Especially after the age of 40, the face begins to sag with the weakening of the supporting structures on the face and the reduction of the fat support tissues. However, wrinkles increase and the face appears larger and begins to take a square shape with sagging in the neck area.
In this case, the most definitive solution to rejuvenate the face is face and neck lift surgery. For the loss of facial fat support, the cheeks can be filled with the fat tissue obtained by liposuction in the same surgery.
Surgery Technique
After the incision extending from the front of the ear to the back and the nape of the scalp, the skin structure is lifted and tightening suspending sutures are made to the SMAS structure. In severe sagging, this structure is also removed and suspended with non-melting stitches to certain points. Then the excess skin is removed and the incision line is repaired.
Mini Face Lift
If the drooping on the face is not severe, it is only made with a smaller incision made in front of the ear. However, the cosmetic appearance may not be tolerated in the early period, as the suture line is shrunk so that no potholes remain on the skin edges. It is not a technique that I personally prefer. I advise my patients to wait for a while and have a normal face lift.
Who can have facelift surgery?
People over the age of 45 who have excessive sagging and volume loss after the examination can have this surgery.
Preoperative evaluation
It evaluates sagging skin on your face and neck, loss of fat supporting tissue. Fat obtained by liposuction can be used as filling in patients with volume loss in the cheek area. Detailed information is given about the operation process and what to do after it.
You should definitely inform about your chronic disease, previous surgeries and medications you use. If you smoke, you should definitely quit 2 weeks before the surgery.
Surgery process
The duration of the face and neck lift surgery varies between 2-3 hours on average. Both sides will have drain hoses from the sides of the neck. They are used on the face and neck to remove subcutaneous infiltrates and light bleeding. At the end of the operation, a medical face corset is worn. The drains are removed approximately three days after the operation. You will be discharged the next day after an overnight hospital stay. Antibiotics and painkillers are prescribed for precautionary purposes and on the third day, they are called for a control examination.
Healing Process and Pain
You can return to work approximately one week and ten days after the operation. During this period, you will need to continue dressings as shown. You should use the medical recovery corset for two weeks.
As with any surgery, the feeling of pain can vary from person to person. However, face and neck lift surgery is not a very painful operation. On the first day after the surgery, you may have tension in the face and some pain at the points where the resistances come out. In the following days, the pain will decrease rapidly.
Will there be seam marks?
In the early stages of the surgery, a certain redness appears on the suture line, and this redness will gradually decrease in the following periods. It takes 6-12 months for complete wound healing. Since each person´s wound healing is unique, the amount of scars will differ. While the suture line heals and disappears almost completely in people with good wound healing, sometimes white line or dark healing can be observed. The amount of stitches that will remain varies according to the age of the person, skin color, presence of accompanying diseases, smoking and alcohol use, and the breast reduction technique applied.
Conditions to be considered after surgery
After the surgery, your dressings should be done as shown to you, and you should use your prescribed medications regularly. In the first two weeks, you should not do heavy sports and sleep on your face.
