Thank you for your question.
You are asking a question about how long it is to wait after a facelift for procedures
like microdermabrasion and peels for your skin.
Well, certainly I can give you some guidance as to how to make that decision based on my
experience on how I guide my own patients.
A little bit of background, I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
I’ve been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
I perform the full range of face lifting surgery everything from suture suspension surgical
procedures all the way to standard SMAS, SMAS lifting as well as on the more advanced and
deeper deep plane face lifting with facial implants and fat grafting.
So, I think the point of explaining that to you helps you understand that the answer to
your question is it depends and what it depends on.
It depends on two variables: one is how extensive is the undermining of the skin of the facelift
procedure you are going to undergo.
And the second question is, what is your goal with those peels and microdermabrasion.
You see, a lot of times, people who are good candidates for face lifting surgery are also
people who are good candidates for some type of skin rejuvenation procedure at the time
of surgery and how that is determined is based on several factors.
But one very important factor is the level of surgery that is being performed.
So for example, if you are getting a procedure like a short scar facelift like an S lift
or MACS lift or suture suspension lift, then not much of the skin is being separated from
the underlying tissue.
So if that’s the case, then you can probably be more aggressive about when you can resume
these types of treatments.
If you are having a more extensive procedure, I would say you might want to wait longer.
Another issue with this is that when you have, let’s say something that is more of a traditional
face lifting procedure, let’s use that as kind of a happy medium, if you are doing a
more traditional face lifting procedure, very often you are undermining not just the face
but also the neck to get a face and neck lift.
A lot of times, this area becomes numb temporarily during the healing process.
So the feedback of being able to tell whoever is doing the procedure about how something
feels won’t be there.
So in a worst case scenario situation, if you’re getting somebody to do an aggressive,
let’s say, an aesthetician doing an aggressive microdermabrasion on an area where there is
numbness and you still don’t have return of blood supply, then you can imagine that
could be a problem in the healing process.
So in general, I tell people that allow swelling to resolve and to a degree which is typically
within the first month and I would say you will take it very light and have your surgeon
guide you.
In my practice, we have all these services under one roof.
We have everything from skincare products to a spa where we do light peels, treatments
like Hydrafacials and we have the full gamut of lasers from fractional to full ablative
laser resurfacing both Erbium and CO2.
So within our own facility, I am able to be hands on and guide the skincare afterwards
but generally I tend to be more on the conservative side and I say wait a little bit before doing
something more invasive than just using a good cleanser, a good moisturizer and maybe
something in the retinol family for some cell renewal and superficial skin renewal type
of treatment.
Since you did not provide a photo, the question you have to ask yourself is what are you trying
to achieve with those peels and microdermabrasion.
I would suspect you just want to maintain a good healthy complexion.
When you have a face lifting procedure, that is typically something that is separate from
the actual procedure itself but you want to maybe discuss with your surgeon what your
skin care plans would be afterwards.
If your surgeon doesn’t want to get involved in that type or level of aftercare, then I
would say just get some guidance and most likely your surgeon would want to be conservative
and maybe wait even longer before they are comfortable.
Again, it matters a lot what your outcome is and how extensive the undermining of the
skin is.
Discuss that with your surgeon and then move forward with a more comprehensive plan.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.