Part II

On the average, you will be presentable with make-up and may return to work two to three weeks after surgery.

Your appearance will continue to improve for at least six months following surgery.

A face lift primarily corrects your neck and cheeks, but exerts a lesser effect on the center of your face around the lips and nose, since this area lies farthest from the incisions. Wrinkles persisting around the mouth and nose may need further enhancement with other procedures or injections.

Lifting your face can only retard the aging process. It turns back the clock but does not stop it! In most cases, however, you will look five to ten years younger following surgery... and you will maintain this age difference forever.

A face lift is not the end of the road. Though you will continue to look five to ten years younger, you nevertheless will continue aging. Ideally, you should maintain your result by undergoing minor treatments every year or two following your initial surgery, to compensate for the aging process.

There will be a sensation of tightness and possible numbness around the ears for a few weeks following surgery.

Double chin

With age or overweight, a pocket of fat forms below your chin. The correction of a double chin is either performed at the same time as a face lift or is done alone in younger patients. A small incision is placed under the chin. The fat is suctioned with a fine tube connected to a suction machine. If you also happen to have a weak chin, it may be corrected through the same incision at the same time.

Thin lips

lips are a stigma of old age. If you have thin aging lips, they usually are corrected at the same time as a face lift or shortly thereafter. If you have thin lips, you could be looking older than your true age. Correcting this type of thin lips gives you a younger, softer expression.

• With injections : Lips may be made fuller and more attractive with different injections, such as Artecoll, collagen, fat, Hylaform, etc.

• With Surgery : This type of surgery demands great precision. An incision is made at the border of the lips. A segment of skin is then excised along the incision to stretch the lips and make them look fuller. Following surgery, lips have a tendency to swell. However, they shrink rapidly and are presentable in two weeks. The resulting scar is easily camouflaged by lipstick, and continues to fade for at least one year following surgery.

Forehead Lift

Low eyebrows intensify the wrinkles in your upper eyelids. They also tend to make you look depressed and fatigued. Low brows and a wrinkled forehead are often corrected together with eyelid surgery or a face lift. Incisions are placed along the hairline. The surgery may involve lifting the forehead skin, tightening some muscles or weakening other muscles. The eyebrows are raised. The incisions are closed very meticulously and usually heal well.

Numbness, itching or weakness of the forehead and a hair loss along the incisions may be experienced for a few weeks to a few months after surgery.