After Facial Surgery: The Recovery

How long and difficult the recovery process is after facial surgery depends a great deal on what kind of surgery you get. It can range from virtually non-existent in some cases to a full year for complete recovery in others. To a lesser extent, how easy your recovery will be will also depend on the state of your health prior to the surgery, your age, and how well you follow your doctor's instructions.

That being said, most facial surgeries do have some things in common, including some general guidelines and expectations for recovery.

Immediately After The Surgery

As soon as your surgery is complete, you will probably be taken into a separate room to recover. If your surgery was performed under general anesthesia, it may take you a while to wake up. If you just had local anesthesia, you should still expect to take a little time in the recovery room to get feeling normal again. As the anesthesia wears off, you may be groggy, dizzy, or confused, and you might even experience a little nausea. These sensations are perfectly normal, and should pass quickly. There will also probably be some pain following the initial numbness. Depending on how invasive your surgery was, you may need to use a prescription painkiller for a while, or you might be able to control the pain just with something over-the-counter.

Few facial surgeries require an overnight hospital stay. In nearly all cases, as soon as the doctor has had a chance to make sure you are recovering normally and you decide you are feeling up to it, you can leave. You will need someone to drive you home.

The Recovery Period

Your surgeon can give you a more exact timetable for your recovery, but in general you should plan on at least a few days of rest after your facial surgery. If possible, have a friend or family member stay with at least overnight, to make sure you're comfortable and don't have any unexpected complications. If you have young children, arrange for them to be cared for by someone else during this time. It's also a good idea to take some time off work, even if you don't think you'll need it. You can always go back in early, and sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry.

Within a few days most patients can begin to resume some normal activities. You may still be required to wear special dressings or compression garments, though, and you probably won't have a lot of stamina, especially if you are on painkillers. In most cases mild exercise is good such s walking is a good idea and can reduce your chances of blood clots, but don't overdo, and be especially careful not to bump whatever part of your face is still healing. You should also avoid overexposure to the sun, so you aren't at risk of burning.

Most facial surgery patients recover just fine, but occasionally there are some more serious side effects. If you experience excessive pain or fever, you should contact your surgeon. Redness at the incision site and the development of pus are also bad signs. These could indicate a possible infection. Keeping the incision sites clean and dry and taking your antibiotics as prescribed can help to ward off infection, as can returning for any all recommended follow-up visits with your surgeon.

Another important step to a successful and healthy recovery is to make sure you follow all of your doctor's instruction exactly, even if they sound a little silly to you. Remember, your doctor has much more experience than you do about these sorts of surgeries and their recovery periods. Plus,, if you don't follow the instructions and end up unhappy with how it turned out, you have a much smaller chance of persuading your surgeon to rectifying it, or getting the advantage in a courtroom.

Finally, be advised that some surgeries take a while to get the full benefit from. With liposuction, for example, although you may feel fine and be perfectly capable of resuming your normal life within just a week, it can take up to six months for all of the swelling to go down and you to look as thin as you want to. If there is a specific event, such as a wedding or reunion, that you are getting the surgery for, be sure to talk to your doctor about timing and leave enough time to fully recover so you can enjoy the full benefit of your surgery.

What Will My Recovery Be Like?

Of course, these are just very general instructions-you specific recovery will have a lot to do with which surgery you get. Below we've listed some of the most common facial surgeries, along with a short paragraph about the recovery for each.

--Otoplasty. The surgery is typically performed as an outpatient surgery, so patients are allowed to return home the same day. A large bandage will be placed around the head to hold the ears in position and to help protect them. Your surgeon may also ask you to wear a headband or hat for a week or two after your surgery. Otoplasty patients can typically return to work or school within about a week. Recovery is generally smooth, but possibly complications include infection, blood clots, numbness of the ear is possible, and there may also be some amount of undesirable scarring. You can minimize your chances for all of these by selecting a properly skilled and experienced surgeon.

--Blepharoplasty. Most blepharoplasties are performed as outpatient procedures. After the surgery, patients' eyes may feel painful, and they may have a difficult time seeing at first, due to the lubricating ointment that the surgeon placed in your eyes after the surgery. This blurriness will likely last for a day or more, but it should disappear relatively quickly. Some amount of burning or itching is also common, but patients should not scratch their eyes. Certain types of eye drops can help to reduce these uncomfortable sensations. Most patients are able to return to work within a week and a half of their blepharoplasty surgery, but exercise, sports, makeup, and contact lenses should be avoided for the first month or so to reduce the risk of bumping the eyelids while they are still healing.

--Neck lift. Neck lifts are usually outpatient procedures. Pain and discomfort after a neck lift ranges from mild to severe. Patients should try to take it easy and rest, since too much exercise or activity isn't conducive to recovery. Contact sports should be postponed until the doctor specifically gives the okay. Bending, heavy lifting, strenuous activity, and exercise should all be avoided for at least the first few weeks. About a week after surgery, patients will probably need to return to have their sutures removed.

--Rhinoplasty. Rhinoplasty is usually an outpatient surgery. The most common side effect is bruising and swelling, including black eyes, but this is only temporary. Patients should avoid strenuous activities or anything where there is the possibility of bumping their noses, as this will set back recovery considerably. Patients typically need to take between a week and a week and a half off of work.

--Orthognathic surgery. Since this surgery is so much more invasive than many facial surgeries,, most patients need to spend one night in the hospital. They can typically return home the next day, but they will need to have an entirely liquid diet at first, as premature chewing could interfere with healing, and it could alter the position of the bones, requiring additional corrective surgery. Pain and swelling will disappear over time, although they can sometimes continue for months after the surgery. In particularly difficult surgeries, complete healing may take up to a year.

--Jaw Augmentation. Patients can generally return home the same day, but should be careful to avoid accidentally chewing on their cheeks while they're still numbed, as they could potentially do serious damage. Patients will also want to keep their incisions sites clean. If the excisions are external, they should be kept dry. If the incisions were made inside the mouth, the mouth should be kept clean using an antiseptic mouthwash several times daily. Also, a liquid diet may be required for the first period after your surgery.

--Facial liposuction. This procedure has a relatively low recovery time, because it is not nearly as intense or invasive a procedure as many types of facial surgery. Still, patients typically will want to lay low and rest for a few days after a facial liposuction. However, they can commonly return to their work in less than a week. During the recovery period, it is common for patients to be asked to wear a compression garment. This compression garment will help to hold your face in the right position as it heals. It may be slightly inconvenient, but it is a very good idea to wear it.

--Face lift. The recovery time for this procedure depends largely on the technique used. It can range from a few days to two weeks before a patient can return to work, and strenuous activity and exercise will typically take longer. Additional activities such as blow-drying one's hair and wearing earrings may also be forbidden for the first little while. Alcohol should similarly be avoided for weeks or months after a face lift, and saunas and steam rooms can also cause problems.

--Cheek reduction. Gauze will probably be placed between the molars and the cheeks, and the face may be wrapped with a dressing to help promote healing. It is very natural to be groggy and sore for the first day or so after your surgery. Some amount of bruising and swelling is also common. However, these should go down with time. Facial tightness and soreness is also common. Because the sutures used in a cheek reduction typically are not the dissolvable sort, patients will usually have to return after about a week and a half to have the sutures removed.

--Brow lift. This is also an outpatient procedure, and patients can typically return to work within around ten days of their brow lift. However, strenuous activity like exercising, sex, and heavy housework may have to be postponed for longer than this. As with all surgeries, when resuming intense or difficult activities, it's typically best to ease into them.

--Lip augmentation. Patients can return to normal activities within a week or a week and a half. Some amount of swelling is common, but this typically begins to go down fairly quickly. During the recovery process, you'll want to have some ice packs to control the swelling and soft foods that don't require much chewing.

--Cheek augmentation. Patients typically need to take a week or two off work, as some amount of pain and swelling is natural after a cheek augmentation. It is also possible for there to be bruising, numbness, difficulty chewing, and excessive skin tightness. The skin tightness will go down over time as the skin stretches to accommodate the implants. The difficulty chewing should also disappear.

Bruising typically goes away after a couple of weeks, and the swelling will gradually disappear over the first month or two after the surgery.

How Can I Get More Information?

If you have any more questions about facial surgery and its recovery, please visit our other pages for more information on each specific surgery. Or, click on our surgeon locator tool for help finding a facial surgeon in your area. Most cosmetic surgeons offer a free consultation to interested patients, and will be more than happy to answer all your questions.