm not comfortable in posting before and after photographs I do hope that this review provides some answers and information that is useful to people. I'm more than happy to answer any questions that people may have so feel free to send a message through.)