POSTED UNDER Facelift Reviews REVIEWS
52 and Desire a Facial and Neck Perk Me Up - South Carolina, SC
ORIGINAL POST
I'm 52 and have just in the last couple of years...
deenerbugJanuary 26, 2014
WORTH IT$10,000
I'm 52 and have just in the last couple of years noticed my face getting slight jowls, my cheeks hollowing and my neck wrinkling/getting crepey. Up until I turned 50, people always told me I looked young for my age and then that just kind of stopped happening. I know we all age, but I figure I can either go through my 50s with this jowling and wrinkles bothering me or I can do something about it. I'm opting for the latter.
The before photos I'm posting were taken about five minutes after I woke up, sans makeup, by the light coming through the leaded glass front door and following a night involving a concert and copious amounts of wine. :) I'm adding that disclaimer because they frightened me a bit. lol
I'm planning on having a lower face and neck lift, along with some Juvederm in the cheek area and pre-jowl sulcus. I'm told the incisions will be around my ear and extend into my hairline a bit behind my ear. I have no doubt my doctor will do his job well and the incisions won't be an issue once they heal.
As you can see from the photos, when I'm smiling the jowls and neck wrinkles don't show up so much. Luckily, I smile a lot. Unluckily, that gives me crow's feet also. :) Those are treated with Botox.
My surgery is scheduled for late February. I don't feel too nervous (yet!) about the actual surgery, but I'm plenty nervous about the recovery period. I am very claustrophobic and just reading some of the comments about the bandages and neck tightness makes my neck feel like it's constricting. lol I'll be sure to request Valium for the couple of weeks post surgery.
I will update as I go along. I'm excited! I look better with eyes and a forehead, by the way, but I didn't want to post photos of my entire head for anonymity's sake. I previously had a blepharoplasty, so my eyes are in good shape and my brow definitely doesn't need to be lifted. I have always had highly arched brows and those don't need to be up any higher than they are already.
The before photos I'm posting were taken about five minutes after I woke up, sans makeup, by the light coming through the leaded glass front door and following a night involving a concert and copious amounts of wine. :) I'm adding that disclaimer because they frightened me a bit. lol
I'm planning on having a lower face and neck lift, along with some Juvederm in the cheek area and pre-jowl sulcus. I'm told the incisions will be around my ear and extend into my hairline a bit behind my ear. I have no doubt my doctor will do his job well and the incisions won't be an issue once they heal.
As you can see from the photos, when I'm smiling the jowls and neck wrinkles don't show up so much. Luckily, I smile a lot. Unluckily, that gives me crow's feet also. :) Those are treated with Botox.
My surgery is scheduled for late February. I don't feel too nervous (yet!) about the actual surgery, but I'm plenty nervous about the recovery period. I am very claustrophobic and just reading some of the comments about the bandages and neck tightness makes my neck feel like it's constricting. lol I'll be sure to request Valium for the couple of weeks post surgery.
I will update as I go along. I'm excited! I look better with eyes and a forehead, by the way, but I didn't want to post photos of my entire head for anonymity's sake. I previously had a blepharoplasty, so my eyes are in good shape and my brow definitely doesn't need to be lifted. I have always had highly arched brows and those don't need to be up any higher than they are already.
UPDATED FROM deenerbug
26 days pre
Thought I'd include my upper blepharoplasty photos -- had it a few years ago.
deenerbugJanuary 29, 2014
Bleph photos for those of you who are getting an upper blepharoplasty along with your facelift. I did get the lower bleph
Replies (0)
UPDATED FROM deenerbug
26 days pre
Correction
deenerbugJanuary 29, 2014
I don't know how to edit the above, but I meant to type I DID NOT get the lower bleph.
Replies (17)
January 29, 2014
Thank you for starting your story here on RealSelf! I agree with Roxy that you're really pretty already. You're going to look fabulous after the procedures! I love that you still know how to party :)
I hope this all goes really well for you. Less than a month to go!
I hope this all goes really well for you. Less than a month to go!
January 29, 2014
Thanks Angie! I've benefitted so much from reading the stories here, I figured I should share my experience also.
I appreciate the sweet compliment. I was out with my husband of 31 years for a night on the town. We had a great time! I do like to get together with girlfriends about once a month, but we've been laughing lately because our ability to stay out has gone from heading out at 9:00 p.m. to usually being ready to go home by 9:00 p.m. lol
I'll update again as the date gets closer to announce how nervous I am.
January 30, 2014
The eyes stay red for a long time , I didn't have stitches he had some kind of tape , it hurt a bit when he pulled it off , I have a scar on my left in the crows lines it's kind of big , I think it's because of pulling on the tape , he said that will eventually go flat as now it's raised
February 19, 2014
What is it with the left eye --- it seems to water and takes longer to heal -- it will be fine but why can't it be like the right :)
February 19, 2014
Mine were fine by two weeks, but I only had uppers. I'm really glad I had the upper bleph as it made a big difference and still looks great. I don't know about lowers, but I have read they take longer to heal. My incisions also didn't extend beyond the crease on my eyelid. I wonder if many extend beyond that? I didn't have any tape.
February 19, 2014
I had uppers done years ago - still look fantastic -- I am surprised I didn't go back to him but wanted all done at same time. The lower eyelids - all of them extend to crease in smile line -- just more concealer
February 19, 2014
Or I should say smile lines in eyes -- they just fade away for people who have injections to get rid of them
February 19, 2014
Yep --- you can view people that had lower blephs -- weird but incision line extends outward and I guess when I do smile it does go in that one particular place!!
February 8, 2014
Your eyes look great. It will be nice to see who your doc was for this b/c fewer and fewer docs are able to achieve a predictable, reproducible, result like yours.
A few weeks of redness is a small price to pay for what you got. Best wishes for an equally great facelift result. And again congrats to your doc. We at least know he does great eyes! grace60
February 9, 2014
Thanks Grace! I was very pleased with the result from my blepharoplasty. It's weird how at six days after I thought I was bruised for quite a while and then by 10 days after, I was home free.
February 9, 2014
It surely is the easiest surgery for the greatest visual improvement when you and your surgeon's sense of aesthetics are the same. Either you were lucky that his vision of a "great eye result" and yours matched OR you did a good job of communicating your wishes. Amazing how that seems to happen so infrequently. But in your case its all good. Having lived in the upstate of SC I am interested in who this PS is...grace
February 9, 2014
I sent you a message about the surgeon, Grace. I have certainly seen eyes which looked over done to me. I agree it really helps a lot visually to have this done. I was amazed at what a difference such a small improvement made.
It certainly seems February is flying by. My surgery date is going to be here before I know it.
February 14, 2014
Wow -- noticed your surgery is scheduled for the 25th -- I hope my pictures helped you to know about what to expect! Some people I told and yesterday I finally showed up at one of my sons hockey games --- I wore a headband and still not real comfortable -- I know they were looking at me differently ---because I said "won't be at any games for awhile having surgery" You know the eyes always give it away! So, somewhat self conscious --
February 17, 2014
Your pictures did help. It's so nice to be able to read the stories here. They're so helpful! I'm sure you looked fantastic at the game! I remember feeling like you did when I got breast implants. I worked out a lot and felt self conscious at the gym. It's hard to hide those. lol
February 17, 2014
I know what you mean about a smile helping to conceal the neck and jowls! I never used to like to smile for photos because of the way my eyes squinch up, but I'll take squinched up eyes over jowls any day. Still, though I smile a lot, I can't go through life that way.... like you I'm hoping to get a neck and jawline back that looks good even when serious. Good luck to you!!
February 17, 2014
Thank you! It feels like it's coming up soon now. I'm excited about it and also kind of dreading the down time after!
Replies (3)