Outstanding doctor and staff - the Auralyft has definitely produced a happy energy

I am reviewing Auralyft, which is the patented name for Dr. Talei’s customized version of a deep-plane facelift. I will not include photos, however, the photos showing this procedure on Dr. Talei’s website accurately reflect the outcome. He also has a YouTube channel which has several video testimonials.

Pre-surgery

1 - Surgery Clearance

You will need to be cleared for surgery by your own physician and Dr. Talei. In my case there was a very short runway between the time of my getting this information about what is required and the proposed surgery date. Thanks to a supervising doctor who doesn’t usually see patients agreeing to see me on extremely short notice and good cooperation between that physician and Dr. Talei’s office it all worked out in time but since my appointment had been scheduled for months it would have been helpful to get the prerequisites from the surgery coordinator earlier.

2 - Preparation

a) You will receive written instructions and help from the coordinator to prepare in terms of what medicines you should or should not take prior to surgery.

b)There are two Covid-19 tests required by Dr. Talei’s office, one to check for antibodies to see if you’ve ever had the virus and another saliva test for current infection just a couple days prior to surgery.

Surgery and Post-Op

1 - Facility

a) Covid precautions were thorough and consistent. I never saw anyone without a mask, and was encouraged to keep mine on at all times except when being directly examined. This office also has a large outdoor patio extending its waiting room (half of which is shaded from the weather). They are also diligent about vaccinations for staff.

b) Every area I set foot in was very clean, both in terms of being organized and looking as though it had been wiped, mopped or shined. The surgery coordinator answered some of my pandemic concerns by assuring me they were engaging cleaning services daily as part of their infection prevention procedures.

c) Dr. Talei’s operating facility includes both an operating theater and a small two-bed preparation/recovery area. Everything is clean and well-stocked but more importantly the nurses and other staff seem to treat each other well. It’s easy to relax and let yourself be cared for when there seems to be good camaraderie.

2 - Pre-Op Counseling: What is being done is well explained, however it’s still hard to anticipate exactly what is involved. I think it would be great if there were a video showing the process whiteboard style and a graphic showing where incisions will be. Handouts about various sub-procedures with a simple illustration, what to expect during healing and whether you should touch/not touch an area or care for it in any particular way would also be a great addition to the current post-surgery instructions. Visiting with Dr. Talei prior to surgery was a great boost to my confidence in the physician I had chosen. It is plainly obvious that he is a real human being, serious about his craft and interested in his patients.

3 - Anesthesia: One of the reasons I chose Dr. Talei initially is that the Auralyft is advertised as possible under light/awake anesthesia. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist said it’s not possible to do that if you have other procedures that lengthen the time of the operation beyond a basic facelift and thus I ended up with a general anesthetic. The anesthesiologist is very good. She actually read every bit of my medical history and quizzed me on parts of it going back more than a decade to be sure she didn’t overlook any risk factors. She also was very informative as to what I could expect as well as helpful at the time of the procedure.

4 - Procedure: Dr. Talei’s nurse, Esther, made everything effortless and cheerful prior to the procedure itself. I was out within a minute, so no 411 about what it was like. I don’t remember leaving the office and wasn’t aware of much until about bedtime that evening.

Post Op

1 - Bruising: The day after surgery everything else was one big bruise from my eyebrows to my collarbone. After two weeks one protective family member said, ‘normally I’d be asking you who I should go looking for when I see you like this!’ (still pretty beat up). A week and a half shy of the three- month mark I still have light bruising on my neck at the upper jaw, under my eyes and sweeping up from the corners of my eyes to the top of my ears.

2 - Swelling: Some days I see myself in the mirror and marvel at the improvement, and others I’m discouraged at the problems the surgery couldn’t solve. This process takes a little patience and I’m not blessed with an abundance of that naturally. I had severe swelling in my upper cheeks that made it difficult to rejoice in the improvements everywhere else. My nickname for myself during recovery has been, ‘plate face’ because it felt like I was looking at a big round dinner plate with all the features flattened by swelling except the protruding and bruised cheeks where buccal fat had been implanted. I still have dark rings bruises but thankfully the swelling on my cheeks and jawline is finally receding at about two and a half months post-surgery.

3 - Drainage: I had copious amounts of matter leaking from my eyes well past my initial recovery. My eyes would seal shut at night, causing me to get up several times each night to clean them. For the first entire month I kept eye-cleaning supplies by my side at all times. My vision would be clouded if I didn’t constantly tend to both eyes. One side finally started to improve and then the other, well after two months from the surgery.

4 - Treatments: Both a session in a hyperbaric chamber and an LED light bed treatment at the spa were included with surgery. The oxygen chamber may have benefitted me, but the overall experience of laying in the metal tube breathing what felt like airplane air was only endurable because there was a show about training dogs for the blind on Netflix. The LED bed on the other hand was a wonderful treat. It comes with a guided meditation and soft music to accompany the gentle warmth of the bed. It’s an experience worth repeating, and it felt curative to say the least. You can book additional sessions on either device through the spa.

5 - Expectations: I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of post-operative healing and its processes. I may have experienced a little longer recovery than some people do with this procedure. It definitely was uncomfortable to return to work as quickly as I did and as I’ve healed I’ve gone through the heaviest makeup I’ve ever worn in an effort to cover bruises on Zoom, down to finally wearing my usual light foundation with just a little concealer on the ones that remain. The discomfort was definitely in the healing journey and not the surgery itself (I only needed the first couple days of the post-surgery painkiller - YMMV). I look at slogging through it as another form of payment for the surgery, and one I’ve been glad to invest in return for a longer working life. What you see when you look in the mirror can make you feel like you can go for a run, or that you should run for the easy chair. The Auralyft has definitely produced a happy energy.

5 - Appearance:

a) Remarkable, in fact almost unbelievable transformation of my neck and jawline. The whole area looks natural and soft. I have full feeling and range of motion. I’ve gone from three chins and deeply wrinkled skin to one chin and smooth skin. The under-chin incision was the largest and has smoothed a lot but still has bumps. If you’re prone to Keloids this might be where you’d get one. There is a poochy pucker behind this incision that I hope will flatten.

b) My face is also greatly improved but the miracle there is not in looks as much as function. I had such severe ptosis in one eye that it would almost close involuntarily, and the eyebrow above it appeared to droop a good half inch below the other when this occurred. Excess eyelid from normal aging caused a hooded effect and combined with the ptosis this affected my vision, not to mention my mood when I saw myself on video or in a mirror. I can now see well out of both eyes all the time and the eyebrows are well aligned. Unfortunately the eye that formerly drooped looks a bit cross-eyed and its eyelid still sags measurably more than the other one (the ‘good’ eye was also corrected as a proactive measure, the explanation for which is that a good eye can over-relax once the sagging one starts to carry its own load). The wrinkles in my forehead (which was not touched by surgery) seem to have eased now that I no longer have to scrunch it up to keep my eyes open. The corners of my mouth were not level before surgery, and they still aren’t. In other words, I still look like me - and looking like my natural self is one of the reasons I chose Dr. Talei.

6 - Scarring: The incisions around each ear are not identical and the side which had more work appeared at first to be forming a huge lumpy scar, but as I continue to care for it daily it’s becoming unnoticeable. Dr. Talei has methods to deal with remaining scars, as well as to tweak the final outcome if something doesn’t heal the expected direction. Some PS flatten the rounded portion of your ear just above your lobe as they wrap skin over it - making your surgery a really obvious matter and leaving a deformity. Dr. Talei’s skill is such that you can wear your hair up with some sparkly earrings and your ear will look as beautiful as ever.

7 - Follow-up: Communications are overall very good. There are an abundance of people to help you and this office is quick to assist with post-surgical questions. Since I don’t live near Dr. Talei’s office I have chosen to forestall my in-person follow-up visit to the office in favor of seeing Dr. Talei on the iPad. This has been more than sufficient to care for the problems I’ve had with swelling and drainage. A couple of other small issues arose and Dr. Talei and his office manager responded immediately and then made sure everything was resolved. I am looking forward to my in-person visit.

Summary: RealSelf always runs the ‘Worth It?’ poll and I’ll respond to that here with a 10/10. My choice of someone to trust with my one-and only face took about four years to make and as a spiritual person I view Dr. Talei as the answer to the prayer I made that I would choose the right doctor. He describes himself as, ‘the best facial plastic surgeon in Los Angeles’ and with that he could co-opt a line from an old Western show, ‘No brag, just fact Ma'am.’ He could probably even widen the geography in his description a bit.