Facelift Recovery Timeline: What to Expect, Week by Week

A deep plane facelift repositions the deeper tissue layers of the face along with the skin, rather than just tightening the skin. The goal is a natural, long-lasting result without the pulled look.

Here’s the part patients don’t expect: healing time with a deep plane facelift is not longer, and in some cases it’s shorter, because we’re disrupting less tissue.

I also offer many minimally invasive approaches that use smaller incisions and cause less swelling. At your consultation, we’ll talk through which approach fits your face and your goals. If you’d like to compare options first, you can read about modern facial rejuvenation options in San Diego.

Most patients are surprised by how manageable this is. Facelifts are generally not a painful procedure, and there are a few reasons:

• Local anesthetic. We use local anesthetic during surgery, so less medicine is needed to keep you comfortable during the procedure, and you avoid the side effects of pain medications.
• A multimodal, non-narcotic approach. We layer several non-narcotic medications and techniques to manage discomfort holistically. Most patients are off narcotics by day 3.
• Early movement. You won’t spend your recovery in bed. More on that below.

The days of lying flat in bed for a week after surgery are over. We now know that’s not good for you, and I want you up and moving.

What I want you doing:

• Getting up and making yourself something to eat. Heat up soup, make a sandwich. (Not a five-course meal. Let’s not get ambitious.)
• Walking around the house and using the bathroom on your own
• Taking short walks outside, with sun protection

What I don’t want you doing:

• Vacuuming
• Heavy housework or chores
• Sex
• Anything else that gets your heart rate and blood pressure up

What to expect: The big head wrap comes off the day after your facelift. That’s also when your drain comes out. You’ll then move into your compression garment and start applying ointment to your incisions every day. You can wash your hair and take a full shower 48 hours after surgery. Your sutures come out at the end of the first week.

Someone with you: Plan to have someone stay with you for at least the first 48 hours. They can help with meals, medications, and rides to your follow-up visits.

Staying in San Diego: If you’re traveling from out of town, plan to stay in San Diego for at least one week after surgery, so we can see you for your early follow-up visits.

Meet your new accessory: the “jaw bra”

Your compression garment is sometimes called a jaw bra, and it’s one of the most important parts of your recovery. It helps your skin settle into the contour we created in surgery, and it reduces swelling.

The rule is simple: wear it 24/7 for two weeks. You can take it off for a short stretch, like a dinner out, but otherwise it stays on. It isn’t glamorous, but it works.

How to sleep after a facelift

Sleep on your back. Lying on your face or side will worsen swelling and can hurt your incisions, so plan on back sleeping for at least 3 to 4 weeks. A pillow on either side of you can help keep you from rolling over in your sleep.

By the end of week two, my patients tell me they feel about 80% back to normal. You’ll still have some residual swelling and some bruising, but you’ll look much more like yourself. Around this point, your jaw bra’s full-time job is done, and most patients return to work.

One happy patient put it this way:

“I was back to Zoom calls after one week and seeing my therapy patients in the office at two weeks.”

(Shared with the patient’s consent. Individual results vary.)

One caveat: If you add laser resurfacing or facial fat grafting to your facelift, plan for more time. Laser resurfacing treats the skin itself, so you may look worse before you look better. Fat grafting injects fat to smooth lines and improve skin quality, and it often brings extra swelling. With these add-ons, healing can stretch to about three weeks. The results are worth it, but it’s better to plan for the longer timeline than to be surprised by it.

If everything has healed well, you can start wearing makeup again. This is also when scar care begins. We use silicone gel and medical-grade skin care to help your incisions heal as well as they can. We’ll show you exactly how and when to use them, and adjust the routine as your incisions mature.

By the end of the first month, you should be ready for a big event, whether that’s a wedding, a reunion or a milestone birthday. Any swelling that’s left will be noticeable only to you and me.

Numbness: what to expect and what we do about it

Numbness can last several months. We give you a protocol to help improve it, which includes massage and topical treatments, and most patients don’t notice it.

Around weeks five to six, you can start light exercise, and sometimes sooner if you’re healing well. By week six, you’re back to all the activities of family life, full exercise and sex. One thing to know: the more active you are, the more your face may swell. Listen to your body, ease back in, and don’t let a first-day-back burst of enthusiasm undo your progress.

I never want to hold my patients back. We work with you to design a regimen that’s safe and fits your goals.

I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t say this. We live in one of the sunniest places in the country, and La Jolla beaches, Coronado afternoons and 70-degree days in January are all very hard to resist. Wear sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, and all of it, forever.

You just invested in a fresh face. Don’t hand the sun your deposit. Think of sunscreen as a cheap insurance policy on a very expensive result. Your future self, who is still glowing at the reunion, will thank you.