Your Complete Guide to Facelift Scars
While you can expect to have incisional scars after a facelift, it’s important to know that they change in appearance over the course of the recovery process. To better understand facelift scars, we’ll discuss where they are located, the different types of scars, and how to minimize them.
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Facelift Scars
Facelift surgery is well known for providing beautiful and transformative results that leave patients with a youthful spark. Yet, to achieve these stunning facial rejuvenation results, incisions are required to allow your surgeon to make the desired adjustments. Creating incisions in the skin will inevitably leave scarring, and prospective facelift patients need to understand this before undergoing surgery.
Where Are Facelift Scars Located?
The locations of your facelift scars will depend on the type of facelift you select. There are three main types of facelift techniques: traditional facelift, limited-incision facelift, and facelift with a neck lift. For each option, the incisions are placed accordingly:
- Traditional Facelift: For the traditional facelift, incisions are created in the hairline by the temples, which then wrap around the ears and earlobe, ending in the scalp behind the ear. This technique provides significant improvements to the mid and lower face, as well as the jawline.
- Limited-Incision Facelift: The limited-incision technique requires a smaller incision compared to the traditional facelift, and it provides more subtle results. These incisions begin by the temples and go down behind the ears.
- Facelift With a Neck Lift: It is very common to combine a facelift with a neck lift for harmonious rejuvenation results. This combination technique involves similar incisions to the traditional facelift but may require an additional short incision underneath the chin.
Types of Facelift Scars
The shape and size of your facelift scars will directly correspond to the techniques used during your procedure. In general, patients who receive a traditional facelift or a facelift combined with a neck lift can expect to have longer incisions than those who receive a limited-incision facelift.
At our Beverly Hills office, Dr. Leslie Stevens offers customized consultations for patients considering facelift surgery. During your consultation, Dr. Stevens will assess your face shape and listen to your concerns and goals. After evaluating these factors, Dr. Stevens will let you know which facelift techniques will work best for delivering your desired outcome.
What to Expect After Facelift Surgery
Immediately following your procedure, your facelift incisions will be fresh and need time to heal. It is important to keep them clean and avoid touching them throughout the day. Dr. Stevens will provide you with instructions for cleaning your incisions, including what products to use and how often to clean them.
Additionally, you’ll be instructed to avoid putting any unnecessary pressure on your incisions. This is crucial for the healing process, as you don’t want to do anything that will cause the incisions to bleed or reopen. It is essential to sleep on your back with your head slightly elevated, as this will prevent additional pressure on the incisions and also help reduce swelling. Many patients stack pillows to allow them to sleep at this elevated angle. Even when you’re resting in bed or on a couch throughout the day, it is important to lie down with your head in a reclined position to keep the healing incisions safe. Dr. Stevens will monitor your progress and let you know when it is safe to resume sleeping on your side and in other positions.
Tips to Minimize Facelift Scars
There are several factors that influence the appearance of your facelift scars. Some factors, like genetics, are completely out of your control. Other factors will be influenced by things that happen before, during, and after your surgery.
Before your facelift, it’s important that you’re in overall good health and refrain from smoking and using certain medications, as this can impact how your body heals and how your scars fade. Additionally, choosing the right board-certified plastic surgeon will greatly influence the results you receive. Highly trained and skilled facial plastic surgeons have the expertise to strategically place incisions in discreet areas and ensure that the scars heal nicely.
After your procedure, Dr. Stevens will provide you with aftercare instructions to support you through recovery and beyond. These instructions may include how to care for your incisions, sleeping positions, moisturizing, using silicone scar gel, wearing a high SPF sunscreen, and avoiding unnecessary sun exposure.
Facelift Scars Before and After
Your incisional scars will evolve in appearance throughout recovery. For the first couple of weeks after your surgery, the incisions will appear red and swollen as they are going through the inflammatory phase. Around three to six weeks after surgery, your incisions will be in the proliferative phase. This is when the skin builds new tissue and produces collagen to heal the wound. The incisions will continue to heal throughout the rest of your recovery and will enter the remodeling phase six months to two years after surgery. This last phase is when the scar tissue strengthens, allowing the scar to flatten and fade into your skin tone. In spite of the normal timeline and physiology of wound healing and scar maturation, facelift scars seem to become inconspicuous quite rapidly. This is because of the strategic placement of the incisions along the natural contour of the face and ear junction, in the scalp and behind the ears. By four weeks after surgery, most individuals would have a hard time noticing these incisions in any social situation.
Have More Questions About Facelift Surgery in Beverly Hills, CA?
If you’re preparing for a facelift procedure down the road, contact Dr. Stevens’ office to learn more information and what your options are in Beverly Hills. Call our office at (310) 556-1003 or complete our online contact form today.
