Facelift Questions to Ask Your Doctor

As you consider whether or not you want to proceed with a facelift you probably have a lot of questions that you want to have answered. Instead of going in with unorganized ideas and questions put together a list, sorted by topic. This will make sure that you cover everything and ensure that you walk away feeling confident that you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.

Preparing for Surgery

Having a facelift isn't typically something that is decided one day and carried out the next. There are steps that need to be taken to get your body ready. Ask your doctor about what you will need to take care of before the day of your surgery. Physicians want to make sure that you are a good candidate and are in good health and able to deal with the anesthesia. Most also recommend that you take some type of antibiotic to combat any type of infection.

The Procedure

You want to know what to expect while the facelift is taking place. A lot of this depends on what type of anesthesia will be used and whether or not you are planning to be conscious. Ask about all of the options that you have and find out which one will work best for you. Find out how long the procedure will take so that you can plan to have someone drop you off and pick you up or wait for you in the office.

The Recovery

Most questions about a facelift center on the recovery. You want to know just what you are going to be able to do and what you will need to avoid. How much time will you need to take off from work? How should you manage the pain? When will the follow up appointment be? When can you continue your workout routine? While he may not have specific answers to some of these questions until after the procedure you can get some idea. Ask everything that you want to know so that you can prepare yourself. When you go into any operation prepared you tend to feel more at ease and more relaxed.

Finances

Other questions tend to center around the financial aspect of a facelift. You need to know what the total bill will be so that you can make plans to save or make arrangements for payment. Find out if the office will finance any part of the procedure and how much time you have to pay it off. Also, if you are considering any other plastic surgery operations you may want to talk about how much you would save if you had them done at the same time. This is one area that you don't want to end up with any surprises.

Results

Everyone also wants to have an idea of what they are going to look like at the end of the procedure. This might be difficult for you physician to show you exactly, but he may be able to show you a photo that can be manipulated to see the differences. He may be able to show you in a mirror at an appointment. Either way, it is okay to ask how much of a change you are going to see.