POSTED UNDER Lower Facelift REVIEWS
I'm 70% pleased with the surgery. My face looks great and my neck looks good too. There are two downsides...
ORIGINAL POST
Lower Facelift by Dr. Zahari
Bobba PJune 17, 2020
$6,500
As I got older, I liked the way my face looked less and less. In my mid-40s, I went to get a lower facelift. After shopping around, I decided to go to Malaysia for its excellent reputation for cosmetic surgery and good pricing - the surgery was about 1/2 to 2/3 of what it would have cost in the west.
Dr. Zahari was my doctor. I scheduled the appointment on my own, without using one of the travel services, but didn't have a choice as to my surgeon. He met with me for about 15 minutes before the surgery and they did bloodwork, and the surgery was done the next day. I spent the night and the next day recovering in the hospital, and then went back to my hotel. I stayed in KL for a week to get the stitches out and went home.
Seven months later, I would say I'm 70% pleased with the surgery. My face looks great and my neck looks good too. There are two downsides:
1. I haven't gotten feeling back in the back half of my face yet. The swelling is about 85% gone, but from about midcheek to the back of my jawbone, where the swelling remains, there is still no feeling on both sides. It's not the worst, but it's strange and I didn't expect to have this numbness for so long.
2. My ears look pretty bad. The scarring is basically gone in front, though it's still quite pronounced in back. But the shape and position of my ears has totally changed in a way that looks very unnatural. I didn't know that facelifts could cause deformities in the ears. I now have very noticeable pixie ears on both sides, the tragus is completely gone, and the bottom half of one of my ears now folds behind the skin of the cheek. The ear was also rotated so it looks quite odd. I can't wear my hair up.
I've read that this is the result of poor technique, but that it's not uncommon. Unfortunately the only way to fix it (without noticeable scarring) is to have another facelift, which I'm not interested in at this point. Caveat emptor, I guess. I'm happy with the face, but if I knew what would happen to my ears, I'm not sure I'd do this again.
Dr. Zahari was my doctor. I scheduled the appointment on my own, without using one of the travel services, but didn't have a choice as to my surgeon. He met with me for about 15 minutes before the surgery and they did bloodwork, and the surgery was done the next day. I spent the night and the next day recovering in the hospital, and then went back to my hotel. I stayed in KL for a week to get the stitches out and went home.
Seven months later, I would say I'm 70% pleased with the surgery. My face looks great and my neck looks good too. There are two downsides:
1. I haven't gotten feeling back in the back half of my face yet. The swelling is about 85% gone, but from about midcheek to the back of my jawbone, where the swelling remains, there is still no feeling on both sides. It's not the worst, but it's strange and I didn't expect to have this numbness for so long.
2. My ears look pretty bad. The scarring is basically gone in front, though it's still quite pronounced in back. But the shape and position of my ears has totally changed in a way that looks very unnatural. I didn't know that facelifts could cause deformities in the ears. I now have very noticeable pixie ears on both sides, the tragus is completely gone, and the bottom half of one of my ears now folds behind the skin of the cheek. The ear was also rotated so it looks quite odd. I can't wear my hair up.
I've read that this is the result of poor technique, but that it's not uncommon. Unfortunately the only way to fix it (without noticeable scarring) is to have another facelift, which I'm not interested in at this point. Caveat emptor, I guess. I'm happy with the face, but if I knew what would happen to my ears, I'm not sure I'd do this again.
Bobba P's provider
Replies (3)
June 22, 2020
I had a facelift when I was 50yo and I had that numbness for a few years. I didn't find it to be a problem. I just had a 2nd facelift in Feb. in Mexico. I'm now 76yo. and I am very happy. If you do a search on my name you'll see my pictures. Again, I'll repeat I wasn't pretty to start with, but my skin looks phenomenal.
June 26, 2020
Pixie ear and bad scarring are results of poor technique. In this case, it sounds like a surgeon who shouldn't be doing surgery. I'm glad you're happy with most of your results!
Thank you for sharing your experience in great detail. I hope you'll update if there are any changes as recovery wraps up <3