Kent E. Mellerstig, M.D.
FAQs
Facelift: A facelift can reduce sagging skin on the face and neck. Your bone structure, heredity, and skin texture all play a role in how many "years" a facelift can "remove", and to some extent, influence how long it will last. Nevertheless, it's fully reasonable to expect a facelift to make you look good, and it's hoped, to feel good for your age.
Some men and women use their facelifts as an opportunity to also have baggy pouches of excess skin and fat removed from around their eyes. Eyelid surgery, called blepharoplasty, can be performed at the same time as a facelift.
The surgeon performs a facelift operation on one side at a time, working through incisions along the hairline to remove excess loose skin. When necessary, the surgeon also can delve beneath the skin to remove fatty deposits and tighten sagging muscles, giving the overall face a firmer appearance.
After surgery, you will experience some temporary skin discoloration and perhaps a tightness or numbness in the face and neck. Healing is gradual, so expect to wait several weeks to see final results. Most of your faint scars will be hidden in the hairline above the ear or in normal lines and creases. You can easily conceal the scars behind your ears with your hair.
Since your skin will remain somewhat sensitive for a few months following surgery, you'd be wise to limit sun exposure and protect your skin with a sunscreen. You can wear cosmetics shortly after surgery, as soon as your stitches are removed.
Body Fat Reduction: A procedure introduced in the United States in 1982, suction-assisted lipectomy, can remove localized collections of fatty tissue in several areas of the body. By using a high-vacuum device, the surgeon can suction off fat in the legs, buttocks, abdomen, arms, face and neck.
The increasing popularity of suction-assisted lipectomy is attributable to the simplicity of the technique, and the fact that it leaves only minute scars, often as short as one-half inch long.
However, suction-assisted lipectomy is not a substitute for the results you can achieve through proper diet and exercise, nor is it a cure for obesity. To get the most from this procedure, you should be of average weight with extra fat localized in specific areas. It is also important that you have healthy, elastic skin with the capacity to shrink evenly after surgery. Since suction-assisted lipectomy removes only fat, it cannot eliminate dimpling of the skin, popularly referred to as cellulite.
If you have a very pronounced problem area or if your skin has lost much of its elasticity, your surgeon may recommend a procedure called surgical lipectomy, instead of or in addition to suction-assisted lipectomy. Surgical lipectomy can remove superfluous skin as well as fat, but will leave more prominent scars.
Following surgery, you'll wear a snug dressing or garment for a week to promote skin shrinkage and minimize swelling and skin discoloration. If you've had surgery below the waist, you may be advised to wear a long-legged girdle for a few months as you resume your normal routine.
Breast Augmentation: Augmentation typically is performed to enlarge small breasts, underdeveloped breasts, or breasts that have decreased in size after a woman has had children. It is accomplished by surgically inserting an implant within each breast. If your breast skin sags as well, your surgeon might suggest having a breast lift in conjunction with augmentation.
In the operation, the surgeon makes an incision in each breast and creates a pocket under the breast skin or muscle for the implant. The implant is a soft, pliable plastic envelope containing a silicone gel, saline solution, or combination of both.
Afterwards, you'll wear a gauze dressing or surgical bra. Minimal swelling and discoloration will disappear shortly after surgery. You may experience some loss of sensitivity in your nipples, but it should be temporary. To lessen any firmness that may occur in the breasts following augmentation, your surgeon may recommend breast massage.
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