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Surgical Solutions : Face Lift
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When a facelift is performed by a qualified surgeon operating in a good center, complications are infrequent and usually minor. Still, individuals vary greatly in their anatomy, their physical reactions, and their healing abilities, and the outcome is never completely predictable.
Here are some of the infrequent complications that may occur:
Hematomas. The most common problem you may encounter is the formation of a hematoma, the pooling of blood under the skin. If too much blood collects—a situation that occurs only 10 percent of the time—the surgeon pierces the skin and drains it. Most “major” hematomas appear within the first 10 to 12 hours after surgery. Another 10 to 15 percent of patients develop smaller hematomas, many of which aren't noticed until the swelling goes down.
Skin sloughing. This happens most often in the skin around the ear, where the skin is especially thin and is also geographically farthest from the circulation system that supplies blood to facial structures. Superficial skin sloughs (in the top layer of the skin) may leave little or no scarring. In the one to three percent of facelift patients who develop deeper, full thickness skin sloughs, however, some amount of scarring is inevitable. The risk of skin sloughing is up to 12 times greater in cigarette smokers than in nonsmokers.
Numbness. Your face may feel numb for two to six weeks after surgery. The reason is that lifting the skin disrupts the sensory nerves that provide feeling to it. Disturbing a facial nerve branch can interfere with your ability to move parts of your face. Full movement usually returns within a few weeks to a year after the injury, but can sometimes take even longer.
Scars. Facelift scars tend to fade away, becoming virtually invisible. The scars can become more evident if the blood supply to the skin flaps was compromised during surgery or the skin was pulled too tight, causing tension on the incision.
Hair loss. About one to three percent of people who have had facelifts lose some hair, usually around the temples, where the incision interrupted the blood supply.
Dark Spots. Patches of darker skin may appear when facial swelling prevents the diagnosis of small hematomas. In most cases, the skin gradually lightens back to normal, although the process can take 6 to 8 months. In rare cases, the darker spots become permanent.
Unless your surgeon is extremely fast, we do not recommend performing concurrently major surgery of the body as marathon 8-10 hour surgeries are associated with higher infection rates, anesthesia related complications, and fatal blood clots traveling from the leg to the lungs.
You can reduce your risks by closely following your surgeon's advice both before and after surgery and refrain from smoking for several days before and after your surgery.
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