Having facelift surgery in 10 days - support and advice needed

[MerryForever]

HI there,

I'm due to go for surgery on 15th March. Face and neck lift under local anaesthetic. I'm 53, medium weight, would like to be a bit lighter. I've had a horrendous few years personally and it's shown a lot on my face. I'm in a better place now and feel this will give me a boost to restart the 'new me.' I'd love to hear from anyone really as I haven't told many people I'm having it done as it seems so vain. My dd is very supportive though. I don't have a current partner.

Any tips from those who have had similar procedures? Or chats with anyone thinking of getting some work done. Or even haters who will tell me that looks don't matter and I should bin it off.

I didn’t get my neck done and I really wish I had.

Thank you! The recovery time is really long. Not for everyone though. I was in lots of pain for a good two weeks and then for ages things like my glasses digging into the wounds behind the ears, numbness and swelling. I'm still numb. Not in any pain now but if I rub my face anywhere near the edges, it feels kind of sore? I hear of people going back to work in a week but I wasn't really presentable at all until well over a month and even then I looked like an alien.

Any regrets, Op. Happy you did it? Thank you for sharing your experience

The only regrets I have are not having a bit more done at the same time. I think I should’ve had my neck and forehead done too. I notice the difference between my face and them a lot. But really glad I had it done - seeing older photos still makes me feel sad. It hasn’t been a massive change really but I notice it.

I think it looks great!

Thank you. I have some revisions mid-September as there are some adhesions on both cheeks, so I'll be under the knife again but only briefly this time.

I think it looks fabulous too. You have bravely gone @MerryForever and only hope at some point I can afford and dare to follow.

Hi I am thinking of one too, can you post or do the cost for yours? Any further tweaks? I assume the tweaks are covered free of charge.

Hi - it was around £11,000 in the end. All revisions have been free as the cost included 12 months follow up, which has been really good; once a week at times.

Just bumping this to ask @MerryForever how are things now a year or so on? And thank you for sharing your experience so candidly. Still happy and all your numbing, tweakments etc resolved? Thanks...

Hello! I can't believe it's been a year. Everything's mostly settled down although I had a scar revision procedure on one side about a month ago. Last week we did the dreaded before and after photographs and I can see that it's really made a difference although the results aren't as drastic as they were in the first three months. I've noticed on the various Facebook groups I've followed that people sort of stop posting how amazingly fresh-faced they look after about 6 months post-surgery. The swelling, which is weird and painful at the start, also makes you look a lot plumper and younger in the face and as that starts to go, you look more like you did before but obviously not exactly the same. The surgery doesn't remove lines, so they all slowly come back and in my case I wish I'd had my neck done as well, not because my neck is especially problematic but because it would help with the definition of my jawline. But anyway, seeing the before and afters was quite a revelation and I realised what a difference it has made; I think I've grown into it now so I'd stopped noticing but I really was looking very tired and sort of lost in my face in the before pictures. I still look in the mirror and think I'd like to get some areas redone but I don't think I will. I can imagine how you might go down a wormhole of noticing every single 'imperfection' but I force myself not to focus on it.

One of the strange things is that hardly anybody at any point has actually 'noticed'. I've had a few comments from friends who don't see me often saying things like I never seem to age. But nothing drastic at all. Nobody's been like, 'Wow! You look amazing!' I would say, realistically, it's taken about 7 years off my age but I still look well within my age bracket.

So overall, I don't regret it at all, I wish I'd known a bit more and included my neck and maybe my forehead as well but I'm done with it all now, settling with where I am.

I really want this done OP and am amazed at the price you paid, but it was cheaper because of the LA rather than GA is that right?

And remind me, you said in your OP that you were having a neck lift as well but above you say you wish you had your neck 'done' what do you mean by that, because its my turkey neck and jowels that Im most concerned with, so is that a neck lift or not?

Thanks that's interesting to hear from so many angles. Very frank . Yes we often see things which others don't !

@MerryForever thank you so much for replying. It is so helpful to hear an honest account of this procedure. I think I want a lower face and neck and you've really helped me. Truthfully I think people not noticing something 'big' has changed is a good thing! 💐

You look fantastic, OP! Thanks for sharing your story.

I didn't have a neck lift done - I think some work was definitely done around my jawline but I didn't have the full neck lift because I'm not sure you could do that much without a general anaesthetic. I'm fortunate not to have a 'turkey neck' but I do have that banding thing which, in hindsight now, I wish I'd had corrected but I can live with it how it is. My biggest problem was my mid face which had sort of fallen forwards, I don't know how else to describe it really and it looked very sad and tired.

Thanks, I dont have the banding but I do have turkey neck, I literally just want it cut away. The fat from my cheeks is now on my jaw line! So I look hollow and gaunt but chubby and chipmunk at the same time!!

Your fat pads drop. This is the problem.

Its a terrible state of affairs