Risks of a facelift

Cosmetic surgery is usually pretty safe when done by a competent doctor in a safe facility.  Meaning…general anesthesia is usually best done at an accredited surgerycenter with a real anesthesiologist involved.  Everything we do that involves general anesthesia or heavy sedation…we do at such a facility.  For office work, we do either no, or simply oral sedation with a valium pill.  For healthy patients…that is about like drinking 2 glasses of wine…  On occasion someone will fall asleep after they are numbed up…but usually we talk.  Just look at some of the other videos and women will tell you that.  Or at my hair videos where men will tell you the same thing.  THAT removes the biggest risk…dying.

The other risks are bleeding…in my practice of 23 years…one person per year, on average, bleeds the night of a procedure and we have to come back in and stop it. One a year.

Infection:  I’ve had exactly one in facelifts and one in hair transplants…in 23 years in NON SMOKERS.  I’ve had several in smokers…and that is why I try to convince folks not to smoke for 3 weeks before surgery.  But so far no significant problems even from small infections in smokers…but it makes me worry.

Scars:  In all the lifts I’ve done, now over 4000, I have had 2 really poor scars on the cheeks that I had to revise.  Pretty good odds, and better than most I believe as I’m a bit more conservative on skin excision.  Remember, a lift lifts the muscles and skin tension should NOT be a big part of a facelift.  All that does is increase the chance of scar problems.

Earlobes getting pulled down:  To my knowledge I’ve had none.  I’ve fixed 25 or so from other doctors who likely pulled too hard on the skin.

Nerve injury:  Pretty much everyone has some numbness for a few months and I can think of 3 ladies…all nurses coincidentally, who said they had a numb area for years.  But nerve injury that gives you a crooked smile…so far, I’ve had zero.  While the industry standard is 5-7% particularly with more aggressive deep plane lifts.  I simply don’t like that aggressive pulled look nor the increased nerve risk of those procedures.

Hairloss:  By avoiding the sideburn hair, we really don’t have that.

If we can help you or talk with you, call the office, come in, look at our portfolio and see if our approach is right for you.