Facelift

Because facelifts are considered to be elective surgery, they are generally not covered by insurance. The only time that would change would be in the case of traumatic facial injury.

The majority of our patients do not complain of significant pain after surgery. Dr. Kolstad prefers that all his patients be off prescription pain medication the day after surgery. Most patients report a feeling of tightness from the muscle suspension, but they rarely complain of pain. Dr. Kolstad recommends using Ibuprofen or Tylenol as needed for the generalized discomfort after neck lift or facelift surgery.

Dr. Kolstad will schedule you for a series of appointments in San Diego, beginning with your initial consultation and ending with a series of follow-up sessions, which allow him to monitor your healing progress and respond to any complications that might arise before they become an issue.

With every passing week, you will notice your face appears more youthful, balanced, and attractive. However, it can take several months for all residual swelling to dissipate, so it’s important to be patient and continue attending all your follow-up visits with Dr. Kolstad in San Diego.

The process of removing your sutures is a progression. Depending on the type of facelift you had, the location of your sutures can vary. Here’s the timeframe. External sutures placed in front of the ears are removed in 4-5 days. At 7 days, sutures around the earlobes are removed, and those behind the ears are loosened. By day 10 after your facelift, all remaining sutures are removed.

Dr. Kolstad uses general anesthesia for more intensive facelift procedures for patients in San Diego and the surrounding areas. Short-scar (S) lifts, and occasionally mini facelifts, can be performed in the San Diego office under local anesthesia. Of course, if the patient prefers general anesthesia, it can always be provided instead.

Most people take about 10 days off from work to recover. By the tenth day, all sutures and clips have been removed, the majority of the swelling has resolved, and any residual bruising can be camouflaged with makeup.

A concern for every facelift patient is what happens when they return to work. Will people know they had surgery? Will they look plastic after a facelift? Take the word of one of Dr. Kolstad’s patients when she describes her experience going back to work after surgery. This public speaker was able to return to her everyday routine confidently and was surprised how no one could tell that she had surgery only ten days before.

Dr. Kolstad does everything possible to place incisions inconspicuously in areas where scarring will later be well-concealed. In general, you can expect your scars to appear red and raised at first. With time, they will gradually assume your normal skin tone and lie flatter against the skin. The doctor offers scar creams and scar revision techniques to help ensure an aesthetically pleasing final outcome.

After major surgery such as a facelift, most patients want to get their blood moving again and get back to their exercise routine. But you need to be patient. Exercising too soon after a facelift can lead to complications and a longer recovery period.

For the first few days of your recovery, you should take short, light walks to encourage blood circulation. But you don’t want to increase your heart rate or blood pressure, as this can cause the tiny blood vessels beneath the skin of the face to bleed.

For the remainder of the first month, activity levels can increase, but heavy lifting, weight training, and other strenuous exercise should be avoided. You need to keep your facial blood pressure down.

Four weeks after surgery, you can add light cardio back to your routine, such as slowly pedaling a stationary bike or light aerobics. At six weeks, you can usually return to all exercise, including weight training and strenuous exercise. This can vary by the patient, however.

With a traditional facelift, most patients can return to work in 10-14 days. Endoscopic lifts and mini facelifts allow patients to return to work in just a few days. Depending on your specific procedure, Dr. Kolstad will discuss your timeframes with you during your consultation and again afterward, as he assesses your healing progress.

Although you often hear certain practices promising an equal amount of rejuvenation from a liquid facelift, where facial fillers are used in lieu of surgery, there really isn’t any comparison in the level of rejuvenation between these two procedures. Yes, facial fillers are excellent for addressing sagging around the mouth and can be effective for restoring volume to the cheeks. But for patients with real issues with sagging skin, jowls, and neck banding, a surgical facelift is really the only answer. Liquid facelifts are best for patients with only limited sagging. They last about one year, and then another session is necessary to maintain your results.

Absolutely. Many faces benefit from facial fat transfer to restore lost volume. Occasionally, a platysmaplasty or submentoplasty is required to get the best results. Dr. Kolstad offers a variety of complementary procedures to match your features and create the best facial rejuvenation strategy for you. Dr. Kolstad can perform any of the following in tandem with your San Diego facelift:

Removing unwanted fat can dramatically improve the jaw and neckline. The fat under the chin can be resistant to weight loss and can create a blunted neckline. Even after redraping loose neck skin, if the submental fat is not adequately treated, the results will be limited. No additional incisions or scars are required for neck liposuction.

As we age, our faces lose volume, like a water balloon deflating. Many surgeons increasingly rely on tightening the skin to address loose skin resulting from facial volume loss. Simply pulling the skin tighter is a common cause of the unnatural, plastic-looking facelift results. The most natural way of restoring your youthful cheek contours is through fat grafting. Facial fat transfer is the process of removing unwanted fat from the belly or hips and transferring it to the deep folds around the nose and mouth, tear troughs, and cheeks.

As we age, we lose bone density. Many people are familiar with osteoporosis of the arms and legs. A similar process occurring in the face leads to loss of chin and facial skeletal volume. An anatomical chin implant can be used to augment lost volume in the jaw. No additional incisions are required for chin implant augmentation.

Thanks to Dr. Kolstad’s extensive knowledge of facial anatomy and experience, facelifts are relatively low-risk procedures. Of course, this is surgery, so patients are at risk for excessive bleeding, infection, poor reactions to anesthesia, and poor wound healing. Risks specific to facelift procedures include:

• Injury to the nerves that control facial muscles (usually temporary)
• Numbness or tingling around the incision areas (temporary)
• Hair loss at the incision sites
• Skin discoloration (rare but can continue for several months)
• Skin healing issues (more common with smokers)

A frequent concern of our patients is looking plastic after facelift surgery. There are limitless examples of unnatural, operated results. When surgeons pull too tight, the corners of the mouth can change, the neck looks stretched, and the skin can lose some of its natural contours.

It is very important to choose a plastic surgeon in San Diego who specializes in operating on the face and is comfortable with the challenging anatomy and procedures.

Selecting the right facial plastic surgeon is a personal decision that requires research, due diligence, and patience. As a first step, you should look at each provider’s training background, credentials, board certifications, specialized techniques, results, and testimonials. Selecting a facial plastic surgeon who specializes exclusively in facial and neck procedures often leads to the most precise and nuanced results. The next step is to meet with your potential surgeon in person. This allows you to ask questions, explain your goals, and make sure you are both on the same page.

Dr. Kolstad invites you to book an informative and empowering initial consultation in San Diego, CA, to learn more about his approach to facelift surgery and determine if working together is the right fit. Dr. Kolstad is a double-board-certified facial plastic surgeon who has dedicated his entire career to the delicate, complex art of facial rejuvenation.