Facelift - Care After Surgery
- A small amount of blood or drainage from your incisions is normal.
- Empty the drains when they are about a third full. You may need to do this several times. However, you may have very little drainage so you don't have to drain them at all. The bulbs should stay collapsed. If the drain bulb is not collapsed, it is not maintaining suction and therefore not working. It is easy to empty the drain by removing the plug and squeezing out the blood, then replacing the plug.
- Use ice packs over the eyelids and face to help reduce swelling during the first 24 hours. Crushed ice in a Ziploc® bag or a bag of frozen peas work well. Wrap ice in a cotton towel so it's not too cold on the skin. You can apply it intermittently for 20 minutes or so each time (20 minutes on, 20 minutes off). Don't wake yourself up to do it and don't feel you have to adhere strictly to this schedule. It's not mandatory, simply an extra measure that can provide comfort and reduce swelling.
- Sleep with your head elevated using two or three pillows, or in a recliner to help reduce swelling. Some patients use a foam wedge in bed to elevate their upper body. Avoid positioning the pillows behind the head in such a way as to cause your neck to be flexed forward. Elevation is most important for the first several days after surgery. Then, it becomes more important that you sleep comfortably, so you can reduce the amount of elevation. You should not sleep on your side or on your tummy for at least a couple of weeks after surgery This restriction can be difficult for people who are not used to sleeping on their back. Sleeping is uncomfortable and most people have some difficulty sleeping the first week after surgery.
- You may bathe and shower after the dressing has been removed, usually the day after surgery. All of the incisions can get wet. Go ahead and shower, using soap and water.Shampoo your hair. Your hair was shampooed after surgery in the operating room, but there will still be some dried blood to remove.
- Bruising is usually most apparent on the neck and chest. Because of gravity, the bruising can sometimes cover much of the upper chest. This is normal. Use a scarf to cover as necessary. The bruising may take up to one month to dissipate.
- Make-up may be used to cover facial bruising. However, if laser skin resurfacing has been performed, you will need to wait until the skin is completely healed before applying makeup, usually a week to ten days.
- Avoid any strenuous activities that may increase your blood pressure for one week. Such exercise would increase your facial swelling.
- To promote optimal healing, eat a well-balanced diet and take plenty of fluids. You should be getting up to urinate every three hours or so, a sign that you are adequately hydrated.
- Do not take Aspirin® for two weeks after surgery. You can take NSAID's such as ibuprofen as early as a week after surgery. Don't take Arnica or anything else that is supposed to reduce bleeding or accelerate healing. They don't work.
- Avoid smoking for two weeks before surgery and two weeks after surgery.
- The suture below the chin is usually removed three to five days after surgery. The facelift and forehead lift (if performed) sutures are removed ten to fourteen days after surgery.
- Numbness around the ears is normal.
- Take the antibiotics as prescribed.
- Take the painkillers as necessary. Normally, a facelift is not a very painful procedure. Most patients report an uncomfortable tightness. Judicious use of the painkillers will help avoid side effects such as nausea, sedation and constipation. Try to take just one pain-killer at a time and don't take them more frequently than every four hours.
- Apply Neosporin® ointment lightly to exposed incisions or where there is any crusting. Leave the Steri-StripsTM on until they are removed in the office, usually three to four days after surgery. Use the ophthalmic ointment directly in the eyes at night to keep the corneas lubricated until you can fully close your eyes. Use artificial tears during the day. Tears are used during the day because they don't blur the vision as much, but they need to be inserted more frequently than ointment. Don't worry about dried blood along the incision lines, this will come off as you wash.
- Anticipate at least two weeks before returning to work, and about a month before you start getting comfortable with your appearance in public.
- You can color your hair when the incisions are healed. Usually, this istwo to three weeks after surgery there is not much point in doing it sooner anyway.
- Protect the incisions and facial skin that has been treated with the laser with sunblock at least until the redness has subsided. Scars heal best if they are not exposed to ultraviolet light, which may cause them to hyperpigment. Of course, sunblock also reduces future photo-aging.
