Featuring Dr. Nancy Van Laeken, MD, FRCSC, Plastic Surgeon.

Duration: 3 minutes

Well, a facelift is a surgical procedure that is performed on patients who would like to look a bit younger, who would like not to look quite so tired. 

Who feel they are loosing their neck and generally are healthy, we prefer to do facelifts on patients that are healthy. It is an operation and it is important that that be discussed in detail with the patient, because there is scarring associated with it.

A facelift procedure usually takes about two to three hours depending on the patient. Either it can be done under a general anesthetic or the patient is asleep. First, there is a local anesthetic with sedation where there is an anesthesiologist in the room providing some medication through an IV so that they are aware of what is going on but they are not concerned or anxious and they do not feel any pain.

Most of the cases are daycare cases, which means the patient, will arrive at the facility in the morning, have the operation and be discharged the same day. The patients must go home with a responsible adult.

Some patients elect to stay overnight. That is particularly true if they have a facelift done with eyelids or with another operation. So, the patient is discharged with bandages wrapped around their head. Some surgeons do not use bandages but the majority does and those are usually removed the next morning or forty-eight hours later at home by the patient or their helper so to speak.The first portion of the sutures is removed at about seven days post-operatively and the remainder is removed at the end of the second week.

So, I usually express to patients the need for them to take at least two weeks off work. If they are planning any important social engagements, to be sure that they have allowed enough healing time.There will be some bruising and there will be the obvious sutures that require removal. Therefore, if a patient is interested in pursuing a facelift we would suggest that they speak to their family physician for a referral to a consultant.