The need for facelift surgeries increases every year. Studies show that many women consider having a facelift before hitting 50 years because they want to look younger. Just like any cosmetic surgery, facelift surgery requires you to find a trained and certified plastic surgeon. You must also be aware of the risks and benefits of the procedure to help you decide on having the facelift nashville.
Facelifts usually take longer to heal compared to other cosmetic surgery procedures and are among the most expensive cosmetic surgeries in the world (some even suggest such surgery can go up to the $7,700 to $11,800 range).
So, What is a Facelift?
A facelift is a surgical procedure done on the lower two-thirds of your face and the neck that gives you a youthful appearance. The procedure takes averagely 3 hours to complete and can take longer if other cosmetic surgeries, like an eyebrow lift, are involved. A facelift gets rid of sagging skin and tightens the underlying muscles and tissues of the face and neck. The incision made during a facelift will depend on your expectations and what you choose. Three main incisions are optional during a facelift; a neck lift incision, a traditional facelift incision, and a limited incision.
Aging causes skin changes that may make you desire to look younger. The skin on your face and neck becomes loose and inelastic, resulting in wrinkles and sagging skin. The procedure aims at reducing sagging and wrinkles in your face. Wrinkles develop due to increased fat deposits in certain areas of your face, such as your cheeks and around your neck. A facelift gets rid of wrinkles by redistributing or sculpting fat around the face and neck. The procedure can make you look ten years younger than your actual age if performed correctly.
Who Qualifies for Facelift Surgery?
Anyone with good health is a right candidate for a facelift. There is no such thing as the “perfect” age for a facelift because health is the crucial determinant of whether or not you qualify for the facelift. A health examination will be performed on you by the doctor to rule out the probability of anything going wrong during the procedure. The physician will examine your face and evaluate your medical history. Smokers and drug abusers are unlikely to qualify for a facelift.
A facelift takes longer to heal than normal plastic surgery procedures; therefore, the candidate should be of good health to avoid wound healing complications. Furthermore, facelift surgeries may need to be done more than once to make sure that you get the results you expected, which needs the person to have no history of chronic diseases like diabetes. Diabetes, for example, is a disease that causes slow healing of wounds. Therefore, candidates of a facelift that have diabetes are immediately disqualified following a health examination.
A facelift in your 40s will make you look 10 years younger. Most women in their 40s spend more than $7,000 on non-surgical facelift options before settling for facelift surgery. Some non-surgical options for these women include using Botox, facial tightening devices like FaceTight and UItherapy, and injectable fillers. Non-invasive facelift methods only make you look younger by four years, which is why many women eventually seek surgical facelift.
Getting a facelift does not have an upper age restriction. A particular study showed that facelift surgeries might be safer for people older than 75 years. In the study, people aged 45 years to 60 years commonly experienced nausea and vomiting as a complication of the facelift, while those above 75 years had delayed healing and accumulation of fluid in the surgical site. The complications were, however, not major after six months, and most of the patients would eventually heal properly.
What to Expect After a Facelift
There are common changes that you will experience after a facelift despite your age or health. Immediately after the procedure, you will experience pain, numbness of the face, drainage of fluid or blood, bruising, and swelling. Some doctors place a small tube below your skin that will drain the fluids to avoid complications. The doctor will prescribe pain medications to lessen the pain and advise you to place a pack of ice on your face at least twice a day to help reduce swelling. The doctor will use bandages to put some pressure on the site to reduce swelling and bruising.
You may experience complications such as short breath, severe pain in your face and chest, and irregular heartbeats. Such complications will require you to contact your doctor immediately.
You will need to go for follow-up appointments for the next two months to monitor your healing progress and address any issues that may arise during healing. The way you care for your face over the next few weeks after the surgery will also determine whether there will be complications during healing. Patients are usually advised to avoid applying make-up, use specific soaps and shampoo, avoid strenuous exercise, avoid direct exposure to the sun, and not dye their hair for about two months.