Lower Face and Neck. New York City, NY

I just had my one week follow up. Dr. Karlinsky assured me that everything I'm experiencing is totally normal. She even mentioned that the bruises will be migrating downward. I was very bothered by extreme tightness, even pain at the jaw line. That's a little better today and she concurs that it's because she tried to be aggressive with my lift. I can see my cheekbones today and am feeling ok about going out tomorrow night. Overall, I'm happy. I think PSs should tell you more realistic timelines for recovery though. I mean even just telling you that the tissue will take months to fully settle into place sets more realistic expectations. I'll post pics when my husband has time to take a few for me.

I have to update the review to post some before pics. The before shots are not that bad, I'm professionally made up after all. I took the others myself this morning, day 5 post op. I can't believe how the bruising has spread. And omg, the lumps on the side are terrifying.

Like the Nora Ephron book said, I feel bad about my neck. Even more than the droop at the sides of my mouth, my droop under my chin drove me crazy. I had virtually no visible results on the neck from Ultherapy. I read a lot and was under the impression that a mini-lift will not make much of a difference under the chin. I talked with Dr. Karlinsky a few times about it and she said it wouldn't be perfect, but she could make a visible difference. She is meticulous and very professional and I really trusted her.
I was nervous and popped a valium shortly before we started. She gave me confidence as she made the marks on my face and spoke about avoiding any nerve damage with how she makes her incisions. I didn't realize she was going to do some kind of light lipo (after the Lidocaine and numbing shots) to loosen the flesh so she could get a tighter lift--she is normally rather conservative and I had asked her to be as aggressive as she felt she could be. The incision runs from high behind the ear, around the lobe and up the front. I was actually pretty relaxed during the whole thing and had no pain at all. She spent something like 45 minutes on each side, as I recall. My husband fetched me and I walked to the hotel 3 blocks away. The first night was fine and she was pleased with what she saw at the 24 hr check. I was full dosing the Percoset, so I don't have the clearest memories of that. But she had me look at my chin and she had taken up all the slack somehow, I know I'm still very swollen, but under my chin looks pretty miraculous. I was very freaked out on Day 3 that my right ear was totally numb, yet had some pain. And under the chin, it feels very tight--like when you spread glue on your skin when you were a kid and it dried. But I'm good with that, it's worth it. My upper cheeks are weird and lumpy, but she said that's totally normal. That's where I'm at now. I know it's hard to see the traumatized areas as they normalize, but I feel sure it'll be worth it.