Facial Rejuvenation
One of the most popular surgeries is face lift surgery. The extent of a face lift will depend largely on the candidate, both in terms of their expectations and what is feasible.
'Full facial rejuvenation'
This involves endoscopic brow lift; mid face lift; neck lift and bottom eyes. This is the whole package. It will result in a much improved skin tautness and smoothing of lines. Patients often think that this will negate the need for other anti ageing injections like Botox and fillers. However, the underlying muscles will be restored, but external wrinkles although better and smoother may still further benefit from Botox to further enhance the result. Patients with severe sun damage and deep wrinkles may benefit from Erbian laser skin resurfacing at the time of their face lift. This is a deep skin peeling and greatly improves the surface of the skin.
Recovery
As this is the most extensive of all the face lift surgeries, the recovery time is the longest. Immediately upon waking, there will be a bandage around your head which is quite tight and uncomfortable. If you have opted for the Erbium laser as well then your face will be sore and red and covered with a cling film( this will be removed after a few hours). There will be no pain, but patients do report feeling uncomfortable. There will be stitches in the top and bottom eyes (these will be removed after 5 days) The first 24 hours is just a time to rest, the face will continue to swell until 24 hours after surgery, that will be the peak of swelling and we use ice and arnica to speed the reduction of the swelling. Patients will not be allowed to drink for about 3 hours after surgery, but as soon as you are able to drink, then they system should be flushed with plenty of water. After a general anaesthetic some patients experience nausea, but this is usually minimal as we routinely give anti nausea drugs. Usually the surgery time will be between 4-7 hours, therefore a catheter is normally fitted and left in place till the following day. Patients will be required to stay in the hospital overnight. A line will be left in place for several hours after surgery to facilitate easy administration of antibiotics and pain relief drugs. Antibiotics are usually given for one week after surgery. We would recommend a course of probiotics once the antibiotics course has finished to replace lost gut flora.
If erbium laser has been used, it will gradually scab across your face. This is quite shocking to look at but the results will be worth, you will be given rich emollient cream and after two days you can shower and gradually skin will peel off revealing a fresh young complexion. You may want to bring a long scarf with you to cover to go home from the hospital and some big sunglasses! Complete recovery from the Erbium laser is difficult to predict , but between 7-10 days . Face lift surgery alone needs a recovery of around 5 days. After the first 24 hours there is a rapid recovery, but it is a time to rest and recuperate, so bring a good book and be prepared for ME time! Scarring will be minimal there will be scars across the fron t of the ear and behind the ear, but these are virtually invisible after 2 weeks to one month. DR Nazim Cerkes spent ten years performing micro surgery, so has vast experience on invisible stitching.
Top and Bottom Blepharoplasty (Eye Lid Surgery)
This is a minimal surgery and can be done under local anaesthetic. Surgery time is around one hour and stitches are removed after 5 days. Bottom eyes report more healing time and depending on the amount of surgery can be red and weepy for 10 days. We offer the option of eyebrow elevation during top eye surgery which involves a stitch above the eyebrow to stop the eyebrow drooping and give a brow lift effect. Also with bottom eyes, an additional fat spread will enhance those patients who experience a hollowing and darkness under the eyes.
Mid Face Lift
An ideal candidate is one who had had previous neck surgery and wishes to achieve tautness across the cheeks and reduction of deep nasal labial lines. Its gives a youthful lift to the cheeks and is normally part of complete facial rejuvenation, but can be performed independently with or without upper and lower eyes. Recovery time around 5 days.
Neck Lift Surgery
This corrects a jowly and crepey neck, it is a very easy surgery for the patient, it is mostly skin surgery but can also involve liposuction to the chin. Recovery time around 3 days.
Endoscopic Brow Lift
This surgery is very often combined with lower eye surgery. An ideal candidate will have drooping of the eyebrow and a wrinkled forehead. Many patients are unable to achieve the desired result with upper eye surgery alone as they have sunken eyes and removal of skin will not correct the deformity. Endoscopic brow lift will smooth forehead lines, but also lift the eyebrows creating a dramatic improvement on droopy eyes. There are 4 small incisions in the hair line and tiny camera guides the surgeon to lift the brow skin and reposition the hair line higher up with staples and screws which are removed after 14 days ( usually in the UK) This is a very easy surgery for the patient and can be performed under local anaesthetic. Recovery time 2-3 days.