After a major FFS, it takes months if not a year to completely have all the subcutaneous swelling to go down. If the swelling is gone and if you are young with good elastic skin, the skin recuperates from all that stretching. If you are older, it probably will NOT totally come back and tighten up. That is why a lot of older FFS patients (late 30′s and older) may need a facelift.
For a facelift and necklift we use the MACS-lift technique, which has been developed by dr Patrick Tonnard and dr Alexis Verpaele of the Coupure Centre/EMC2. MACS-lift stands for Minimal Access Cranial Suspension lift. As the skin and subdermal layer of the neck and lower part of the face are purely lifted in a vertical direction during this procedure there is no need for an incision behind the ear. The MACS-lift is a very save and fast way of facelifting with excellent and long-lasting results. It gives a very nice heart-shaped face, especially if it is combined with lipofilling of the cheeks.
If it is performed at the same time as a jaw and chinrecontouring it helps enormously to show off the newly formed jaw and chin resulting in a very female shape of the face.
If the patient has deep naso-labial folds and a sagging midface the MACS-lift can be extended towards the midface and a lipofilling of the naso-labial folds can be performed.
Procedure facelift
Simple MACS-lift
Extended MACS-lift
Recovery of a facelift
- Hospitalization— Patients leave the clinic the day after surgery.
- Plastic tubes— plastic tubes leading under your skin will be removed the next day.
- Swelling—You can minimize swelling and bruising by applying our cooling machine. You should rest or sleep in a semi-seated position: lying completely flat (or bending over) is not advised as this might cause the swelling in your face to increase. You should count on not being as socially active as normal for about two to three weeks. The swelling starts to subside on the half day, and is usually hardly visible after a week to ten days. You can go out (for shopping, etc.) from the first day after the operation.
- Pain—If you need a painkiller, only use products that do not contain aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Because of the deep stitches your jaw might hurt when you open your mouth wide. That annoying feeling will soon pass in the course of the first week.
- Food—You should eat soft foods in the first few days after the operation.
- Hematoma—You should not experience a severe swelling of the cheek, combined with a feeling of tightness and increasing pain. This might indicate post-surgical bleeding. If this happens, you might need to undergo further operation to remove the accumulated blood. But this only happens in less than one per cent of cases. If you notice these symptoms, you must immediately contact Dr Bart van de Ven.
- Stitches—All the stitches will be removed after a week.
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