Why Does Recovery After Facial Contouring Surgery Take 6 Months?

Hello. I’m Director Jo Hyun-woo of Inbit Plastic Surgery.

Today, I’ll talk about the recovery period after contouring surgery, which many patients are curious about.

The recovery period after surgery, as described in many textbooks, is a period that most patients go through in the same way.

You can think of it as the time during which our body fights swelling after surgery and wins.

Swelling continues until 72 hours after surgery, then begins to subside around day 4, and after about a week, most of the major swelling goes down.

And after about a month, the swelling has subsided enough for you to see the effects of the surgery.

3D cheekbone reduction surgery, square jaw surgery, chin surgery

In fact, the process by which swelling in our body recovers is the same as the wound-healing process.

If you analyze the chart, it says that the swelling mostly goes down after about 2 to 3 months.

Then you may ask, "Is the swelling after all surgeries the same?"

In fact, swelling from all surgeries is similar.

However, because the eyes are surgery on a small area, swelling may appear much less when viewed across the whole face.

In the case of facial contouring surgery, since almost the entire facial area is operated on, the swelling can appear even more severe.

Then another question may arise: "Are hospitals that promote less swelling lying?"

In fact, swelling is greatly influenced by each individual patient’s characteristics.

I have continued performing surgeries for more than 15 years, and even with the same surgery, there are clear differences between patients who swell a lot and those who swell very little.

Some people bleed a lot, some people’s blood does not clot easily, and if there is a lot of fat in the face, there may be a little more swelling. These kinds of differences can occur.

But the most important thing, I believe, is the "surgery time."

No matter how small the surgery is, if it takes a long time and the tissue is continuously stimulated during the operation, the swelling has no choice but to last longer.

Although facial contouring surgery is considered major surgery, if the actual operation takes about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, you will be able to recover with minimal swelling no matter how large the surgery is.

Therefore, I think hospitals that promote less swelling are being mentioned by doctors who are confident in their surgical skills.

Many people also ask about the "timing for opening the mouth during the recovery period."

For patients who have had cheekbone surgery, I tell them not to open their mouths wide for 6 weeks after surgery.

This is because the masseter muscle is attached to the cheekbone as well as the jawbone, so when you open your mouth, the movement of the zygomatic arch occurs and interferes with the bone hardening.

If you do not open your mouth wider than you would when yawning, there is no special problem.

If you take a CT scan about 6 weeks after surgery and confirm that the bone has fused properly, then by practicing opening your mouth wide, you should be able to open it as before within 2 weeks.

"When can I return to daily life?"

If recovery after surgery goes without major problems, I tell patients that returning to work is usually possible after about a week.

Of course, living at home with family is perfectly manageable even after just 3 to 4 days.

If you want there to be absolutely no visible sign that you had surgery, it would be good to think of about one month.

Today, I talked about the recovery period and swelling after surgery.

If you have any more questions, please visit for a consultation and ask, and I will explain in detail.

Thank you.