Everything You Need to Know to Minimize Scarring After a Face Lift

Loose jowls, sagging skin, fine lines, and coarse wrinkles are just some of the common complaints we hear from men and women who visit our Victorville cosmetic surgery practice to learn more about their facial rejuvenation options. During the initial consultation, we often tell them about their face lift options. Whenever we mention face lift, many patients would express their concern about scarring following surgery. 

While scarring will always occur whenever the skin sustains damage, understanding the factors affecting scarring will help you reduce its appearance following a face lift procedure.

• Age – As we get older, the body’s supply of collagen also diminishes. Collagen is one of the main protein components in your skin which makes it look supple and naturally youthful. Low levels of collagen could significantly affect your body’s ability to reduce scarring following surgery.

• Skin tone and/or racial background – Fair-skinned individuals tend to have more obvious cases of scarring while individuals with dark skin tones tend to develop keloid scars.

• Sunlight exposure – As much as possible, it is best to cover the operated area when you need to go outdoors. If it’s a difficult area to cover, you might want to use sunscreen. Better yet, avoid the outdoors until the wound has completely healed.

• Smoking and drinking habits – This is why we recommend avoidance of smoking and alcohol consumption before plastic surgery. Apart from scarring, both habits can increase one’s risk of developing complications following face lift.

• Nutrition and hydration – Emphasis on protein intake following surgery has to do with protein’s role in skin healing. On the other hand, making sure that you are well-hydrated throughout recovery will also reduce your chances of scarring.

• Chronic illness – Individuals with existing chronic illnesses have compromised immune system which in turn could prolong healing and increase the risk of scarring.

What You Can Do to Reduce Face Lift Scarring

While you can’t control all the aforementioned factors, there are still a lot of ways you can do to avoid scarring:

• Proper wound care is one of the main factors that can influence whether or not scars will be noticeable following a face lift. Keeping incisions dry and clean should be a priority. Taking antibiotics as instructed is also important, including watching out for signs of infection such as redness, tenderness, and swelling.

• Avoid spending time outdoors while recovering.

• Talk to your surgeon about scar reducing creams or ointments that you can apply while recovering.

By and large, obvious scarring after a face lift can be prevented. If you’d like to know more about scarring and what you can do to prevent it from happening, contact us at (760) 240-2444 or fill out this contact form. We look forward to your visit!