Guide:
How To Get The Best Mini Facelift Results
If non-surgical facial rejuvenation treatments such as fillers or Botox are no longer cutting it, but you’re not quite ready for a full facelift, a mini facelift may be the best solution.
What’s the difference between a mini facelift and full facelift? This less invasive procedure involves shorter incisions, a shorter recovery time, a lower cost, and less pain than a traditional facelift. But how do you get the best mini facelift result possible?
Choosing a board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in facial rejuvenation is essential to achieving the best mini facelift. Your actions throughout recovery also play a valuable role in the quality of your results. We’ve listed the 8 best actions after a mini facelift to ensure you get the best results possible and make your investment in an anti-aging procedure worth it.
1) Follow Pre And Post-Op Instructions
During your preoperative appointment with your facelift surgeon and nurse, you will be given detailed instructions on preparing for your surgery, and how to take care of yourself afterward. Follow these instructions carefully and stay on schedule with your follow-up appointments to get the best possible results.
2) Keep Your Head Elevated
For the first few weeks following your mini facelift, you should avoid side sleeping or resting in any position that puts pressure on your face. To limit postoperative complications such as pain, inflammation, or infection, sleep on your back with your head elevated 30 degrees. You can do so by stacking a few pillows.
3) Get Plenty Of Rest
It may sound like common sense, but get your rest! Adequate sleep is crucial to helping your body repair and regenerate post-surgery. Keep it up in the long-term too, because sleep helps maintain your results and keeps your skin looking young and healthy.
4) Eat Healthy & Stay Hydrated
Weight fluctuations change the appearance of your face, and if you gain or lose a significant amount of weight, you could disrupt your mini facelift results. Maintain a healthy weight with a balanced diet full of protein, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to achieve and maintain the best mini facelift outcome.
Don’t forget eating nutritious foods and drinking enough water is essential to your mini facelift recovery as it speeds up your body’s ability to heal.
5) Avoid Strenuous Exercise During Recovery
One of the most important steps to recovery after any facelift procedure is taking it easy and allowing your body to heal. You should avoid physically demanding activities for the first 3-4 weeks after your mini lift to avoid negatively affecting your results or prolonging your recovery.
Try to minimize mental stress as well, because mental health plays just as valuable of a role in your physical health when recovering from facelift surgery, as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons says.
6) Avoid Smoking And Drinking Alcohol
Smoking is never good for your health. It damages your skin, resulting in premature aging, reduces blood flow, and increases the possibility of complications during and after surgery. Alcohol is also a blood thinner, so avoid both smoking and drinking alcohol for at least 2 weeks before and after your mini facelift.
Permanently quitting smoking and limiting alcohol consumption improves the appearance of your skin in the long term and helps you maintain your facelift results.
7) Take Proper Care Of Your Incisions
Taking care of your incisions after surgery is vital to a healthy recovery and achieving the best results. Throughout your mini facelift recovery, you should keep your incisions clean and moisturized with saline and ointments such as petroleum jelly. This will ensure your scars heal as unnoticeable as possible rather than thick and red.
8) Maintain a medical-grade skincare routine and avoid sun exposure
If you haven’t already, now is the time to work with a skincare professional to develop a personalized skincare regimen using medical-grade products. This will help protect and improve the appearance of your skin overall, which in turn will enhance the appearance of your mini facelift results.
Partnering with an aesthetician or dermatologist is the best way to build your skincare routine, as they can tailor each product to your skin type, age, and specific skin concerns.
Once you choose the best products for your skin, moisturize daily to keep your skin hydrated and exfoliate to remove dead skin cells. This will help you maintain the best mini facelift results.
Sun protection is just as important to your skincare routine as moisturizer. Sun exposure can cause premature aging and skin damage issues such as hyperpigmentation. This can negatively impact your mini facelift results, so try to minimize sun exposure, wear protective clothing such as hats, and use (and reapply!) broad-spectrum SPF daily. According to RealSelf, the longevity of mini facelift results is typically 5-10 years depending on how seriously you take sun protection, as sun damage can increase laxity.
Preparing For Mini Facelift
As important as it is to take care of yourself and follow your doctor’s post-operative instructions after surgery, being properly prepared leading up to your mini lift is equally as important. Here are our tips for being prepared for your short-scar facelift:
- Be sure to ask your surgeon about their experience with mini facelifts and plastic surgery in general.
- Research reviews from your surgeon’s past patients to ensure they are happy with their results and style of care.
- Look at before and after photos by your surgeon to ensure their abilities meet your expectations.
- Ask your surgeon “What is a mini facelift?” during your consultation to ensure you understand what the procedure involves, and whether it is right for you.
- Get any necessary lab tests requested by your surgical team.
- Prep your skin with any products recommended by your doctor.
- Avoid taking NSAIDs and herbal supplements for 2 weeks leading up to your surgery as they may increase complications with bleeding or bruising.
- Avoid smoking and drinking alcohol for two weeks before and after your mini facelift.
- Try to keep your stress levels low. Going into any type of surgery feeling stressed can have an impact on how your body heals.
Are you ready to find out if the mini facelift procedure is right for you at your current age? Request a consultation with NJ and NY board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Gordon Kaplan to discuss your goals and receive a professional assessment and personalized treatment plan.
