Plastic Surgery Procedures Index

FACELIFT (Rhytidectomy)

Procedure: Improving sagging facial skin, jowls, and loose neck skin by removing excess fat, tightening muscles, redraping skin. Most often done on men and women over 40.
Length: Several hours.
Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general.
In/Outpatient: Usually outpatient. Some patients may require short inpatient stay.
Side Effects: Temporary bruising, swelling, numbness and tenderness of skin; tight feeling, dry skin. For men, permanent need to shave behind ears, where beard-growing skin is repositioned.
Risks: Injury to the nerves that control facial muscles or feeling (usually temporary but may be permanent). Infection, bleeding. Poor healing; excessive scarring. Asymmetry or change in hairline.
Recovery: Back to work: 10 to 14 days. More strenuous activity: 2 weeks or more. Bruising: 2 to 3 weeks. Must limit exposure to sun for several months.
Duration of Results: Usually 5 to 10 years.

FACIAL IMPLANTS

Procedure: Change the basic shape and balance of the face using carefully shaped implants to build up a receding chin, add prominence to cheekbones, or reshape the jawline.
Length: 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general.
In/Outpatient: Usually outpatient. Occasionally overnight hospital stay.
Side Effects: Temporary discomfort, swelling, bruising, numbness and/or stiffness. In jaw surgery, inability to open mouth fully for several weeks.
Risks: Shifting or imprecise positioning of implant, or infection around it, requiring a second operation or removal. Excess tightening and hardening of scar tissue around an artificial implant ("capsular contracture"), causing unnatural shape.
Recovery: Back to work: about 1 week. Normal appearance: 2 to 4 weeks. Activity that could jar or bump face: 6 weeks or more.
Duration of Results: Permanent.

FOREHEAD LIFT (Browlift)

Procedure: Minimize forehead creases, drooping eyebrows, hooding over eyes, furrowed forehead and frown lines by removing excess tissue, altering muscles and tightening the forehead skin. May be done using the traditional technique, with an incision across the top of the head just behind the hairline; or with the use of an endoscope, which requires 3 to 5 short incisions. Most often done on people over 40.
Length: 1 to 2 hours.
Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general.
In/Outpatient: Usually outpatient.
Side Effects: Temporary swelling, numbness, headaches, bruising. Traditional method: Possible itching and hair loss.
Risks: Injury to facial nerve, causing loss of motion, muscle weakness, or asymmetrical look. Infection. Broad or excessive scarring.
Recovery: Back to work: 7 to 10 days, usually sooner for endoscopic forehead lift. More strenuous activity: several weeks. Full recovery from bruising: 2 to 3 weeks. Limit sun exposure for several months.
Duration of Results: Usually 5 to 10 years.

Procedure: Fill in balding areas with a patient's own hair using a variety of techniques including scalp reduction, tissue expansion, strip grafts, scalp flaps, or clusters of punch grafts (plugs, miniplugs and microplugs). Works best on men with male pattern baldness after hair loss has stopped.
Length: 1 to 3 hours. Some techniques may require multiple procedures over 18 months or more.
Anesthesia: Usually local with sedation. Flaps and tissue expansion may be done with general anesthesia.
In/Outpatient: Usually outpatient.
Side Effects: Temporary achy, tight scalp. Unnatural look in early stages.
Risks: Unnatural look. Infection. Excessive scarring. Failure to "take." Loss of scalp tissue and/or transplanted hair.
Recovery: Back to work: usually 2 to 5 days. More strenuous activities: 10 days to 3 weeks. Final look: may be 18 months or more, depending on procedure.
Duration of Results: Permanent.

Procedure: Smooth the face and smooth fine wrinkles using a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser device that treats layers of damaged skin. Softens lines around the eyes and mouth and minimizes facial scars and unevenly pigmented areas.
Length: A few minutes to 1 hour. May require more than 1 session.
Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general.
In/Outpatient: Usually outpatient, unless combined with other surgical procedures that require hospitalization.
Side Effects: Temporary swelling, discomfort. Lightening of treated skin. Acute sun sensitivity. Increased sensitivity to makeup. Pinkness or redness in skin that may persist for up to 6 months.
Risks: Burns or injuries caused by laser heat. Scarring. Abnormal changes in skin color. Flare-up of viral infections ("cold sores") and other infections (rare).
Recovery: Back to work: 2 weeks. More strenuous activities: 4-6 weeks. Complete fading of redness: 6 months or less. Return of pigmentation/light sun exposure: 6-12 months.
Duration of Results: Long-lasting, but does not stop aging. New wrinkles, expression lines may form as skin ages.

Procedure: Improve body shape by removing exercise-resistant fat deposits with a tube and vacuum device. Can be performed using the tumescent technique, in which targeted fat cells are infused with saline containing solution with a local anesthetic before liposuction to reduce post-operative bruising and swelling. Common locations for liposuction include chin, cheeks, neck, upper arms, above breasts, abdomen, buttocks, hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles.

For larger volumes of fat or for fibrous body areas, ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty (UAL) may be used. UAL is a new technique in which a ultrasound probe is inserted beneath the skin to "liquify" the fat before it is suctioned.
Length: 1 to 2 hours or more. UAL: 20-40 percent longer than traditional liposuction.
Anesthesia: Local, epidural, or general.
In/Outpatient: Usually outpatient. Extensive procedures may require short inpatient stay.
Side Effects: Temporary bruising, swelling, numbness, soreness, burning sensation. Tumescent: Temporary fluid drainage from incision sites. UAL: Larger incisions for cannula.
Risks: Asymmetry. Rippling or bagginess of skin. Pigmentation changes. Skin injury. Fluid retention. Excessive fluid loss leading to shock. Infection. UAL: thermal burn injury caused by the heat from the ultrasound device.
Recovery: Back to work: 1 to 2 weeks. More strenuous activity: 2 to 4 weeks. Full recovery from swelling and bruising: 1 to 6 months or more. Use of tumescent technique or UAL may decrease post-operative bruising and swelling.
Duration of Results: Permanent, with sensible diet and exercise.

Procedure: Reduce enlarged, female-like breast in men using liposuction and/or cutting out excess glandular tissue. (Sometimes covered by medical insurance.)
Length: 1 hour or more.
Anesthesia: General or local.
In/Outpatient: Usually outpatient.
Side Effects: Temporary bruising, swelling, numbness, soreness, burning sensation.
Risks: Infection. Fluid accumulation. Injury to the skin. Rippling or bagginess of skin. Asymmetry. Pigmentation changes (may become permanent if exposed to sun). Excessive scarring if tissue was cut away. Need for second procedure to remove additional tissue.
Recovery: Back to work: 3 to 7 days. More strenuous activity: 2 to 3 weeks. Swelling and bruising: 3 to 6 months.
Duration of Results: permanent

Procedure: Reshape nose by reducing or increasing size, removing hump, changing shape of tip or bridge, narrowing span of nostrils, or changing angle between nose and upper lip. May also relieve some breathing problems. (May be covered by insurance.)
Length: 1 to 2 hours or more.
Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general.
In/Outpatient: Usually outpatient.
Side Effects: Temporary swelling, bruising around eyes, nose and headaches. Some bleeding and stiffness.
Risks: Infection. Small burst blood vessels resulting in tiny, permanent red spots. Incomplete improvement, requiring additional surgery.
Recovery: Back to work: 1 to 2 weeks. More strenuous activities: 2 to 3 weeks. Avoid hitting nose or sunburn: 8 weeks. Final appearance: 1 year or more.
Duration of Results: Permanent.

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