Problems with recovery after face lift

I had full face and neck lift and lower eye surgery 5 weeks ago. When comes to own face, I cannot be stingy so picked a well known doctor and the cost was higher than average. I am 55 years old and wanted to look younger and did not want anyone to notice that I did this done. I went back to work after 3 weeks because I had to, but I was not ready yet. I changed my hair style drastically and bought a pair of eye glasses with a black frame to draw people's attention to hair and the glasses. I have been still avoiding social occasions and try not to see friends.  Do I look younger ? Yes, I do but do look natural? Not yet. I think I sill have a "sugery done" unnatural looking face. In particular, when I smile, it scares me... My incision under the eyes are exposed so it is visual at a close distance, I have a bump in the middle of my cheek which is the leftover of hemotoma that I have to hide with my hair. I still cannot stretch my neck to the side and the back. My swallen is at 70% at this point and I think my face looks 1.3 times bigger than the normal size. I am hopeful that I will look really young and good in another month or so. I think overall it would take 2 to 3 months to recover. I would not recommend to do this unless you can take a month off from your work (unless you are open and dont mind to tell whole world that you had face done. ) Also, considering the mental trauma that I had gone through by looking at the monster face for the first 4 days in the mirror, doubting and wondering if I will ever look normal for a long time everyday, I will never do this again. It was too much  

Some numbness. I did great. Slept sitting up for a week post op.

I am now 6 weeks post surgery, and had similar problems at 2 weeks... here's what I know: I slept on my side prior to surgery, and needed to sleep on my back after. I slept with ice packs for 3 weeks, and tended to sleep on my side with the ice pack. My right side is more swollen -- because I slept on my left with th eice. At 6 weeks the two sides are nearly even, but still have swelling above ears and beyond edges of eyes (the "dragon lady" appearance -- red to purple, still). Keep up with lots of ice packs -- the 3M reuseable gels are the best for positioning, comfort. WAIT. That's the hardest part. It may take 12 weeks for all swelling to go down. DRINK WATER. WAIT.

I am 60, and now almost 9 weeks post face lift, neck lift, upper and lower eyes, and lip enhancement (via fat graft).  I interviewed multiple surgeons prior to proceeding and all told me about the same thing.  It was a matter of finding the surgeon I felt most comfortable with.  None of them tell you the REAL recovery story, otherwise, many patients would not proceed.  Everyone should be told that recovery is long and difficult...it is, in fact, major surgery.  Each WEEK (not each DAY), you see a small amount of improvement.  If you plan a face lift and don't want anyone to know, count on 6 to 8 weeks away from work, etc.  You will feel like going back sooner than that, but only if you are loaded down with makeup and have absolutely no complications.  Also, they should tell you that for the first 4 to 8 days following surgery, you will be saying, "What the hell have I done!!"  There will be depression and unhappiness and feelings of regret.  BUT, around 8 weeks it begins to disperse and you reach that place of confirmation that you are going to look OK, or at least better than you did prior to surgery.  Be sure to take your own close-up photos of yourself before surgery and compare them often so you can actually see the improvement.  The media has spread the idea that you can get a new and improved face with minimal effort, but that just isn't true, especially once you are past 50--it is a BIG DEAL!!! and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  You must be prepared mentally and physically.  I personally can't imagine being able to withstand getting this done after about age 65.  Now I'm glad I did, but it has taken me a while to reach this point, and I still worry about long-term effects.

Also, nobody ever points out that prior to surgery you need to: 1. Get your hair cut and colored (you won't be able to for a long time afterwards). 2. Get a mammogram (no sense in putting yourself through all this if you have a breast issue to tend to). 3. Go to the dentist (you won't be able to for a long time). 4. Get a checkup with your primary care doctor. 5. Have an EKG done (you don't want to have heart issues during surgery). 6. Purchase a full array of soft and liquid foods and lots of straws. 7. Purchase an assortment of Kleenex, Qtips, Arnica cream, Vit K cream, and Scarderm. 8. Have some excellent quality, heavy-duty eye drops on hand and use them, especially at night (Allergan Opti) 9. Think up lots of valid sounding excusses why you can't attend functions or see people, etc. 10. Get a wedge pillow and a neck pillow, and also perhaps a very soft foam bed pillow an find what works so you can sleep because lack of sleep will no doubt be one of your biggest issues.

def i recommend you to go to Dr. Robert Jetter 737 park ave NYC 1-212-517-5200, i went to him 7 years ago for breast agumentation, healing time 3 days back at work doing blowdrys with no probletm, then 5 days ago i went in for face,neck lift upper and lower lid and far injections to rid the lines in my lips all i have to say is AMAZING! he does great work, pain was tolerable, after 4 days the sitiches were removed from my eyes and in 2 more day the rest of the stitches come out. i am very pleased with his work!

Don't have a facelift!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 YEARS AGO I HAD ONE AND I AM IN ANNOYING SENSATIONS TIGHTNESS, NUMBNESS , NOOSE LIKE FEELING

how much was everything? thank you

Hello there today is January 5th, 2014 and it is my 10th day post up. I do have to say that the first 5 to 7 days are very difficult to go through however every day I am feeling better but, I have to say it is a long recovery. I have spent the first 7 days drinking from a straw, I think the first 24 hours are the worst but, if you can choose a doctor that offers overnight with a nurse will be much easier. I also researched for two years before I made my final decision. My surgeon stated that I can return to work after 15 days and so far it looks like this timeline might be a possibility. So far my facelift looks great I look very refreshed, my eyes were done and look great, my jaw looks almost there but I still have a lot of swelling behind my ears and along the jaw line. What I am doing for the swelling is Icing, Icing 30 min with 10 min rest at least 2 to 3x a day. The more you ice the faster your recovery will be and that’s for any surgery. I am also taking an anti-inflammatory to decrease swelling which has helped tremendously. I am also going to buy what the other lady recommended arnica with bromelin. I am currently using an arnica cream to decrease the bruising and so far I have seen improvement. I am doing this 2x a day. I am an Occupational Therapist and we use arnica lotion with cream to improve bruising, increase circulation to speed up the recovery, you can purchase this at any pharmacy. For those of you that feel one side is tighter than the other my suggestion as an experience therapist that treats hand injuries all the time is to put a wet towel in the microwave for a few seconds until the towel is warm and put it over the muscle for at least one minute then do gentle range of motion along with side bend exercises to opposite side of the tight muscle 6 to 7 times 3 times a day, this will increase the pliability and elasticity of that muscle. This should be done for several weeks. I continue to use the healing cream daily by placing it over my staples to maintain the skin pliable; I will probably continue to use it after the sutures are removed to perform gentle massage to decrease scarring. I hope all this information can help someone. I will post my final results in the future.

I want to thank you for your post, it help me a lot. I'm 60 and had a full facelift 8 days ago and my recovery is very slow, My face was so swollen and my lips are twice the size. My doctor prescribed some medication to me and thank God it seems to be working. Thank you so much for your post.

Maybe something went wrong with your surgery. I have seen other people who have had facelift surgeries and none of them has any problems. It will be a little difficult at first and there might be severe pain but that's all. And I think before you do anything else maybe you should wait for a couple of weeks more. Things may get better then. If you have any doubts regarding face lift you can go through this blog. http://www.theplasticsurgerypost.com/category/facelift/

Maybe something went wrong with your surgery. I have seen other people who have had facelift surgeries and none of them has any problems. It will be a little difficult at first and there might be severe pain but that's all. And I think before you do anything else maybe you should wait for a couple of weeks more. Things may get better then.

I had a facelift and endoscopic beow lift just over 2 weeks ago.  Swelling and bruising and tightness but all healing well.  Back to work after two weeks although still slight swelling.  My advice is research well use only highly skilled surgeons who are fully accredited to BAAPS and visit at least two surgeons.  I visited four surgeons over two years and I am very pleased with my result.  This is a big procedure and should not be rushed into.

How is it now?

Hope you feeling/ looking better. I am looking for a Dr. in Johannesburg to do my neck/ jowls lift. But can't find any Dr. all they interested in is doing full facelifts or nothing. Also, plastic surgery is not 'cheap ' / reasonable in South Africa any more. I read a very bad experience someone had with a Dr Hudson in Cape Town. Who was your Dr