SMAS Facelift and Upper Blepharoplasty - 52 years old

I had my surgery on 12/15/2020. I am 52 years old and had been extremely unhappy with my neck since my early.mid 40’s, I felt my neck was aging 10-years ahead of my face and it was really bringing me down. In the last three years, I also started to notice sagging and heaviness in my lower face that I was also unhappy with. I went through menopause at 49/50 and it really kicked my ass. I feel like I started to age even more rapidly once I went through that transition even on HRT. Then there was COVID and the daily zoom calls that called attention even more to my aging face and neck. I decided to turn lemons into lemonade and use this COVID thing and mounting vacation days to have this surgery. Even though I was recovering during the holidays I had every excuse to hide from the world and no business travel to worry about as an added bonus. I decided, now is the time as these unique circumstances will not be here forever.

During my consultation Dr Toft said my neck was definitely ready, I was a little early to do my face but I had enough loose skin for him to do my face if I wanted to. I decided to do it all at once and I am really glad I did as now that i am gong through this, I would not want to go through this again in the next few years and I wanted to turn back the clock at the same pace for both my neck and face. Obviously, if I waited longer the results would be more pronounced but then again, I would be looking in the mirror and hating how I looked for more years leading up to it. Bottom line, i am so glad I decided to do both face and neck as recovery will be the same. I did my old lady eyelids as an added bonus as this was something else bothering me.

I have been considering this surgery for over a year and after a friend had the same surgery with Dr. Toft and I saw her results, I knew it was only a matter of time. I chose Dr. Toft based on her results and his good reputation. He only does facial work and has done hundreds in reality, thousands of these procedures. I also liked that they have their own surgical suite. I knew I was in good hands.

I was under local anesthesia for the surgery and I did not even feel a pin prick. I was on the table for about three-hours. So if you are worried about the surgery, forget about it.. it was nothing and before you know it, the process is over. The hard work comes after but considering how extensive the surgery is, the recovery is really fast.

I was prescribed opiate based pain killers which I had never taken before and also two lines of defense of anti-nausea meds. Unfortunately, I did get sick twice from the pain killers, despite the first line of defense of anti-nausea medicine, which really sucked as one of the most pronounced symptoms you will have is an extreme tightness in your neck from the muscles being tightened underneath. No fun to throw up. I took the pain killers for two days only and honestly, felt a lot better once they were out of my system. I would say I was never in strong pain but I was uncomfortable, especially for the first three days.

I was very swollen and it seemed to peak at three days post op for me and then start to come down. Your neck will be extremely tight to the point that it is hard to move your jaw and you must eat soft foods for the first few days. My neck tightness started to loosen up after about a week but even two-weeks out, I still have tightness. After one week I felt remarkably well and two weeks even better. I had surgery on Tuesday and went back to work on Monday. I am in my home office and many were out for the holidays so it worked out great. I would not have wanted to show myself in person in an office that soon but under these conditions, it worked out great. I went out in public six days post op with some cover up on my lower eyes. The upper blepharoplasty didn’t hurt at all but did cause quite a bit of visible bruising on my eyelids and even under my eyes. That was the most visible sign that i had “something” done.

Two-weeks post op I am feeling great. I still have a lot of tightness and swelling in my neck under my chin. My face swelling has mostly subsided. I did underestimate the healing from the upper blepharoplasty as I still have some spotty bruises on my eyelids and under my eye. When I bruise it takes a long time to clear up. Also, my eyelids feel some numbness and heaviness as the incisions are healing. This will go away in the coming weeks. I put on makeup yesterday for the first time since the procedure but I did not like how my makeup went on my lids so I think I will go sans makeup for another week or so and allow more time to heal.

In summary, I am still going through the healing process but am already happy with what i am seeing. I am thrilled that I made this decision and can move forward with the rest of my life with a fresh look. The Dr. did recommend fat transfer to my face for me but I have little fat to take. I am quite lean which unfortunately doesn’t help my face to look any younger. I am going to likely do some fillers a few months down the road once I feel completely recovered. I will add some additional pictures over the next several weeks as I continue to heal.

I just uploaded an updated video. Feeling great and so happy I had this done. I upped my workouts last week and plan to slowly continue to ramp up my activity level. I am still healing and have some swelling and tightness but doing great. See my video for more details.

I saw the Dr for my month check up and he told me I was not being assertive enough scrubbing where my incisions were and I have more scabbing then I should which will create bigger scars. He told me not to worry about them opening and I admit I have been overly tentative. I still think my incisions around my ears are healing phenomenally well. I showed a friend up close last night and she claimed she couldn’t see them. Regardless, I am taking the doctors advice and being more aggressive scrubbing the area. I am going back to weight training today and have been running on my treadmill at a lower intensity since my three-week post op point. I still feel tightness and swelling under my neck and am numb around my jaw line and the sides of my face. I think this will take a few more weeks to go away. Overall everything feels good.