Our plastic surgeons at Cape Fear Valley Health combine their highly acclaimed surgical skills and artistry to rejuvenate your face.
What Is a Face Lift?
Your face is the most expressive part of your body. But when aging causes the skin of your face to wrinkle, sag or crease — expressing yourself becomes more difficult. A face lift is a procedure that counteracts the effects of aging.
Put Your Best Face Forward
A face lift helps restore a youthful appearance. You can trust that Cape Fear Valley Health plastic surgeons will listen to your concerns and answer your questions. We’ll evaluate your health needs, cosmetic goals and skin to determine if a face lift is right for you.
Our Approach to Face Lifts
At Cape Fear Valley Health, our plastic surgeons stay up-to-date on the latest medical advances and innovations, meaning you can enjoy first-class care close to home.
Understanding Your Goals
Our compassionate and friendly staff will treat you with the care and respect you deserve. Your Cape Fear Valley Health plastic surgeon will take the time to discuss your treatment goals and thoroughly evaluate your specific areas of concern. We prioritize answering your questions and ensuring you feel fully informed and comfortable with your treatment plan.
We Stay Connected
After your face lift, we’ll make sure you understand how to take care of yourself. Recovering from surgery takes time, but we’ll be checking in with you to make sure you’re healing properly.
Your Team
You’ll have a team of experts alongside you from the moment you call our office. They include:
- Plastic surgeons
- Licensed practical nurses
- Medical staff
What to Expect With a Face Lift
A face lift takes between three and six hours. You won’t feel any pain because you’ll be under general anesthesia. You’ll be able to go home after the procedure is over.
Your plastic surgeon will make an incision just above the ear. The incision will extend along the hairline toward the front of the ear and end behind the ear above the hairline. An additional incision will be made under the chin.
The neck muscles and cheek tissues will be suspended and tightened through these incisions. Then, the skin of the face and neck will be repositioned. This technique will give you the long-lasting results of a layered face lift.
Face Lift Consultation
Your Cape Fear Valley Health plastic surgeon will discuss your treatment goals and carefully evaluate your face. Next, they’ll make a recommendation based on your desired results and develop your personalized treatment plan.
Are You a Candidate For a Face Lift?
If you are experiencing any combination of the following, you may be a candidate for face lift:
- Deepening “smile lines”
- Sagging facial skin
- Deepening folds from the corners of the mouth to the jaw
- Progressive sagging of the skin under the chin and neck
Procedures work best on patients who:
- Are in good overall health.
- Don’t drink alcohol for two weeks before surgery. (Alcohol acts as a blood thinner, which increases the risk of excess bleeding during surgery.)
- Quit using nicotine products three to six weeks before surgery and three to six weeks after. (Nicotine increases your risk of surgical complications, like blood clots.)
Face Lift Recovery and Results
You will leave the procedure with a gauze wrapping and small drain tubes (behind the ears). The next day, your plastic surgeon will remove the wrapping and drains. On day 5 and day 12, your plastic surgeon will remove the sutures (sterile surgical threads).
After a face lift, you will need to take one to two weeks off work. During this time, you should:
- Get plenty of rest.
- Wear a compression bandage to reduce swelling for two weeks.
- Avoid strenuous activities for about six to eight weeks.
Discomfort, mild bruising and swelling may last between one and two weeks. You’ll be able to see results from your face lift within six months.
Face Lift Risks
Like all surgeries, a face lift involves a certain degree of risk. However, when it’s performed by a qualified and experienced plastic surgeon, serious complications are rare. Minimize other complications by following the instructions and advice of your plastic surgeon.
Some risks and complications could include:
- Deep vein thrombosis, cardiac and pulmonary complications
- Infection
- Pain, numbness or facial nerve injury
- Poor wound healing
- Scarring
- Skin irregularities or discoloration
- Uneven contours or asymmetry
Leif O Nordberg, MD
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
