What Are the Benefits of Getting a Facelift?

A facelift can achieve various cosmetic benefits. These include a more angular jawline, fewer lines and creases, and a more youthful facial shape overall. The cosmetic benefits of facelift surgery beget emotional rewards, too. This is the main reason most people seek facial rejuvenation of any kind; they want to feel better! Aging isn’t problematic. It’s natural. It’s going to happen. However, YOU get to be in the driver’s seat in terms of your appearance, and we can help.

How Should I Prepare for a Facelift?

After your consultation, if you decide to put your facelift procedure on the calendar, you can expect to receive detailed pre-surgical instructions. Generally, before your surgery, your goal is to focus on two things: surgical safety and recovery efficiency. Fortunately, these two goals can be achieved with similar guidelines. Before your facelift, it is important to take exceptional care of your body and mind. Prepare your body by eating a nutrient-dense diet, exercising to relieve stress, and supplementing where needed. Your body will also be more surgery-ready if you avoid tobacco use, nicotine use, and alcohol consumption. It is also beneficial to sleep well and reduce stress-levels. Your pre-surgical instructions may also include specific items to avoid to reduce your risk of bleeding during and after surgery.

What is the Recovery Like After a Facelift?

In advance of your facelift, we will discuss the sensations you can expect after surgery and the symptoms that should prompt a call to our office. That said, your facelift recovery will likely be an entirely new experience. You may have questions or concerns that arise. If or when they do, please do not hesitate to contact us. General post-operative guidelines include: Sleep with your head elevated to encourage swelling to subside. Take your pain medication as directed. DO NOT “wait and see” if pain warrants it. Expect bruising and swelling to increase for a couple of days before they begin to subside. Expect swelling and bruising to resolve day by day for one to two weeks. Wear compression bandages as directed for at least a few days. Be up and walking at least as soon as the day after surgery. Walking stimulates blood flow and decreases the risk of blood clots forming. Rest as much as needed. A little walking a few times a day is all that you need to do while you heal from your facelift. Strenuous activity is strictly prohibited.

How Long Will it Take Before I See My Results?

You’ll see some of the results of your facelift as soon as you look for them! However, because swelling and bruising initially escalate, it may be about four days before you begin to notice gratifying changes in your facial contours. As your swelling continues to subside, your improvements will become more pronounced. It takes up to three months to see the complete outcome of a facelift.

How Soon After Surgery Can I Resume Normal Activities?

There are two aspects of resuming normal activities after facial plastic surgery. One is to be socially ready, and the other is to be physically recovered. Social readiness occurs 10 to 14 days after a facelift. At that point, the vast majority of your swelling and bruising will be gone. While you may be able to go out to dinner or go to the office at that point, you shouldn’t head to the gym for a full-out sweat session! Your activity clearances will occur more gradually and will be set based on your progressive tissue recovery and the potential for exacerbated side effects. Generally, we expect that you should be able to resume all normal activities six to eight weeks after surgery.

Facelift in Savannah, GA - Chatham Plastic Surgery

Facelift

A facelift is the gold standard against which all other facial rejuvenation is compared. Many patients say, “I do not want a facelift. I just want this,” as they take their hands and pull the skin at their jawline and neck back toward their ear. That is exactly what a facelift corrects. While there are brow lifts, upper and lower eyelid surgeries, procedures for the midface and fillers and fat grafting, a facelift corrects the jawline and the neck.

The ideal candidates for a facelift are men and women who are in general good health, whose faces and necks have begun to sag or droop. Jowls along a once youthful jawline and sagging skin on the neck are the two areas that a facelift improves most.

Traditional Facelift

This is the “full” traditional facelift with which most people are familiar. Outdated, traditional face lifting techniques merely tightened the skin. This left the underlying fat and muscles alone even though some of these structures had changed over time. Sady, this created an artificial “windswept” look that offered only moderate improvements without looking natural.

Dr. Pearl and Dr. Zarem worked together when Dr. Zarem came to Savannah to create a new facelift that addressed the changes to underlying muscle and soft tissue, while minimizing downtime and creating a natural result. These changes resuspendthe deeper structures of the face without the increased risk of a deep plane facelift. In addition, soft tissue glue was used to minimize swelling and bruising and eliminate the need for drains. There are several different options based on the severity of aging and changes on the face and neck. These different facelift options can be combinged with upper and lower eyelid surgeries, brow lifts, and even surgeries on the body at times.

In addition, Dr. Pearl works closely with aestheticians Megan & Michelle at Chatham plastic surgery. The combination of rejuvenating the deeper soft tissues, redraping excess skin and state of the art laser and peel treatments with a team who communicates and works together creates an opportunity for the most significant, natural appearing changes possible. The incision behind the ear can be minimized if a patient wears her hair up frequently and the amount of excess neck skin is not severe.

Most patients feel quite good after a facelift. There is some expected swelling and bruising of the cheeks and neck for a week or two after surgery. Dr. Pearl uses a tissue glue to eliminate the need for drains and to minimize swelling, bruising and downtime. Patients wear a compression garment as much as possible the first week after surgery and at least at night during the second week. Facial sensations typically return to normal within a few months.Most patients are considered “socially acceptable” after about 7- 10 days and many return to work by the second or third week.

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Why Choose Dr. Pearl for your facelift?

Dr. Pearl’s primary goal is to make you feel as comfortable and satisfied as possible. Facelifts are one of the biggest parts of Dr. Pearl’s practice and it shows in his results. He’ll work clossely to develop a personalized treatment plan that brings you in line with your personal goals, helping you pick the procedures that will allow you to best realize your dreams. His work is designed to highlight and emphasize your existing facial harmony, and we bring an exceptional level of care to each procedure, focusing on artistically-motivated, subtle results. If you’ve been looking for a way to refresh and rejuvenate your facial appearance, our Spokane facelift procedure might be perfect for you. Reach out and set up a consultation today!

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Mini Facelift

Dr. Pearl’s Mini Facelift enjoys many of the benefits of the more traditional facelift while avoiding any incisions at the chin or neck. In addition, scars around the ear can also be minimized. The technique still offers a dramatic improvement in the jawline and provides some improvement to the neck. Dr. Pearl will evaluate how your face and neck look and listen to your specific goals to determine what is right for you.

Neck Lift

While a facelift corrects both the jawline and neck, a more traditional neck lift does even more on the neck. Aging of the neck involves both excess skin, fat, and muscle. Early aging tends to involve skin laxity, crepiness, and wrinkles, while in more advanced aging there can be changes in the actual shape of the neck with double chins and banding in the front of the neck. This is usually combined with a facelift and corrects the musculature of the neck and remove additional skin. This helps improve the bands that people develop as they age. It also makes increases the definition of the jawline.

Facial aging is an inescapable aspect of being human. Whether you like it or not, the very shape of your face is likely to change over time. This happens regardless of skin care and a healthy lifestyle. Biological aging also involves the depletion of various substances, such as collagen and elastin. As tissues weaken, they sag. As they sag, your youthful face inverts to be wider and softer at the bottom.

Facelift surgery has been popular for many decades. Though trends have changed and most people are more willing to embrace the idea of cosmetic aging, there are ways to ease into this process. Today’s facelift procedures are intended to refresh your appearance, not make you look “done.”

Learn more about how Dr. Pearl performs facelift procedures. Contact our Savannah, GA office today at 912.446.1985.

One of the most common questions that people ask about getting a facelift is “am I the right age?” This gets it wrong from the very onset! Age is only one of several factors that Dr. Pearl considers when determining candidacy for facelift surgery.

If you have a slack jawline, jowls, deep nasolabial folds, a downturned mouth, and general widening of the lower part of your face, you may be a great candidate for facelift surgery. What we want to know is that you are healthy enough to undergo the procedure. We also want to know that your expectations match what is possible with this procedure. We learn this by sitting with you to discuss all facets of your concerns and our approach to facelift surgery.

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Rediscover your exuberance with a facelift at Chatham Plastic Surgery in Savannah, GA! Call 912.446.1985 to arrange your consultation with Dr. Carl B. Pearl.