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How much will it hurt? All patients experience some pain after surgery. Most often this can be controlled with prescription pain pills. Frequently, patients take only plain acetaminophen (i.e. Tylenol) for pain. Generally, patients begin switching to acetaminophen three to five days after their facelift surgery. Ice packs also help with pain and swelling. Do I have to stay in bed after my surgery? No. Gently get out of bed as soon as possible after your surgery. An adult must help you get out of bed the first few times because of possible fainting. Begin to walk as much as possible as soon as you can after surgery. Always get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Do take it easy the first few days. Do not exert yourself in any strenuous activity. A balance of rest and reduced activity will speed up your recovery. Will there be any bandages or dressings? A light pressure dressing is placed on the face and neck for twelve to twenty-four hours. This reduces swelling and collects any small amount of bleeding from the incision. A drain is a tube placed beneath the skin to remove fluid that can collect after surgery. Facelift surgery is prone to collections of this fluid. Drains are placed to remove this fluid for one to two days. They are removed during the first housecall. Do not take a bath or swim until the drain has been removed. When can I shower after facelift? You may shower the day after facelift once the dressing has been removed. Gently wash your hair and face with soap and water. You may use the antibacterial soap that you used before your surgery. Do not take a bath or swim for one week. When do I come back to the office for aftercare? I will want to make a housecall one to two days after your facelift. I will remove the dressing and drain at that time. After this, I want to see you at one week, six weeks, six months, and one year. The reason for this extended care is because it takes six months to one year for complete healing to occur. There are no charges for these office visits. You are welcome to be seen in my office anytime you have questions or concerns about your surgery. Will there be any stitches to take out? No. I only use stitches that will be absorbed or wash out. I do this to eliminate the discomfort of suture removal after surgery. Body massage is very effective in relaxation. However, it cannot be done while there is bruising of the skin due to the risk of long term or permanent brown-gray staining of the skin. All therapeutic facial and neck massage treatments must be discontinued until any bruising has completely resolved. How long you are off work depends on your occupation. If you do clerical work (i.e. stockbroker, teacher, or programmer), you can return to work when you feel up to it. This usually takes about a week. If you do manual labor (i.e. entertainer, truck driver, or trainer), you must be off work for three weeks. Regardless of your employment, do not lift anything weighing more than five pounds for three weeks. You may be self conscious about meeting with people face to face until all the bruising has passed from the face (one to two weeks). You may apply make up to conceal remaining bruising two to three days after surgery. When can I work out after surgery? Generally, you can go back to working out two to three weeks after facelift surgery. This depends on how you feel. Do not lift anything that weighs more than five pounds and avoid contact sports for eight weeks. Workouts must stop if you experience any discomfort in your face or neck. A balance of rest and reduced activity will speed up your recovery. When can I have a permanent and hair coloring? You must wait six weeks after facelift surgery to have either a permanent or hair coloring. The chemicals used in these processes can irritate the healing skin during this time leading to hair loss and scarring. When can I suntan after surgery? Sun tanning damages your skin. It leads to wrinkling, discoloration, and superficial growths. It can also lead to serious skin cancer. For these reasons, I recommend that you use sun block with an SPF number of 15 or greater at all times. A physical broad-spectrum sun block works best. If you are exposed to the sun, I recommend that you protect treated areas for six weeks with clothing such as a hat. You must be careful to protect any scars from sun exposure with clothing or sun block for six months. Better yet, stay in the shade where it's cooler! How long will the results last? The results are usually very long lasting (i.e. five to ten years). Sun exposure, weight gain, and weight loss will reduce the longevity of the results. To maintain the best result, it is important that you avoid sun exposure and drastic weight changes.
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