Preparing for Facelift Surgery

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Your General Health

Like many other optional surgeries, you must be generally healthy before having facelift surgery. For most of us this does not mean radically changing our life styles; however, an increase in healthy activity can only help. This means doing exercise and eating and drinking healthily. Taking vitamins and minerals may help too, but do talk to your surgeon about this. Doing these things is especially important if you are having a more extensive facelift; traditional facelifts are quite invasive. Combining your facelift with other surgery, such as a neck lift, also puts more strain on the body.

In the last few weeks leading up to the surgery make sure you avoid things that can affect the surgery. Be sensible and check with your surgeon if it’s ok to take any medication or to drink alcohol.

Weight Loss

If you are thinking of losing any weight, it is better to lose it before the surgery. This will give you better results with your facelift, because more skin can be removed. Certainly if you are having a lower or traditional facelift it will produce even better results if fatty deposits are already reduced in this area. If you lose much weight after surgery then the effects of the facelift do not appear to last as long.

Quitting Smoking

It is very important to quit smoking before surgery. Smoking seriously affects recovery; at the very worst it causes necrosis (death) of the skin, and at the very least it prolongs the period of time that recovery takes.

Be Realistic about the results from Facelift Surgery

As a result of the drugs used, you can feel quite emotional after facelift urgery. You must realise that this is a possibility and so mentally prepare yourself. Not only this, but your face will be swollen and bruised; it will not be particularly pleasant. Realising this beforehand will reduce your shock, so you must be prepared for how you will look after your facelift. Being realistic about what can be achieved is also beneficial.

Prepare your Home

After surgery you are going to have restricted movement and you will be medicated. You need to have your house in order so that you can look after yourself easily or, if you are being looked after by a friend or family, everything should be prepared for others to help you.

• Domestic preparations: clean the house, do laundry, take out rubbish, and buy food (ready meals may be best if you are by yourself).
• Put things that you may need at an easy-to-reach height.
• Have loose clothes ready. You don’t want to knock the bandages when (un)dressing. 
• Make sure children or pets can be looked after by other people, at least for the first few days.

When these things are done, you will have more peace of mind. This is important pre-surgery, because any reduction in anxiety before the surgery is beneficial. Finally, to ease any lasting anxiety make sure you have a contact number available at home, so that after surgery you can easily get information if you feel anything is wrong.

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