Do Not Recommend

I originally wanted a neck lift because I had loose skin under my neck that didn’t match my age. During a virtual consultation, Dr. Manning told me I was a good candidate for a full facelift. I also told him I wanted a lip lift because I wanted to stop using toxic filler, and he agreed.
A few weeks before flying in for surgery, I called and asked whether I needed to dissolve my lip filler before the lip lift. I was told no, which felt odd to me. Looking back, that was the first red flag.

I flew in, and the night before surgery I was then told I did need to dissolve the filler. I think when I called to ask if I need to dissolve he didn’t even bother looking at my photos which makes me think they see you as just a number but not a patient. He did the dissolver but It didn’t go down much overnight, and I was told more dissolver could be added right before surgery. That also felt wrong to me because dissolver can cause swelling, and swelling right before a lip lift seems like it would affect the surgeon’s ability to judge the natural lip shape and how much skin to remove.

I had extreme anxiety before surgery, which is unusual for me because I’m no stranger to plastic surgery or lasers. I usually feel excited. I wish I had listened to my gut.

My lips have been the most devastating part. From what I understand after consulting with multiple injectors and surgeons, the dissolver was injected too close to surgery, when my tissue was about to go through massive trauma and swelling. My lymphatic drainage was likely overwhelmed from surgery, so the dissolver may not have been able to clear normally. Instead, it seemed to sit in the swollen tissue and continue breaking things down…not only filler but also my own natural lip tissue. Then too much skin was removed during the lip lift, leaving my upper lip too high and distorted, also making my Cupids bow disappear. I wanted this procedure so I could stop using filler, and now I feel like I need filler for life just to make my lips look less deformed.

The laser I had done at the same time was also a major regret. I looked severely burned for months, and two years later I still deal with persistent redness/sunburn-like discoloration.
despite trying multiple corrective treatments.
The facelift itself also did not give me what I originally wanted. The loose skin under my neck barely improved, and instead my face looks more hollow and gaunt which could just be anatomy but I wish they tell you that there is that possibility bc in hindsight that makes sense. So keep that in mind with “preservation” lifts. I feel like the procedure aged me rather than refreshed me and it doesn’t help that I have become a shell of the person I used to be bc I can’t look in the mirror.

This has affected me emotionally, financially, and physically. I have spent more money trying to correct these issues than I spent on the original surgery. I have had many cosmetic procedures before and healed well from them, but I regret every procedure I did with Dr. Manning: the facelift, the lip lift, and the laser. He does not use his best discernment. After two years and dozens of revision consultations, there is really nothing left to do, improvements cannot be made. I think the term is thrown around loosely but I think it’s safe to say that I am botched. I wanted to remove all of my filler and have a fresh start in life and now I’m stuck with what is very obviously over lifted lips even without filler and I have to wear foundation just to the grocery store, this really ruined the trajectory of the life I had planned. If you’re considering this surgeon, please reconsider.