To Maximize Your Facelift Recovery, Follow These Tips!

Having a facelift is an exciting life event. It is a big decision that can lead to amazing, long-lasting rewards. Most people who have a facelift once do not need to repeat the procedure a second time. Once tissue has been precisely repositioned, the face will look younger than it would have if surgery were not performed. This happens regardless of the continued aging process.

If the appearance of your aging face has you feeling a little less like yourself, you may be interested in exploring a facelift as an option to look younger. Sure, we’ve got dermal fillers, lasers, and radiofrequency devices that have been developed in recent years, but none of these approaches can achieve the extent of rejuvenation that’s possible with a facelift. As you explore your option for surgical facial rejuvenation, you’ll want to know what you can do, and what you shouldn’t do, to get the very best from your experience. We’ll cover that here.

Facelift Recovery Do’s and Don’ts

Pain

If you’re going to have a facelift, prepare ahead of time to avoid being a superhero. After surgery, you’ll be sore. You may be tender. At first, though, you may be surprised at how good you feel. This is because it can take several hours for the effects of local or general anesthesia to wear off. Whether you feel well enough to skip that first dose of pain medication, don’t. This could lead to unnecessary pain and a longer-than-expected wait to feel good again.

Rest

After you have a facelift, your body needs to devote the majority of its energy to regenerating tissues and producing healing chemicals like collagen. Your post-op period is not a time to put everyone else’s needs before your own. If you’re a mother, putting your needs on the back burner may be old hat. After your facelift, you’ll need to let someone else take the reigns for a bit. Don’t expect to be doing the cooking, for yourself or anyone else. Don’t expect to be doing chores or taking care of children or pets. Do expect to want to indulge in naps and more rest than what you’re used to. Do give yourself the time you need. Within a few weeks, you’ll be right back to your normal energy levels.

Our Denver office has been established as a comfortable facility in which to explore the benefits of plastic surgery. To learn more about facelift surgery, call 303.399.7662 and schedule your visit.

Restore a Youthful Appearance and More with a Neck Lift

The neck can be a tricky area of the body. Its skin is susceptible to sun damage. Its muscles may become weak and loose along with that sun-damaged skin. In the uppermost part of the neck, just under the chin, the effects of aging may allow small fatty deposits to develop, giving way to a double chin. It is when these effects combine when many people consider a neck lift.

Neck lift surgery is performed for several benefits that are not gained with a facelift alone. It is for this reason that a lot of patients choose to combine these two techniques. One improves the lower face, and one improves its frame. Through this limited-incision surgery, a patient can obtain benefits such as:

• Improved chin and jawline contours
• Tighter muscles below the chin
• Smoother skin, reduced platysmal bands
• Tighter, younger-looking skin (no more turkey neck or crepey skin)
• Thinner looking neck

A Youthful and Rejuvenated Appearance Through Neck Lift Surgery

As much as we’ve come to observe the face for signs of aging, it has become easy to overlook the neck. Studies suggest that the neck is one of the very first areas of the body that will show the signs of aging. In some cases, patients achieve the results they desire with a neck lift alone, no facelift needed. When necessary, minor liposuction can also be included to remove fatty deposits that create the appearance of a double chin.

Techniques may differ based on the problem that needs correcting. Cervicoplasty is a surgical technique in which fat, connective tissue, and skin are tightened and trimmed for a smoother appearance. Platysmaplasty is a technique that addressed loose neck muscles, those that result in horizontal lines, usually in the mid-neck area. Platysmaplasty is also sometimes referred to as a midline lift for this reason.

Neck lift surgery typically incurs a short recovery period of five to seven days. After this short time, patients resume normal activities with very few remnant side effects like swelling or bruising.

Learn more about neck lift surgery and how it can refresh your appearance. Call 303.399.7662 to schedule a consultation in our Denver plastic surgery office.

Facelift Surgery Recovery: What to Expect

Facelift surgery offers a variety of benefits. Reducing the signs of aging doesn’t just improve your appearance, it improves how you feel in general. Many of our patients who undergo a facelift to reposition sagging tissues and tighten the skin look so much like their younger selves that they feel a surge of youthful energy and interest in their life. It brings us a great deal of joy to see the positive impact a custom facial procedure can make. We can help you enjoy the positive impact in your life, too. But first, we’ll answer the big question.

What to Expect after Facelift Surgery

A surgical procedure of any kind can be intimidating until you know what to expect during the recovery process. Patients should be prepared for

• Swelling. While discomfort is what patients are most concerned about, swelling may be the primary side effect they encounter. After surgery, a dressing is placed around the sides of the face to apply gentle pressure on the incision sites and area of treatment. Swelling, as well as comfort, can improve with cold compresses (apply for no more than 20 minutes at a time) and with elevation. Patients may sleep with their head elevated for about one week.
• Bruising. Some people experience quite a bit of bruising after a facelift, and some develop only minor bruises. The good news is that, by the two-week mark, even substantial bruising is typically 90+ percent better.
• There is a potential for numbness. Not everyone experiences this side effect, but it is not uncommon. Numbness relates to the minor disruption in the nerve endings in the mid and lower face during surgery. As nerve endings reconnect, full sensation should be restored.

About Discomfort

The pain aspect of recovery is typically right up there with wanting a good result from surgery for most patients. Fortunately, patients ease into the sensations of their new facial structure as their general anesthesia wears off. By the time soreness in the surgical area begins, it is time to take the first dose of prescription pain medication. Taking this medication as directed, rather than waiting to feel uncomfortable, is the best way to ensure a stress-free recovery. Within a few days, soreness paves way to a generally tight sensation that may coincide with the numbness we mentioned.

Learn more about facelift techniques and how this procedure can give you your younger self back. Schedule a consultation in our Denver office at 303.399.7662.

This is What a Facelift is Really Like

Facelifts have been performed for several decades and have helped millions of people feel better about their appearance. Last year alone, more than 96,000 full facelift procedures were performed in the United States. The procedure has been praised for its ability to remove approximately ten years of facial aging. On the flip side, facelift surgery has also gotten a bit of a bad rap as a too-aggressive procedure.

There are good reasons for the perception that facelift surgery is aggressive. It’s impossible to refute solid evidence, which is usually splattered across the internet or pages of magazines. You’ve probably seen enough bad celebrity facelifts to question the validity of this cosmetic procedure. The problem with this misperception about surgical facial rejuvenation is that it can keep you from the excellent outcome that is possible for you. Here, we discuss what a facelift is really like.

Really, a Facelift is:

•Able to achieve natural looking results. Dr. Bershof has performed numerous facelift procedures that have resulted in patients looking refreshed, like a younger version of themselves. Observe our Photo Gallery, and you will be happy to see that our facelift patients don’t look overly tight and stretched. This is because the goal is to restore natural facial contouring.

•Easy to recover from. Some people have the impression that facelifts are relatively complicated in the area of recovery. That’s not so. Most patients are back to work after a nice two-week break from the norm. During these weeks of recovery, bruising and swelling subside so significantly that no one can tell surgery has been performed. Pain is also very manageable after facelift surgery using prescription medication for a few days and then transitioning to over-the-counter pain relievers.

•NOT permanent. A facelift slows the aging process and makes you look younger than you would without having surgery. Over time, though, signs of aging will creep back onto the face. Some people choose to undergo a second lift several years after their first, while others enjoy the fact that they look younger even as age progresses.

Call our Denver office at 303-399-7662 to schedule your consultation with Dr. Bershof. In-depth discussion of your concerns and desired improvements is the best way to fully understand what a facelift can and cannot do for you.