Laser Lift with Chin lipo

Laser Lift with Chin Lipo
I have struggled my entire life with a recessed chin that given any weight gain becomes even more noticeable. I have a long oval face anyway and with some weight gain in my late 30s, my chin area became very round with fat gathering under my chin and my jowls becoming more pronounced. I became exceedingly unhappy with my profile and how my face looked in photos from the nose down. Cue the constant asking if people can take my photo from a “higher” angle so it wasn’t as noticeable. I knew I didn’t want to do a chin implant, as I knew when I lost a great deal of weight in my mid-30s that my chin could finally be seen, so I felt I just needed to get rid of the weight under my chin weighing everything down.
I’m writing this review because, although somewhat embarrassing, I wish someone had written a very detailed description with photos of this procedure before I had it done. I think it would have eased my concerns a lot. I had a very hard time finding a review from someone in my age group with photos, detail and long-term healing info.
In May 2015, I had my first consultation for the Laser Lift. At that time, I was unsure if I was ready for the procedure so I decided to do more research and wait. After a year of researching the process, procedure and looking at many reviews and photos, I went back in for a second consultation in May 2016 to see if I was still a good candidate. At age 40, I was assured that this was an ideal time to do the procedure as my skin was still in great shape and I’m still producing collagen that can firm up the skin after the procedure. This time I was ready.
I set the appointment for June 2 in the early afternoon and I began the prep to make sure I was as healthy as possible to go into and recover from the laser lift. I began taking a women’s multi-vitamin (no mega doses), arnica tablets and only took Tylenol if needed so as not to thin my blood. I continued taking my over the counter allergy meds as normal.
I had my pre-op appointment on May 19. I was given prescriptions for diazepam (4 tablets to be taken the hour before the surgery), hydrocodone/acetaminophen to be taken right before the procedure and for pain after and clindamycin antibiotic to be taken 4x per day until gone to prevent infection. I would only be under local anesthesia and numbing meds so the pain meds would be necessary. One week prior to the surgery I stopped drinking my nightly glass or glasses of wine to keep my immune system up.
The day of the surgery I arrived an hour prior to the scheduled surgery in comfy clothes, no makeup, hair pulled back and with prescriptions in tow. The nurse had me put on my gown; I was allowed to keep my bra on as well as my yoga pants. I was instructed to take the 4 diazepam, 2 hydrocodone and 1 clindamycin and they left me in the room with my husband to wait for the meds to kick in.
It didn't take long for me to feel woozy and for my nerves about the procedure to subside. About 45 minutes after taking the meds I was taken into the operating room. The doctor marked off the different sections of my face that were to be lasered/lipod. I was told the most painful part would be the numbing shots and that was true. They feel like they go in very deep and then it felt like there was a twisting motion, like a bolt being screwed into the three incisions. This felt like a lot of pressure and some pain and I was glad when it was over.
Once numb, the doctor began the lasering process. This didn’t hurt at all but felt like a lot of pressure under the skin and I could hear what sounded like scraping. He was talking through the process and ask me several times if I was ok. He was walking through the steps of the procedure with a nurse who was observing that day so I felt calmer knowing exactly what was happening. The laser process lasted maybe 15 minutes. After that, the doctor started the lipo process, which again just felt like pressure, and you can hear the sucking sound of the tube. In about 10 minutes that was over. They cleaned the marks off my face and cleaned the areas where the incisions were made, put Band-Aids on the 3 incisions, put the jaw bra on me with the foam support in it and walked me back to my room. Within 15 minutes I was dressed and being driven home. I felt tired and sore but overall good.
Later as the pain meds started to wear off, my jaw and neck felt stiff, sore and very sensitive to the touch. The bruising started later that day. It was most prominent in the crease in my neck just below the jaw bra. As the day went on, the bruising and swelling increased especially below the garment. It felt like a huge swollen ridge and the bruising continued down my neck.
I have iced my jaw and neck and worn the jaw bra consistently for the last 6 days. I have taken all my meds and arnica religiously. I feel like I’m healing great. The bruising is turning very yellow and even the skin on my neck that never looked bruised is now yellow. As of Day 6, I think things are progressing well. I still have significant bruising, some jowl area swelling and some numbness and tenderness but it’s nothing that I didn’t expect. I have a follow up this Thursday with the doctor, a week after, to check my healing. As of today, if I wore a high scarf and makeup on my lower face, I could get by with being out of the house and not be too conspicuous however I have chosen to lay low and get lots of rest. I’ve averaged 8-9 hours of sleep a night with typically a short nap during the day because the meds make me very sleepy.
I hope to soon see more contouring and less swelling in my jaw and jowls but need to be patient. I intend to wear the jaw bra consistently for the next month as instructed.
I’ll keep everyone posted on my progress and healing going forward. If you have questions please feel free to ask.

A little frustrated with the amount of bruising and swelling I still have. I bruise easily so I knew there would be some, maybe more than most, but it's a lot. My jowl area is still very swollen, more than before the surgery. I joked this morning to my husband that I feel a little like Jigsaw from the movie Saw. I am going to attempt to put on a little makeup later because I really need to get out of the house and run some errands. Even at 90 degrees here, I'll need to wear a scarf. Ugh. I hope I start to see more results soon. My jawline is still very numb and tender to the touch. I'm still wearing the garment nearly 24/7 just taking it off to shower and eat because it's too tight to wear to take normal bites. I'm still taking pain meds as needed, mostly just at night to sleep on my back with my head elevated. I really wish I could lay on my side like normal but at least the meds help. I have a sense this healing process will take much longer than I hoped but in the end hopefully will be worth it. I'm encouraged by the 95% "Worth It" rating for this procedure on here. I need to be patient. In the meantime, I'd love to hear from other people who have had this procedure and have finished healing and know when they finally felt satisfied with the results.

I went in on Day 7 for my post op appointment. I could see the shock on both the nurse and doctor's faces when I took off my scarf and they saw how much bruising I still had. My doctor even made a comment that I found a bit disconcerting. He said " Wow, that's more bruising than normal. Don't tell people I did that to you." I didn't find that humorous even though he seemed to. He's a bit awkward though and doesn't have the best bedside manner but he did come highly recommended and is quadruple board certified. He didn't give a lot of post op advice, just that I should continue to wear the head wrap as much as possible and do the massages on my neck and jaw to keep the scar tissue from building. Yesterday, Day 11, I called his office concerned that I still have a lot of swelling in my right side of my jaw and bruising. The nurse said to continue with massages and if it stays the same to come back in in the office so they can take a look. She also emphasized that without massaging the hard spots or spots with fluid pockets that these areas could permanently stay that way. Shouldn't the doctor have stressed that more?! My bruising is finally getting a little better today, Day 12 but I'm still concerned about he swelling and lack of improvement in my profile. And even with makeup you can see I'm still really bruised. I'm trying to stay positive but running out of patience and scarves!