Our face is the first and
most important part of our body which shows our
age.There are many changes that occur in the various
features of our face that make us look old and
sometimes much older than what we feel. There
are many changes occurring in the face which make
us look prematurely old.
 The
most common causes of this include heredity, aging,
chronic sun exposure and sun damage, pollution,
irregular sleeping habits and chronic lack of
sleep, significant fluctuations in weight, dietetic
indiscretions, and medical problems like hyper
or hypothyroidism and liver diseases. Along with
heredity, sun damage another important factor
that contributes to aging is Gravity. There is
descent of tissues associated with loss of volume
due to age. Recent advances in cosmetic surgery
now allow us to reduce and remove these changes,
a process called surgical rejuvenation or Face
lift. The medi-cal term for this procedure is
Rhitidoplasty. |
| Who should
have it done? |
Facial aging includes loss of skin elasticity
and firmness, sagging tissues and wrinkles. Even
an energetic and excited person can appear tired
or sad due to aging in the midface, jaw line and
neck. Sagging, bulges and folds around the eyes
can make the eyes look old and tired. Descent
of the fat pad on the cheeks can make the naso-labial
groove very prominent. If you are bothered by
these signs of aging in your face, a facelift
may be right for you. In general, adults with
the above problems, of any age who are in good
health, moderately fit and overall have good muscle
tone are good candidates for facial rejuvenation.
They should not have any life threatening illness
or medical conditions. Pa-tients who smoke can
have an increased risk of complications.
|
| Could you
benefit from a Face lift |
In General, a facelift corrects sagging facial
skin and muscles, removes excess fat and restores
firm-ness to create a more youthful, rested and
vibrant appearance. Facelift is best performed
on adult men and women who feel that their outward
facial aging no longer reflects the youth and
vigor they feel physically and emotionally.
Its not likely to change your life or the way
people treat you. It might possibly improve your
confi-dence and self esteem when you start seeing
a more youthful and fresh you in the mirror.
|
| Where do
I begin? |
 A
consultation with your Aesthetic Plastic surgeon
at Aesthetics is the first step to learn how facelift
surgery can improve the appearance of your face.
This consultation will fully educate you in a
non-pressured environment and will include a discus-sion
of your goals, options available for facelift
surgery, likely outcomes, potential risks and
com-plications.
|
| What kind
of anesthesia is required? |
Usually the procedure would be done under a gen-eral
anesthetic for improved comfort, yet it is pos-sible
to do it under local anaesthetic as well.
|
| The procedure |
There are many techniques by which face lift
can be done. Face lift is quite an old technical
proce-dure which has evolved over the last 70
years. From a traditional skin only technique
( where the skin is lifted and pulled) to SMAS
technique ( where the underlying muscle sheet
is pulled). There are numerous other techniques,
one more radical than the other. what is important
is to give a bal-anced rejuvenated look, by
the most simple and effective technique which
leaves the least compli-cations. Most of the
modern day techniques for face lift achieve
an amount of mid face lift. Where excess skin
is not a problem, then limited access techniques
may be used.
|
| What to
expect after surgery? |
 There
might be bruising and swelling after surgery that
should subside in 3 - 6 weeks. You will have a
soft and comfortable dressing around your head,
cheeks and chin for firm support. You will also
have a tube draining accumulated fluids from each
side.. The dressing and tubes will be removed
si-multaneously once the drainage stops. Immediately
after surgery, due to the swelling, you might
ex-perience some difficulty in opening your eyes.
There could be slight irritation and a feeling
of dry eye. This rapidly improves after the next
day. Wounds normally heal in 7 days to 2 weeks.
Your plastic surgeon at Aesthetics and the assisting
staff will fully attend to your comfort and safety.
You will be advised to apply an antibacterial
oint-ment to the eye and protect the eyes from
sun, wind and dust by wearing sunglasses.
|
| Risks and
complications |
Although there are very few risks associated with
this procedure, a possible general risk includes
bleeding and collection of blood under the skin
(hematoma). Bleeding is rare but may have to be
stopped. Any surgery carries risks associated
with anaesthesia. There are very few risks if
the proce-dure is done under local anaesthesia.
These risks will be fully discussed with you prior
to your con-sent for surgery. The nerves of the
face can sometimes be bruised during the operation
and takes 3 - 6 weeks to recover. This may lead
to slight weakness in the muscles supplied by
that nerve. General risks like delayed wound healing
and infections are common to many other opera-tions
and can be treated satisfactorily.
|
| Progress
and healing |
Incisions usually heal in 7 days to 2 weeks. Stitches
are removed around this time. You will be able
to return to work and light normal activity sometime
between 2 - 4 weeks. You will then be asked to
use a moisturiser and massage the face and scars.
You will be able to return to light work and normal
ac-tivity at this time, and to resume wearing
contact lenses. Cosmetics can camouflage any bruising
or redness. Healing will continue for several
weeks. Diligent sun protection is a must for best
results.
|
| Results
and outlook |
 Your
final result will appear over time, generally
within several weeks. It may take up to a year
for incision lines to fully refine. Most of the
swelling resolves by three months. While facelift
surgery can be expected to correct certain conditions
of ag-ing, you will continue to age naturally.
What matters more is that the appearance of your
face matches the way you feel inside - youthful,
vital and alert. |
| |
| Upper and
lower eyelid blepharoplasty, extended subsmas
facelift and neck lift |
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