Here are the top ten instructions that I provide to my patients after their facelift surgery.
1. A bulky head and face dressing will be applied immediately after surgery.
This will stay in place until the next day when it will be removed in the
office. At the same time, your neck drains will be removed. Until then you do
not have to do anything with the dressing. With the dressing on, you may have
some trouble hearing.
2. It is important to sleep with your head up as much as possible. This will help
decrease the amount of face and eye swelling that will normally occur.
Sleeping in a recliner is most ideal for the first postoperative week.
3. Cold compresses to the eyes for the first 48 hours is very helpful to keep
swelling down and make them feel better. This can be done by chilled washrags,
gel eye masks, or frozen bags of vegetables. (my favorite!)
4. You may shower, bath, and wash your hair after the first 24 hours. Soap and water
along the incision lines pose no increased infection risk. Apply some antibiotic along
the ear incision just to keep them moist twice a day.
5. Your activity level should be what feels good. Do routinue activities as tolerated.
Avoid exercise, lifting, or straining to avoid increasing excessive blood flow to
your face during the first 3 weeks after surgery. It is particularly important to
avoid bending over until your face is well healed.
6. Your facial and neck skin will be numb for several months after surgery. As a
result, avoid exposing your face to extremes of temperature such as heating
pads or ice. You may easily create thermal burns to the skin.
7. Skin sutures and staples (in the hair) will be removed in 7 to 10 days in the
office.
8. It is extremely important to avoid any type of nicotine products for the first 4 to
to 6 weeks after surgery. Nicotine reduces the blood flow to the skin and may
impair or slow down healing. This includes cigarettes and cigars as well as
nicotine gum and patches.
9. You may begin driving after the first postoperative week provided you are off
pain medications and can see clearly. Driving is an issue of safety…are you safe
to others while you are driving?
10. Be patient. It takes nearly 3 full weeks to look fairly normal and not as someone
who had had surgery. After the first week, you can wear make-up or concealer
to mask signs of healing.
Dr Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana