Mini-face Lift with Submentoplasty and Chin Implant - Saint Louis, MO

I am 43 years old. I have been going to Dr. Nayak’s for approximately 4 years for Botox injections. The one thing that I have always hated about my body is my double chin. Even when I was young and thin, I still carried fat in my neck/throat area. Instead of having a nice straight jaw line, I had a ski slope. In 1996 and 2004, I had liposuction to try to get rid of the double chin. Although it improved for a while, I never achieved the result I truly wanted. Unfortunately, as I hit 40 and after having 4 kids, my neck started sagging even more and I was getting the "turkey neck!" In every picture, you could see the fat under my chin. Ugh!! I finally talked with Dr. Nayak about what kind of improvement he thought he could make. He initially recommended a mini-lift with submentoplasty (which is the tightening of the muscles in the neck). My first thought was why do I need a face lift. Heck, I was only 42 and truthfully my facial skin is in good shape. He explained that to truly get the nice youthful jaw line and to get rid of what I called my “ski slope neck,” he would need to do a mini-lift in addition to tightening the neck muscles (submentioplasty). In addition, he recommended a small chin implant to lengthen my jaw line to help me get that straight jaw line. After much deliberation and talking with my hubby, I took the plunge and decided to go through with the surgery in Feb of 2012. WOW, it was the best decision I ever made and my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. We live about 4 hours away from St. Louis. I went in the night before my surgery and showed up around 6:00 a.m. on a Thursday to be prepped for surgery. I think in total, the surgery lasted about 4 hours. Afterwards, my mom took care of me at a local hotel down the street since I needed to come in the next morning for a quick check. Although my face was swollen, I had NO BRUISING whatsoever!! That was apparently due to the use of a drain. I had incisions around both ears and under my chin. I have a pretty high threshold for pain and so I didn’t need any of the pain meds beyond the first two days. I just stuck with over the counter after day 2. The Monday after my surgery (4 days post-op), I went back to work in my office. I was still swollen but the people at my office knew I had undergone the surgery so it wasn’t a big deal. I would say it was about 9 days before the swelling was down enough that people wouldn’t notice. I am now almost a year out and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with my neck. My incisions are completely invisible. I feel tons younger and even my husband (who at first thought I was crazy for having the surgery) can tell a huge difference!