Has anyone ever had a facelift?

[rameses]

Did it hurt? And was it worth it.


Serious question.

[TracyK]

I haven't - but I know someone who had their eyes done and didn't regret a single penny. I intend to have one in about 7 or 8 years though. You can get mini ones done now that heal in about 10 days!

[rameses]

Thanks Tracy.

It's all over the place at the minute. I just wanted to know if it's really the quick fix it's made out to be or if their are hidden costs (apart from the financial ones). What's the reality of having a facelift?

[TracyK]

I'm sure if you get a reputable surgeon - personal recomm. it will be fine. I'm sure pretty painful for about 7 days (painkillers would sort that though) then just having to hide the bruising. Do you work? or could you hide in the house for a couple of weeks or go abroad for a 2 week hol afterwards?

[rameses]

I'm not considering having one Tracy. I just wondered how accurate those kind of reasurances were. It's a major operation, isn't it? 7 days sounds a bit on the short side to me.

[monkeytrousers]

Oh, I've often thought about this (though not having one of course! )

What about the scars? How long to they take to hael? Can you go swimming?

Oh, I hope someone spills the beans!

[monkeytrousers]

I hope there's lots of name changing happening!

[monkeytrousers]

bump for rame

[rameses]

.

[spidermama]

I worry about the long term. Would you age bizarrely because the skin has been hitched up unnaturally. I would've the there'd then be a temptation, even a necessity, to keep on having surgery once you'd begun on that route.

[suzywong]

let this be a warning


Personally I 'm going microdermabrasion when I 'm 40 and then inevitabley saggy neck sorted out as soon as I catch sight of a jowel. Wouldn't get anything to do with brow or eyes done though.

[eidsvold]

what a link suzy....

[motherinferior]

I'm too scared of the pain. You need Aloha, she's done a lot of stuff on cosmetic surgery; I gather, though, that the 'mini' ones are often a bit of a con.

Joanna Briscoe's novel Skin is rather good on the actual, ahem, proceedings.

[monkeytrousers]

Come on Aloha, give us the gen! Pleeasse?

[monkeytrousers]

bump for Aloha this time

[joanyrivers]

I have!

[monkeytrousers]

Doh! Didn't work!!

[aloha]

Facelifts can look fantastic, but it's always a risk because you can't really preview them. Every single Hollywood star who looks much younger than her years has had surgery - they just all have. Sophia Loren, the lot. Some however have too much surgery or bad surgery and some are lucky and have good surgery. Also facelifts don't change your face so dramatically that they can make a plain woman beautiful - they just remove some sagging. Actually they are only good for sagging skin, jowls etc. Lines are much better dealt with by botox, restylane and IPL treatments. IMO a great haircut, losing a stone and buying new clothes with the help of a in-store personal shopper and perhaps a bit of Botox and some detal whitening will take the years off far more effectively and less expensively than a facelift. Having said that, a really good eye lift can be great - I've seen good results where there were really drooping upper eyelids. Also jowls and pelican jawlines respond well to surgery. I would say a week would see you through the worst of the recovery from a full upper and lower facelift and eye surgery - but you probably won't feel normal for a few months - there will be patches of numbness and strange tingles in your face. Scars are usually tucked away inside the ears and in the lashline and unless you are very, very unlucky tend to be invisible. I have a tendancy to develop keloid scarring (like many dark or olive skinned people) - instead of becoming superfine and white my scars are slightly rope-like, and this would put me off eye surgery personally.
You shouldn't have a facelift if you smoke.
If you think you need one, first perhaps try a week at a spa like Champneys on a strictish diet and taking lots of exercise and living cleanly - and have some manual lymphatic drainage facials. That combination often tidies up jowls and under-eye bags quite dramatically. Have some Botox before you go to smooth out forehead and frown lines and give a subtle lift to the top half of your face - maybe have some restylane in your nose to mouth lines as well. Then get yourself along to Jo Hansford for a new colour and a great cut. Then think about whether you still need a facelift. That's my advice anyway. And it's all a hell of a lot more pleasurable than surgery.

[aloha]

you are 25! All 25-year-olds feel like this!

[TracyK]

I think I will go for eye surgery - it's the bit that always makes you look knackered.
I agree with Aloha - teeth whitening can take years off - getting mine done next week. Also loosing weight and wearing suitably 'trendy' clothes.

[monkeytrousers]

Crikey Aloha! You're in the know! Have you done a story on it?

[aloha]

MT - hundreds of the bloody things! And lots of interviews with people who have had all kinds of surgery. Some of them are quite, quite mad, but only some.

[monkeytrousers]

Have you approached it from a feminist view?

[aloha]

Not for my commissioning editors!
It's either a 'ooh, look at this' type feature - ie first person interviews, no editorialising, or from a strictly health perspective - ie which filler is the safest, how to choose a proper surgeon, risks you should know about etc.
From a real feminist perspective I suppose cosmetic surgery is not a good thing at all, though there has never been a period in all of human history when people of both sexes didn't try to alter their appearances often by drastic methods (scarring as decoration for example) and facelifts are less harmful than,say, the application of white lead to the face, or wearing terrifying corsets night and day. Pre cosmetic surgery women used to pad their breasts, bottoms etc and men used to pad their calves.