How Does a Facelift Work and How Should I Prepare?

A Traditional Face Lift

A skilled and certified plastic/cosmetic surgeon can perform a traditional facelift with ease. The results are astounding and long-lasting. With age, your skin will naturally produce sagging areas and wrinkles, giving you an aged look. You may want to consider getting the smoothness of your young face back. A facelift does just that. It gives your aging skin definition and refinement, which would be evident and appealing. The surgery itself makes the skin tighter and firmer. Excess fat and skin can be eliminated too. Moderate to advanced facial issues are taken care of with the longer, more progressive, facelift. As this is a highly extensive and complex procedure, recovery will take longer, as will the actual surgery. The overall result will justify the process, and it will be awesome. Incisions are made behind the hairline – the temples are the starting point for the surgeon. They continue to the front of the ears. Through these, a proficient and expert cosmetic surgeon can reach deeper skin layers, changing tissue positions beneath the skin. Creases can be made smooth, and jowls can be removed, along with any sagging under the chin area. A natural and youthful shape is given to a face that once looked like it had traveled through the ravages of time.

The Right Way to Prepare

As facelift surgery is a big step, as it is the actual reconstruction of your face. For this reason, you must make informed decisions and ask your doctor a lot of pertinent questions about preparation, the procedure, the cost, the alterations, recovery time, and duration and lasting effects of the apparent results. The procedure should be undertaken in an accredited facility or a hospital, ideally. You must have a friend or relative drive you to the surgery and back home later. Typically, someone should stay with you after the first day of the surgery. To prepare for this kind of advanced procedure, you may be asked to do the following:

• Have appropriate lab testing or a medical assessment
• Consume particular medication or stop/adjust your present medication
• Apply ointments/lotions, as prescribed by your doctor, to the skin as part of the pre-operative prep work
• Cease to smoke
• Don’t take blood thinners, such as aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs, or herbal supplements – these are prone to increase your chances of bleeding and bruising considerably.

Planning any surgery can be an overwhelming experience. You can discuss things with your doctor at length, right from the preliminary consultation. You may want to reveal your goals and expectations so that your doctor can decide whether a facelift is a correct option for you, especially the more advanced, traditional one. The doctor may show you before/after photos too. This is the time that you can get all the information that you need, and choose the best route for you.