Getting a facelift can have amazing results. During this procedure, a surgeon will make an incision in the patient’s face and tighten the muscles underneath the skin. The procedure can result in a more youthful and radiant face with tighter skin and fewer wrinkles. Recovering from this procedure can put a halt on many aspects of your life, including getting your hair dyed or highlighted. There is always a risk that the chemicals in the dye will accidentally touch the incision site and cause infection or inflammation. Because of this risk, we recommend that you wait until the incisions from your facelift have fully healed before you get your hair colored.

At our practice, we strive to be as precise as possible during every procedure. We make the smallest incision we can in order to minimize recovery time. However, even the most precise and carefully executed procedure leaves the patient with some bruising and swelling afterwards.

Every patient will have some facial bruising and swelling once the procedure is finished, and scabs tend to form on the incision site during the healing process. The amount of bruising, swelling, and scabbing caused by this procedure varies from patient to patient, but it generally takes a few weeks to fully heal. For some patients, however, recovery may take over a month.

During the recovery process, you should relax and avoid doing anything that may irritate the wounds or cause the stitches or scabs to reopen. For the first week after a facelift, it’s best to rest and limit your movement. Ideally, you shouldn’t drive or travel by airplane for the first week after this procedure. As discussed above, some people heal fully in as little as two weeks, while others can take much longer.