Facelift Scar Healing Reviews
A well performed facelift surgery with minimal tension on skin will leave minimally noticeable incision lines. It takes about 8 weeks to see a smooth incision lines.
It should be mentioned that individuals with history of keloid formation or darker skin tend to have more noticeable incision lines. (Kevin Sadati, DO, Orange County Facial Plastic Surgeon)
Scar healing is a process that takes 1 year to complete.
The first 3 months are normally the most objectionable and the incisions appear pink, inflamed, and thick.
Over the subsequent 3-9mo, they significantly soften, lighten, and become less noticeable.
If one side is having significant differences from the other, I would have your plastic surgeon take a look. Scar healing is rarely perfectly symmetric, but it is also uncommon to have major differences from side to side. (Bryan Correa, MD, Houston Plastic Surgeon)
The incisions gradually become less noticeable with good postoperative care, such as avoiding the sun & smoking. Most face lift healing occurs within the first couple months, but the incisions continue to improve up to a year.
The facial incisions will never completely disappear, but should be less visible. Facial scarring may occur for many reasons. Speak to a face lift plastic surgeon for your facelift surgery. (Houtan Chaboki, MD, Washington DC Facial Plastic Surgeon)
Normally it takes about 6-8 weeks for scars to be inconspicuous if they are designed well pre-operatively. (Rod J. Rohrich, MD, Dallas Plastic Surgeon)
Careful placement of incisions in natural creases in front of the ears, in the skin on the back of the ears, and in the hairline around the ears will camouflage the scars.
Make-up can be used about one week post-op. Although scars are always present, ultimately they will barely be visible with the use of careful, meticulous technique. (Richard W. Fleming, MD, Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon)
Scars will improve over time over a two year period. FOllow the advise of your surgeon. Unfavorable scars can be revised after a year. (Jeff Angobaldo, MD, Dallas Plastic Surgeon)
Disappearance of Facelift scars
Scars on the face fade much quicker than scars elsewhere. Even so, they will remain somewhat red for up to 2-3 months. You can, however, camouflage this redness rather easily beginning the day after the sutures are removed.
Healing Scars from a Facelift
The initial redness takes about 3 months to resolve. As time goes on, the incisions will continue to mature. At 1 year the preauricular ( in front of the ear) incisions will look quite good. The postauricular ( behind the ear) may take a little longer.
You should be able to use make up for camouflage after 1 week. Rarely, an incision may need some revision or kenelog (steroid) injections. (Oleh Slupchynskyj, MD, FACS, New York Facial Plastic Surgeon)
The single most important issue is your skin color. Patients who have fair skin and fair eyes tend to have the incisions fade very quickly. At the other extreme are patients with dark skin and dark eyes who take the longest.
This is especially where the experience of the surgeon will make a huge difference in how quickly the incisions fade. (Nathan Mayl, MD (retired), Fort Lauderdale Plastic Surgeon)
All scars mature with time. Although they improve gradually , scars achieve full maturity around 8-12 months after surgery. Scars do NOT disappear. Scars are permanent. For this reason, you should get the best and most hidden scars possible. (Peter A. Aldea, MD, Memphis Plastic Surgeon)
It is an important goal in my practice to have your facial scars from facelift surgery well hidden in your hairline. Most clients wear their normal hairstyle and return to our office in 6 days ready to get stitches removed.
Facelift surgery is a very common procedure in my practice and I do not have clients who are unhappy with the incisions. I believe the placement of the incision to be one of most important signs of quality of your surgeon. (John Ward, MD (retired), Phoenix Plastic Surgeon)
The scars from a facelift take time to heal. Both sides often heal differently and this is normal. Give it time for the scars and the hair to thicken up.
The body is asymmetric — so healing may be asymmetric. One side of your face may heal a little faster, have a little less swelling, etc. in the first few months.
Scars from facelift surgery will undergo changes in appearance as part of the normal healing process, which may take up to a year or longer. However, if you are worried about the appearance of the scars or have any open areas in the skin, you should have your plastic surgeon examine you to make sure there is no other issue. (Olivia Hutchinson, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)
The incsions should be partially healed by 2 weeks. The complete healing process for the incisions takes several months. They appear very red. This may due to your skin type or other issues. (Andres Bustillo, MD, FACS, Miami Facial Plastic Surgeon)
Incisional healing is usually in a few weeks, provided there was uncomplicated healing. Scars then take one year to fully mature and fade to normal skin color. Sometimes you can see delayed healing from poor circulation to a skin edge or suture reactions. (Hayley Brown, MD, FACS, Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon)
Facial incisions are usually healed at the surface in about 10 days. It appears that you have some delay in healing. The face well heal but you may have scar quality the is not ideal. I would give the incision up to 12 months to correct it self before I recommend an invasive revision.Along the way to scar maturity you can inject steroids and/or use silicone sheeting to improve final scar quality. (Earl Stephenson, Jr., MD, DDS, FACS, Atlanta Plastic Surgeon)
Most face lift scars heal extremely well with time. The key to having well healed scars that fade beautifully with time is to minimize tension on the skin closure
It is true that scarring after a face lift, or any procedure for that matter, takes time to mature. The inflammatory phase of wound healing is peaking at about 4-6 weeks, and so this is the time that the redness of scars may seem the worst.