What's recovery like?

Facelift recovery in general terms

How your recovery goes depends on the procedure and on you, and a surgeon who has examined you is the one to set expectations. The sources below cover facelift in general terms.

Where to read before you ask about recovery

Recovery questions are easier to ask once you have seen how a professional society answers the basics. One post takes up five common questions people have about getting a facelift, as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons frames them. A cosmetic surgery page from the Facial Plastic Surgery Center at Washington University in St. Louis shows the range of procedures a recovery plan could apply to.

Recovery planning also connects to the long view. Sun protection and skin health before and after surgery are worth raising, and the surgeon can say how they fit into your plan.

Recovery questions to bring to a consult

Raise these recovery points with your surgeon.

• Ask what the first days and weeks would look like for your procedure.
• Ask what you would need to arrange in advance.
• Find out which warning signs should prompt a call to the surgeon's office.

Your surgeon's instructions outrank general sources

Follow the instructions of your own surgeon over any general source. If their plan and a general source disagree, ask them about the difference before surgery, not after.