Facelift Scars, the Reason They Look Seamless After 6 Months

Hello.

I’m Yoo Young-gi, a board-certified plastic surgeon and a “doctor who teaches doctors.”

If you handle about 20 facelift consultations a week, more than 15 of those people are concerned about scars.

A facelift has long incisions, so if things go wrong, visible scars can remain for life.

I’ve gathered the important points on what can be done to minimize this.

Today, I’ll share a real case of facelift scars at 6 months, and look at the things both the doctor and the patient need to pay attention to.

The flower of middle-aged plastic surgery is, without a doubt, the facelift.

Even though laser lifting devices have advanced, laser procedures often produce such subtle differences that, when you compare before-and-after photos, the results are not very noticeable.

If you spend a lot of money after making a big decision and others can’t even tell what you had done, it can be frustrating.

But then, if you go for a full-face facelift, many people are afraid of the surgery and of scars.

So many people look for a mini lift with fewer scars, but in terms of results, “mini” is literally mini.

That is why patients whose sagging is not severe enough for a mini lift to work well need to be carefully selected during consultation.

In general, people in their 30s and 40s often see good results with a mini lift,

while in many cases after the age of 50, a full facelift is needed to achieve higher satisfaction.

However, that is only true on average. There can be differences from person to person, and there can also be major differences depending on the surgeon’s technique.

For general eye surgery, fat grafting, or liposuction, doctors’ surgical methods are often quite similar.

A facelift is different.

Even if the incision is in the same place, the internal surgical method can vary greatly from doctor to doctor.

Moreover, because the incision is so long, many people hesitate to proceed with surgery, worried about the scar.

In today’s case, I’ll show the original, unedited camera images of the scar before surgery, on day 2 after surgery, at 5 weeks, and at 6 months.

After the stitches are removed, even if we ask them to come in, patients usually don’t return to the hospital for follow-up anymore. T_T

That’s probably because most people are busy.

In a way, if they’re satisfied and nothing major happens, I’ve often seen people not come back, so I also think that’s a relief, in a sense. Haha.

The reason this patient came in for follow-up this time was that once everything below the eyes had been lifted and looked better, the drooping of the eyebrows became very noticeable, so she came to ask about an endoscopic forehead lift. Haha. Her daughter, who came with her, also came for a rhinoplasty consultation.

In fact, the appearance up to two weeks after surgery is so unpleasant that most hospitals wouldn’t want to show it.

I hope this article helps those of you considering a facelift in the future when deciding things like how long of a recovery period you should plan for.

For reference, in this case, the bruising and swelling were more severe than in other patients immediately after surgery, but after long-term follow-up, the scars recovered very well.

This patient underwent a full facelift and neck lift together. :)

Before surgery

Facelift scar, day 2

Facelift scar, 5 weeks

Facelift scar, after 6 months

Let’s summarize the important points.

Let’s look again at the incision location, shape, healing process, factors that affect scars, scar care, and treatment methods if the scar becomes severe.

*Scar location It is hidden in areas that can be covered by natural skin folds or hair.

Since any incision will inevitably leave a scar, we make the incision in a place that is as inconspicuous as possible from the start.

Common locations include along the front of the hairline, in front of the ear, along the shape of the ear, and behind the ear.

At first, these scars may look red and noticeable, but over time they gradually fade.

*Healing process

It varies from person to person, but in general, scars begin to fade within a few months.

It can take more than a year for the scar to fully mature and become less noticeable.

*Factors that affect scars

There are many.

First of all, I think the surgeon’s technique is very important.

The key is not how well the skin is stitched, but how well the SMAS layer in the deeper skin has been lifted without resistance in the first place.

In particular, if the lifting method is not truly lifting the SMAS layer but instead involves cutting as much skin as possible and pulling hard, then tension becomes a major factor, and scars can end up being large because of the pulling force.

In fact, this applies to cases where someone ends up with a hypertrophic scar that looks like a keloid even though they are not predisposed to keloids.

What matters in a facelift is not cutting away a lot of skin.

Rather, it is important to firmly dissect the deeper SMAS layer and other tissues away from resistance and lift them effectively.

Other factors that also influence scars include skin type, genetic factors, age, and lifestyle habits such as smoking and sun exposure, all of which can affect the appearance of the scar after surgery.

The doctor’s role is to perform the surgery using the proper method so that as little scarring as possible occurs, and to take the time to close the wound carefully and thoroughly.

However, no matter how well the doctor does, if postoperative care is poor, it becomes meaningless.

The patient’s role is also important.

After surgery, using silicone scar sheets or gel ointment, applying sunscreen, avoiding direct sunlight, and strictly following the operating surgeon’s instructions can never be emphasized too much.

In addition,

if the scar is noticeable or unsatisfactory, you can consider treatments such as laser therapy, microneedling, or surgical scar revision.

However, rather than these follow-up treatments, what matters most is creating an environment that minimizes scarring from the very beginning.

I hope you choose a clinic that performs surgery with the proper method so that you do not end up worrying too much about scars after surgery.

When making your choice, it may help to ask questions after understanding the surgeons’ techniques, and select the place that feels right to you.

If you’re curious about the facelift recovery of a patient with very severe skin sagging,

please also click and read the post at the link below.

https://blog.naver.com/youngkeeyoumd/223379329569

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Roy Plastic Surgery complies with the Medical Service Act. The photos in this post were taken under the same conditions, and were taken with the patient’s prior consent. Also, after plastic surgery or procedures, side effects such as bleeding, infection, and inflammation may occur depending on the individual, so caution is required.

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