Facelift

The signs of facial aging are always progressive and visible naturally. They start in the periocular area and descend slowly until reaching the neck.

The surgical process varies depending on the areas of the face to be treated, emphasis given to the most affected areas. Placement and extension of the incisions as well as the use of complementary techniques (eyelid repair, malar augmentation, etc.) also vary fro patient to patient.

A facelift is performed in a single intervention (with general anesthesia), after a thorough preoperative study in which the patient’s expectations and different approach methods are discussed. Surgery lasts between 2h to 4h, and can be done on an outpatient basis, with a 12h observation period, or with 1 day of hospital stay.

The surgical technique basically consists of repositioning the muscular planes to the skin and fat, removing the excess skin with an incision that is perfectly camouflaged (usually starts in the temporal region inside the hair and extends inside the natural lines that exist in the ear. The incision continues around the lobe, goes behind the ear and re-enters the hair down the neck.

In addition to the skin, the surgery focuses on the muscular, bone and fat parts, to allow a more natural and long-lasting result.

The wounds are closed with stitches and small silicone tubes are left under the skin so that no exudates or blood can accumulate.

The patient leaves the operating room with his head wrapped in a padded dressing and an open drainage system for the dressing.

This dressing is removed the next day, the face and hair are washed and the patient discharged.

In the following 48 hours, the drains are removed after the first facial and cervical drainage.

After a facelift, the face looks more or less swollen depending on the extent of the surgery performed and the characteristics of each patient.

In the preoperative period, medical examinations are requested to detect any possible anomaly that may contraindicate surgery. All the surgery steps will be reviewed, the facial structure as well as the quality of the skin is evaluated and it is common to have a peeling or another facial treatment before surgery.

It is also important for the smoking patient to refrain from smoking before and for two weeks postoperatively, as smoking can negatively affect healing.

The postoperative period is not usually painful, any discomfort is well controlled with common pain relievers, the dressing is removed the next day, the drains 48 hours later, the sutures of the eyelids are removed in 5 days, the stitches on the face at 8 days and the sutures next to the hair at 10-15 days.

It is normal to feel the face swollen during the first 15 days and during that time you will have to perform several drainages as well as refrain from sun exposure and physical exercise for 3 months. You can resume light work after 3-4 weeks.

The appearance of the face clearly improves in 4 weeks and the scars become imperceptible after 3 months. 

There is no ideal age, the right time is when the patient and the surgeon consider it to be so.

The surgical action of the facelift creates a process that acts as a brake, slowing down the natural aging process of the face, but the result is not definitive, the important thing is that it results as natural as possible.

It cannot and should not, however it is natural that in the first few days you feel strange and different looking at your face in front of the mirror, but, little by little it becomes normal.

After 3 weeks you will be able to resume your professional and social life, as surgical marks will be imperceptible.

As the main purpose of a facelift is to obtain natural results, the surgery is not supposed to be noticed, but rather to repair itself in the rejuvenated look of the face.