POSTED UNDER Facelift Reviews
Caveat Emptor
ORIGINAL POST
Caveat Emptor
Imaginative838596November 15, 2024
Initially my consultant was incredibly helpful. She seemed to be really dedicated to her job as I was sent the “square” payment technology at all hours of the night including the wee hours of the morning. That wasn’t an issue for me as I work overnights in CO. Now, I cannot get a response from her.
Dr. Hamm has a kind and gentle disposition and I enjoyed meeting him. His demeanor put me at ease.
I arrived at the outpatient surgical center at 6:30 am the day of my procedures which included a face/neck lift, submental liposuction, and bilateral upper blepharoplasty. It took about 30 minutes to complete paperwork. Because I am not menopausal yet I needed to submit to a pregnancy test. Since I hadn’t drank since the previous evening I had no need to urinate. After waiting for quite some time my IV was started which helped me to need to use the restroom. Because I was nervous my blood pressure was elevated, so I was given clonidine after providing urine. I was playing on my phone while waiting to be taken back to the OR. I was taken back around 8 am. My daughter picked me up post surgery and I later recalled asking her what time it was. She told me it was close to 11 am which I felt was a little early because based upon my research I expected to be picked up in the afternoon. I didn’t think much of that until much later.
Post op initially called my daughter at 9:29 am to let her know that I was heading to recovery. She was called again about 45 minutes later and she called post op at about 10:50 to let the OR staff know the she had arrived to collect me. That timeline is per my daughter’s call log which I asked that she forward me.
Now, because I have had absolutely no “lifting” of my face I started to wonder how long my procedures “should” have taken. According to various online publications from the likes of sources like Harvard Medical, Emory Health, Real Self, etc a facelift should take several hours to complete. An upper blepharoplasty alone takes between 45 minutes to an hour. Somehow the face/neck lift, submental liposuction, and upper blepharoplasty that I paid for was performed in about 1.5 hours. That’s probably why I am so incredibly distraught and dissatisfied over my results, or lack there of really, and scarring. According to all that I have read the scars that are associated with a facelift should end somewhere in the temporal region while mine end at my tragus on the left and upper ear on the right.
Let’s move onto my scars. I have a keloid, jagged scar on my left eyelid. The tragus on my right side is almost gone. There is a scar that goes around my ear to the back of my head ends past my occiput which is becoming a keloid scar. I don’t usually get keloid scarring.. I suffer from severe DDD in my cervical spine and that’s reflected in the paperwork that I filled out. The incision that was made on the left side has made it very difficult for the chiropractor that I see weekly to treat me due to where it ends. There are some treatments that are impossible for him to perform right now such as “cervical traction”.
What I see when I look at my face is the thinning of my lower face. My chin is much, much smaller also. There is absolutely no lifting of my tissues. I have been to 3 estheticians since my procedures in hopes of looking “better”. All 3 are very surprised that I look as I do despite having a “facelift”. The first 2 suggested that I have the scar to my left eyelid treated with laser before it hardens and is more difficult to remove, so that is what I have been doing via a woman who used to perform my laser and HiFU services. Sculptra, HiFU, and laser yielded better results for me in the past than a full face/neck lift has. Something seems very wrong there.
Choosing Strax was not a decision that I made lightly and it wasn’t the least expensive option. After Dr. Hamm reviewed my pictures we had the consultation via telephone. He made his recommendations which were the procedures I opted for. I was sent a quote for a face/neck lift package with Dr. Hamm. Because we actually spoke twice about what I hoped to achieve regarding my eyes I believed that the upper blepharoplasty was included in the “package”. It wasn’t and I had to pay an additional $2,000.00 to have the upper blepharoplasty included. I wish that I had actually forgone the upper blepharoplasty due to the results that I have gotten.
When my consultant and a Roger Gordon were in communication with me I was told to “wait to see” my final results. But, things tend to settle “down” and not “up”, so I do not believe that I will see any actual lifting to the “lower 2/3 of my face” which is what all sources say a facelift offers. My eyes are still hooded, my cheeks are still flat, and I still have jowls. The aforesaid coupled with the brief time that I was operated on seems to equate to “I didn’t receive what I paid for”. I wanted and I paid for a facelift and removing the fat from the lower part of my cheeks did not actually “lift” anything. Yes, removing the fat from my lower cheek has made my marionette lines and the lines that ran from the sides of my mouth appear less severe, but my face is not lifted.
Dr. Hamm has a kind and gentle disposition and I enjoyed meeting him. His demeanor put me at ease.
I arrived at the outpatient surgical center at 6:30 am the day of my procedures which included a face/neck lift, submental liposuction, and bilateral upper blepharoplasty. It took about 30 minutes to complete paperwork. Because I am not menopausal yet I needed to submit to a pregnancy test. Since I hadn’t drank since the previous evening I had no need to urinate. After waiting for quite some time my IV was started which helped me to need to use the restroom. Because I was nervous my blood pressure was elevated, so I was given clonidine after providing urine. I was playing on my phone while waiting to be taken back to the OR. I was taken back around 8 am. My daughter picked me up post surgery and I later recalled asking her what time it was. She told me it was close to 11 am which I felt was a little early because based upon my research I expected to be picked up in the afternoon. I didn’t think much of that until much later.
Post op initially called my daughter at 9:29 am to let her know that I was heading to recovery. She was called again about 45 minutes later and she called post op at about 10:50 to let the OR staff know the she had arrived to collect me. That timeline is per my daughter’s call log which I asked that she forward me.
Now, because I have had absolutely no “lifting” of my face I started to wonder how long my procedures “should” have taken. According to various online publications from the likes of sources like Harvard Medical, Emory Health, Real Self, etc a facelift should take several hours to complete. An upper blepharoplasty alone takes between 45 minutes to an hour. Somehow the face/neck lift, submental liposuction, and upper blepharoplasty that I paid for was performed in about 1.5 hours. That’s probably why I am so incredibly distraught and dissatisfied over my results, or lack there of really, and scarring. According to all that I have read the scars that are associated with a facelift should end somewhere in the temporal region while mine end at my tragus on the left and upper ear on the right.
Let’s move onto my scars. I have a keloid, jagged scar on my left eyelid. The tragus on my right side is almost gone. There is a scar that goes around my ear to the back of my head ends past my occiput which is becoming a keloid scar. I don’t usually get keloid scarring.. I suffer from severe DDD in my cervical spine and that’s reflected in the paperwork that I filled out. The incision that was made on the left side has made it very difficult for the chiropractor that I see weekly to treat me due to where it ends. There are some treatments that are impossible for him to perform right now such as “cervical traction”.
What I see when I look at my face is the thinning of my lower face. My chin is much, much smaller also. There is absolutely no lifting of my tissues. I have been to 3 estheticians since my procedures in hopes of looking “better”. All 3 are very surprised that I look as I do despite having a “facelift”. The first 2 suggested that I have the scar to my left eyelid treated with laser before it hardens and is more difficult to remove, so that is what I have been doing via a woman who used to perform my laser and HiFU services. Sculptra, HiFU, and laser yielded better results for me in the past than a full face/neck lift has. Something seems very wrong there.
Choosing Strax was not a decision that I made lightly and it wasn’t the least expensive option. After Dr. Hamm reviewed my pictures we had the consultation via telephone. He made his recommendations which were the procedures I opted for. I was sent a quote for a face/neck lift package with Dr. Hamm. Because we actually spoke twice about what I hoped to achieve regarding my eyes I believed that the upper blepharoplasty was included in the “package”. It wasn’t and I had to pay an additional $2,000.00 to have the upper blepharoplasty included. I wish that I had actually forgone the upper blepharoplasty due to the results that I have gotten.
When my consultant and a Roger Gordon were in communication with me I was told to “wait to see” my final results. But, things tend to settle “down” and not “up”, so I do not believe that I will see any actual lifting to the “lower 2/3 of my face” which is what all sources say a facelift offers. My eyes are still hooded, my cheeks are still flat, and I still have jowls. The aforesaid coupled with the brief time that I was operated on seems to equate to “I didn’t receive what I paid for”. I wanted and I paid for a facelift and removing the fat from the lower part of my cheeks did not actually “lift” anything. Yes, removing the fat from my lower cheek has made my marionette lines and the lines that ran from the sides of my mouth appear less severe, but my face is not lifted.
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