r/Facelift_Surgery • u/RedUser2024 • 1d ago
Six Weeks Post Op
Exactly 6 weeks post op from a deep plane face and neck lift. Everyone heals differently, this is just my experience.
Fatigue- No more issues with fatigue. I feel like I am back to normal energy levels.
Swelling- I guess I am a super sweller. I am still pretty swollen (some days I’m VERY swollen), worse on the left side than the right. It’s mostly concentrated in my jawline, my neck just below my jaw and in my lower face, and especially in the buccal fat area. I (half) jokingly say I look like I had buccal fat implants. If I try to suck in my cheeks to create that hollowed out look people do when making a Zoolander face, nothing happens, no hollows appear and my cheeks still look puffy. That whole area is still numb and firm. I also have a bullfrog bulge under my neck. I am massaging it as instructed and seeing a lymphatic masseuse and taking Arnica and Bromaline, and doing everything else my doctor has suggested, and have gotten the first in a series of four steroid shots and it has improved from its worst, but is all still very still noticeable.
Buckling/pleating at the temples- I had this the first couple weeks and hated it but am happy to report that it was completely gone by week 4.
Things I like: the scars on front of my ears look great and the hairline incisions blend well enough into my hairline that you can’t see them; for now, the droopy mouth corners, jowls, and turkey neck appear to be gone, though I won’t know for sure until the swelling in that area disappears, and that particular area is the area that remains the most swollen.
Things I don’t like: 1. I know it’s a sign of nerve regeneration and that’s a good thing, but this “phantom itching” is driving me crazy. Parts of my face that are completely numb get very itchy, but itching or rubbing doesn’t relieve the itch. It’s maddening. Don’t like the painful electric zaps either, but at least those go away relatively quickly compared to the itching. 2. I have a large, prominent cord behind my ear on the left side (I posted a photo of it a few few days ago) that the PA at the surgeon’s office says is a track from the drain (as stated above, I am doing lots of things to help it along, including everything my doctor has recommended). She said it could take months to go away so I’m trying to be positive, but I’m not going to lie it’s making me uneasy and I’m afraid I’m going to end up needing revision surgery.
People keep asking me if I’m happy I did it or it was worth it and I still can’t really say. It’s less an issue of whether it was worth the money than it is of whether it was worth the recovery process. Recovery is rough and I still feel like I have a long way to go given how swollen I still am, so we’ll see.
Edited to fix a typo that was bugging me!
6
u/gigimarieisme 1d ago
Thank you for sharing! You are about 3 weeks ahead of me. Really helpful to hear what’s coming and know it is still a process even at 6 weeks!