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Tips for Exercising After a Facelift

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After a facelift (or any surgery for that matter), many patients are eager to get back to their workouts. On top of trying to keep their health and physique in shape, most people enjoy the stress relief and refreshed feeling that comes from exercise. But it’s a difficult balance to strike because, while some exercise can help your recovery, too much exertion too soon will have the opposite effect and could cause dangerous complications or a less than ideal cosmetic result. The tips below can guide you back into your workout regimen.

Tips for Exercising After a Facelift

Listen to your surgeon’s recommendations.

First and foremost, it’s important to understand that everyone’s health, surgery, and healing rates are unique, so there’s no set timeline – it will vary with each person and with the extensiveness of their procedure. Before your facelift, you should discuss the surgeon’s post-surgery activity recommendations because these are tailored to your facelift recovery. You should also discuss this during your follow-up appointments, and I make sure my patients know that they can call me any time with questions.

Start with light exercise as early as possible.

You should begin light walking (like wandering around the house) as soon as possible after your surgery. This enhances your circulation, reducing the risk of a blood clot, without raising your heard rate or blood pressure (which can put you at risk for complications).

Expect to wait at least a month before engaging in any strenuous activity.

Keep in mind that this is only a general guideline, but sometimes it’s helpful for patients to have an idea of what to expect.

Start slow and gradually work up to your regular workout.

When you are well enough to start exercising, don’t try to “make up for lost time.” Start slow and gradually increase the difficulty and duration until you’re back to your regular routine. Many patients start with walking, then advance to light workouts on the elliptical machine before working up to running or other types of cardio, and finally weight-lifting.

Try stretching and/or yoga.

If you need some physical activity other than walking, stretching or sometimes yoga can be helpful. They can enhance your circulation and be a healthy part of your facelift healing process, but there are a few important rules to keep in mind. First, don’t strain yourself enough to raise your heart rate or blood pressure until your surgeon has found that you can do this safely. Second, don’t do any poses or stretches that lower your head below your heart, as this can increase swelling.

Listen to your body.

You know what exercise is supposed to feel like, and if you’re feeling pain when you work out after surgery (especially if it’s around the treatment area), your body is telling you to stop. Pushing yourself too hard will just slow down your recovery and make it take longer before you can be back to your full exercise regimen, or worse, it can lead to dangerous complications.

Use the same exertion rules for non-workout activities.

If your surgeon says you should avoid exercise that raises your heartrate or blood pressure, this doesn’t just apply to the gym. You also need to avoid any housework, errands, or other activities that stress your body until you’ve healed further.

Get in optimal shape before surgery.

Being strong and healthy before your facelift has a number of advantages. First, the healthier you are, the more likely you are to have a smooth and successful surgery and recovery. Second, if you’re just trying to maintain a healthy weight rather than lose weight, you’ll be less tempted to jump back into the gym too soon. Third, the more in-shape your body is before surgery, the easier it will be to get back to physical activity after you’ve healed.

All the tips above can be helpful guidelines, but rule #1 is to always listen to your surgeon’s specific recommendations. As a plastic surgeon, my job is far from over when my patient is done with surgery, so feel free to call my office with any questions you may have during your recovery. For more tips for cosmetic surgery patients, explore my blog and follow me, Dr. John LeRoy on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Patients’ Five Favorite Plastic Surgeries

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Every patient’s plastic surgery experience is unique, but it’s only natural to wonder if other people have had an experience similar to yours. Throughout the web, there are resources where patients can connect with other patients as well as board-certified plastic surgeons like me. There are also sites where patients can review cosmetic procedures – everything from Botox® injections to dental veneers. To find out what patients across the nation think about their procedures, we went onto one popular site to find the top five facial plastic surgeries with the best reviews:

Patients' Five Favorite Plastic Surgeries

#5: Facelifts

A traditional facelift can be a great option for patients with significant skin laxity and facial aging. On top of removing excess skin, the procedure lifts and repositions underlying tissue to a more youthful position to reduce facial hollows. It’s a comprehensive surgery that can take around ten years off a patient’s appearance.

#4: Eyelid Treatments

One of the most common cosmetic issues with the eyelids is “bags under the eyes,” and the most effective way to treat them is with lower eyelid surgery. When they aren’t caused by a lack of sleep or fluid retention, under-eye bags are created by protruding natural fat and sagging skin. Both of these causes can be addressed with lower eyelid surgery or my specialized in-office Band Aid Lower Eyelid Surgery. This also applies to upper eyelid surgery, which resolves excess skin above the upper eyelids.

#3: Liposuction Under the Chin

Regardless of a person’s body size, excess fat can accumulate under the chin, creating a “double chin,” as some people call it. For patients who are already at a healthy weight without loose skin but simply want a slimmer facial profile, liposuction can be very successful. The procedure uses a very narrow tube called a microcannula to remove excess fat and sculpt the area with more flattering contours. Because this is such a small area, I usually perform the surgery using my Band Aid Liposuction method, in-office with gentle numbing.

#2: Neck Lift

The neck is often neglected by patients who want to look younger. But because there is so much mobility and because the skin is naturally thin, the neck ages quickly. A neck lift removes excess sagging skin and repositions the underlying muscle and other tissue with a  more youthful shape.

#1: Lower Face Lifts like my Band Aid Mini Facelift

The Band Aid Mini Facelift is a specialized, minimally invasive procedure I developed and refined over the past 20 years. This surgery is performed in-office under local anesthesia, and it offers half the recovery time of a traditional facelift. With so many benefits, it’s no wonder this facelift receives such rave reviews.

It’s always helpful to interact with other people who are in a similar situation to you. Just remember that each person and each surgeon is unique, and the only way to know what procedure is right for you is to see a board-certified plastic surgeon. For more cosmetic surgery tips, follow me on my plastic surgery Facebook page, Twitter, and Google+.

How Much Does a Facelift Cost?

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We all have aspects of our appearance that we don’t love, whether it’s excess fat, signs of aging, an anatomical quirk, or what have you. So why isn’t everyone getting plastic surgery? While it actually is more common than most people realize, the cost is usually the largest issue that holds patients back. For that reason, the cost of cosmetic surgery is always one of the primary questions patients ask in an initial consultation. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in facelifts, I’m happy to offer a bit of insight to help you budget for plastic surgery.

How Much Does a Facelift Cost

Cost of a Facelift

There are a number of variables that affect the price of a cosmetic surgery, like the surgeon’s experience, the location of the office (because some metro areas have higher costs of living than others), the extensiveness of your procedure, and more. For this reason, a true “average” isn’t really achievable, but various sources have put the average cost of a facelift anywhere between $7,000 and $12,000. At my own plastic surgery practice, a traditional facelift generally costs between $7,000 and $7,500, although many patients choose to add other facial rejuvenation procedures into the surgery, like an eyelid lift, a brow lift, and/or liposuction under the chin. This will raise the price of the facelift, but it will be much less expensive than if you had received each procedure in a separate surgery.

There is, however, another option that is significantly less expensive. In fact, the vast majority of my facelift patients actually choose to have the Band Aid Mini Facelift instead. The Band Aid Mini Facelift is a procedure I developed and have been performing with great success for twenty years. It’s performed in-office with gentle numbing rather than general anesthesia, and this is possible because of advanced, minimally invasive techniques. On top of an easier surgical process, the Band Aid Mini Facelift also has a much easier recovery, with about half the recovery time and much less swelling, bruising, and scarring than a traditional face lift. While it’s not suitable for a more extreme degree of aging, the Band Aid Mini Facelift is actually a great option for nearly all of my patients, offering the ability to take as much as a decade off your appearance with minimal inconvenience. Because it’s performed in-office and is less time-consuming, the Band Aid Mini Facelift costs less than $5,000, compared to over $7,000 for a conventional facelift*.

Plastic Surgery Expenses

When you’re planning the financial side of your cosmetic surgery, it’s important to know that you won’t just have one transaction. In fact, there are a number of fees involved, and they all vary from one patient to the next, but when you schedule a plastic surgery consultation, you’ll receive a more specific outline of the expenses you can expect. The primary costs involved in cosmetic surgery include:

  • Surgeon’s fee
  • Fee to use the operating room
  • Anesthesia fees
  • Specialty compression garments to wear after the surgery
  • Prescription medications
  • Pre-surgical medical tests

It’s not surprising that some forms of plastic surgery can carry a hefty price tag considering the amount of time, sources, and training that is required to perform it. But while the overall cost may give you sticker-shock, my patients truly come to their follow-up appointments and future appointments raving about how thrilled they are with their results and how strongly they feel that their new confidence is worth the price. If you want to learn more about face lifts, my Band Aid Facelift, or other cosmetic surgery procedures, remember to follow me, Dr. John LeRoy on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

*Prices as of October 2017. Pricing may change in the future.