Facial Plastic Surgery: What to Expect During Your Recovery

Regardless of what people think of how we look, we are more often than not our worst critics, fixating on every perceived imperfection we have and leading to the urge for millions of people to try to change how they look. The constant exposure of our faces and bodies in social media through pictures at events, selfies, and conferencing while seeing ourselves only reinforces whatever we don’t like in our appearance.

This has led to an increase in plastic surgeries with nearly 1.5 million procedures done as recently as 2022, and nearly 350,000 of those done for work on the face. However, many people get facial plastic surgery for health reasons as well, and whichever reason you’re having it done you should have some idea of what to expect from recovery.

If you’re considering work to correct a medical problem or want to improve your appearance through facial plastic surgery in the West Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia, area, Dr. Shivan Amin and his team at Midtown ENT can help.

Types of surgery we offer

Here are our options for facial plastic surgery for functional, reconstructive, or cosmetic treatments:

Blepharoplasty: this is eyelid surgery done when you have drooping lids, under-eye bags, or puffy areas around the eye

Brow lift: helps you look younger by tightening loose skin on your forehead to lift your brows

Rhinoplasty: commonly known as a nose job, this can be cosmetic, functional, or reconstructive, such as treating deviated septums or correcting breathing issues

Chin surgery: also known as genioplasty, this may consist of either chin augmentation or reduction and may be done with rhinoplasty to keep both proportionate

Otoplasty: this is a form of ear surgery that corrects protruding or misshapen ears or otherwise changes their size, shape, or position

Cleft lip and palate surgery: a cleft palate or lip is a birth defect that causes this part of the face to not develop properly, and this procedure corrects it

Reconstructive and cosmetic treatments can often be combined, and many of these treatments will require grafts (skin or cartilage), as well as skin flaps, to perform the work needed.

Recovery expectations

The actual recovery time will change for each procedure, as some methods are more or less invasive than others, which affects healing. Here are some general things to expect while recovering:

Healing from incisions

A common thing that happens in all these procedures is bruising, bleeding, and swelling from incisions, which often means resting (facing up and getting plenty of it to heal) with your head elevated to reduce these issues. Cold compresses can be used to help reduce swelling. Medications to manage possible surgical site infections from germs and bacteria are frequently prescribed.

Managing pain

Pain relievers are prescribed to help with the pain in most cases, but how long you stay on them depends on the extent of the work done and your pain threshold.

Bandaging

Surgical dressing will be applied after surgery, and during follow-ups, you will have it changed to help prevent infections and help the incisions heal effectively.

When you’ll feel ready to go out in public

This will mainly depend on how long it takes for sutures to be removed, and how far along your healing is. It can take weeks for things to start looking normal but months before things have completely healed.

Expectations will also vary with your current health, any conditions that may affect getting surgery, or other concerns unique to you. If you’re considering facial plastic surgery and have concerns or questions, make an appointment with Dr. Amin and Midtown ENT today to get informed and move forward to get the look you want.