A facelift is one of the most comprehensive and longest-lasting treatments for the aging face. It rejuvenates your natural features by removing excess skin, correcting sagging and smoothing out deep folds. When performed by a skilled and experienced surgeon, especially an experienced board-certified facial plastic surgeon such as Dr. Ridenour, this procedure can make you look a decade younger for many years to come.
But for facelift surgery to be successful, good post-operative care is paramount. What you do and don’t do after a facelift affects healing times and prevents complications that can affect the final results and lead to a need for additional surgery. At Ridenour Plastic Surgery in St. Louis, we will provide you with detailed post-surgery instructions to promote a smooth recovery.
To give you an idea of what your post-operative period involves, here are the top 10 do’s and don’ts after facelift surgery.
1. Do: Arrange Care at Home
In the first 24 hours after your facelift, you will feel groggy, unsteady and sleepy from the anesthesia, pain medication and the surgery itself. It’s important to have a trusted friend or family member help you get back home and care for you for the first one or two days after your surgery. While you can take a cab or public transport if needed, it’s best only to do so when accompanied by someone you know and trust.
2. Don’t: Overdo It in the First Week
Avoid bending over and lifting anything heavier than 5 lbs for at least a week after your surgery. This will prevent pressure on the wounds and face, which could cause bleeding or swelling to worsen. While you shouldn’t remain completely inactive during this healing period, overdoing it with strenuous activities could lead to trouble.
3. Do: Keep Your Head Elevated
To reduce swelling, prevent bruising and allow your wounds to heal properly, it’s important to keep your head elevated and stay upright as much as possible in the daytime for at least one to two weeks. This also means sleeping with your upper body and head supported by pillows until the swelling subsides and your surgeon has removed your stitches.
4. Don’t: Ignore Signs of Infection
It’s normal to experience some minor pain, swelling, bruising and tenderness for up to two weeks following a facelift. Most of these side effects are gone by day two and are easy to manage with over-the-counter pain medications and cold compresses. While rare, infections can happen following a facelift and require urgent care. If you notice any of the following signs of infection, don’t ignore them, and contact your doctor immediately:
- Progressive swelling
- Ongoing or increasing pain
- Increased warmth in the skin
- Increasing redness around the incisions
- Pus draining from the incisions
- Fever and chills
5. Do: Keep Active
Your first 24 hours after a facelift should be spent lying in bed, sleeping and taking it easy. But by day two or three, we encourage patients to get on their feet and engage in mild facial stretching exercises and short walks. Keep your activity levels light but regular in the first two weeks after a facelift. Staying active frequently but not intensely helps prevent blood clots and speed up healing.
6. Don’t: Mix Pain Medication
You will be given a prescription for pain medication that you can fill up before your surgery. This medication is usually a combination of opioids and Tylenol. Mixing these with over-the-counter pills can put you at risk of toxicity and liver damage. Stick to the recommended daily dose and switch to milder pain medications when you’re able to stop taking your prescription.
7. Do: Keep Your Incisions Clean
Your head dressing will be removed within two days after surgery. Your surgeon will then check your incisions for any signs of infections and will explain how to keep your sutures clean. We encourage getting in the shower and washing your hair with shampoo down to your incisions. If any blood or crusty material is hard to wash out, we usually recommend a gentle solution of hydrogen peroxide mixed with water about three to five times per day. You will also need to keep your incisions covered with an antibiotic ointment until they heal.
8. Don’t: Overflex Your Facial Muscles
Try not to excessively smile, grin, frown, chew or talk during the first week after a facelift. These movements can increase swelling and slow down healing. This is especially true in the first week after surgery. This is also why it is recommended to stick to a diet consisting of foods that are soft and easy to chew for the first week.
9. Do: Use Sun Protection
Once your dressings are removed, you will need to use high-quality SPF sunblock to prevent damage from the sun and to protect your scars from becoming darker than the surrounding skin. Inflamed skin — which is a normal initial result after a facelift — is particularly sensitive to the effects of UV light. Even long after your incisions have healed, it’s important to protect your skin with sunscreen so your scars heal properly — which can take months and up to a year.
10. Avoid: Cigarettes, Alcohol and Blood Thinners
While this probably goes without saying, the importance of avoiding tobacco and alcohol before and after a facelift can’t be emphasized enough. Smoking shrinks blood vessels, which is known to impair wound healing and can lead to post-op complications. Alcohol dilates blood vessels and can increase bleeding and bruising around the surgical sites. Some drugs and supplements can have the same effect, and these include NSAIDs, vitamin E, fish oil and turmeric.
Learn More About Facelift Surgery in St. Louis, Missouri
If you are considering a facelift to restore your youthful features, feel free to contact us today at our St. Louis, MO medical office. We will happily schedule your consultation with one of our two expert providers, Dr. Ridenour or Dr. Wick, who will explain this procedure to you in great detail, including if you are a candidate, what it involves, what the recovery is like and what results you can expect.
