Who wants to look like that? Working with a reputable plastic surgeon and following guidance before and after surgery can yield a beautiful, natural-looking result.
Farzin Kerendian, DO, expert board-certified cosmetic and general surgeon with Desired Beauty Surgical and Medical Center, his practice in the Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles and in Bakersfield, California, provides the following pointers that can help you achieve the most beautiful, flattering, and natural-looking facelift possible.
Experience matters
Don’t be afraid to ask the surgeon about his qualifications. Are they board-certified in cosmetic surgery? (Dr. Kerendian is.) Experience matters. How many facelifts do they perform in a month? A year? (Dr. Kerendian has performed thousands of successful surgeries.)
Personal referrals from your primary care doctor or from friends who have undergone facial plastic surgery can be helpful.
If you’re not comfortable with the first surgeon you interview, keep looking. You should feel comfortable with the surgeon’s personality as well as their skills and background before committing to surgery.
At Desired Beauty Surgical and Medical Center, Dr. Kerendian conducts a medical exam, asks you about your goals, examines your skin quality, and evaluates your bone structure. Using your feedback and his knowledge, he proposes a course of action and explains what he would recommend, given your specific case.
Review before-and-after photos
Dr. Kerendian explains the proposed procedure in depth during your consultation and lets you know what kind of results you should expect. He has before-and-after photos here on his website, but during your consultation, he shows you the results of patients who have a facial shape and bone structure similar to yours.
That way, you can get a realistic picture of how your face is going to look once the healing takes place.
Fix drooping eyelids during a facelift
Along with sagging cheeks, have your upper eyelids started to droop downward to your eyelashes? If you have drooping upper eyelids, Dr. Kerendian may recommend having a blepharoplasty to repair them.
When your eyelids are drooping to the point of interfering with your vision, your insurance company should cover that portion of the surgery, because it’s a medical issue.
Your neck should ‘match’ your face
A facelift without attention to the neck and/or chin when needed is going to look incongruous. Your face may have the appearance of a woman in her 30s or 40s, but sagging, ribbed skin on your neck or a double chin can look very out of place.
In that case, Dr. Kerendian may recommend a neck lift and/or chin lift or a chin augmentation. They’re extensions of the facelift and minor procedures that can make you look years younger.
Having these procedures done at the same time saves you recovery time and the expense and inconvenience of separate operations.
Follow all written pre-op and post-op instructions
Now is the time to pay close attention to each instruction you’re given — both before and after the surgery. Dr. Kerendian gives you a list of blood-thinning medications and herbs to avoid, including aspirin and ginkgo biloba.
If you smoke, you need to stop in the weeks preceding the operation. Dr. Kerendian encourages you to join a cessation program, because smoking damages your skin. The toxins in cigarette smoke harm collagen and elastin, important proteins in your skin that keep it looking youthful.
You’ve just invested a lot of time and effort in your appearance. Why risk ruining the doctor’s handiwork?
Arrange for a family member or friend to take you home after the surgery. Plan ahead for a couple of weeks of restful recuperation time. You won’t be able to do normal household chores, so plan accordingly.
For example, you can’t bend down while you’re healing, so emptying the dishwasher or picking up a toddler is a no-no.
To schedule a consultation with Dr. Kerendian on how a facelift can erase more than a decade from your appearance, call Desired Beauty Surgical and Medical Center in Beverly Hills or Bakersfield, California, or book an appointment online.
You can also send a message to Dr. Kerendian and the team here on the website.
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