A neck lift surgery is a cosmetic procedure that removes excess skin and fat around your jawline, leaving you with a more youthful look and defined jaw. However, you may lose youth contours in your neck due to many factors such as genes, gravity, and stress. Many people do a neck lift to make their neck area match their upper facial appearance to fix these problems.
Many surgeries can be performed along with the neck lift, brow lift, fat transfer, or eyelid surgery.
What is the recovery time for a neck lift?
It may take you around two or three weeks to fully recover from a neck lift surgery; anyway, you should know that you could return to work after only one week of surgery. Bruising and swelling usually fade in a couple of weeks. It would help if you did not worry about surgery scars since they are hidden under the chin or around the contours of the ears. Recovery time in this procedure highly depends on following the surgeon’s post-surgery instructions carefully. However, you can expect the pain, swelling, and bruising to resolve within two weeks after a neck lift surgery.
Neck lift recovery week by week
Many patients have concerns about the neck lift recovery period. We will clear things up by taking a closer look into the neck lift recovery timeline week by week.
The first week of neck lift surgery:
On the surgery day, you have to stay in the hospital for several hours to ensure that you won’t suffer from any reactions to the anesthetic. Real recovery begins on day two when you get home; you would start feeling some soreness in your neck. We advise you to sleep on your back with your head elevated about your heart, get as much rest as possible, eat healthy foods, and change your bandages to enhance your healing process.
The second week of neck lift surgery:
Many people return to their work after the beginning of the second week after a neck lift surgery; of course, that depends on your work in the first place. In this week, you can be more active but not too active. Pain will not be a problem during this time; keep sleeping on your back and follow your doctor’s order to achieve the best possible results.
Third week of neck lift surgery:
You will notice a decrease in the swelling and bruising around your neck; your scars are mostly healed. However, your surgeon’s approval is required to go back to the normal exercise routine and intense activities. At this point, we get to see some of the results, but do not worry; they are final. Keep eating healthy food, and stay away from stress as much as possible since it can really endanger your surgery’s final results.
Fourth week of neck lift surgery:
During this time, you should expect steady healing as your bruising and swelling would disappear significantly. Your neck will look more attractive, and nobody will notice your scars at this point. Regular and daily activity can be fully resumed; you can be more active as you look and feel better. However, you should ask your doctor for any additional information and contact him if you felt anything weird during your recovery weeks.
Neck lift recovery tips
Patients recover from the same surgery in different ways; however, few tips work on every patient during his neck lift recovery:
- Ask a trusted friend to help you on the first day.
Since you cannot drive home, prepare food, and take the medications by yourself. Asking a trustworthy friend to help you during this hard time is an excellent idea.
- Prepare your home for the recovery process.
Rest is essential for your healing; it is wise to create a comfortable place in your home to relax after your procedure. In addition, people usually stocking their kitchen with pre-made meals, making a nest on the bed or sofa, having enough entertainment, such as good books, great Netflix shows, or anything that can help you forget the pain and feel comfortable again.
- Sleep with your head elevated, and relax as much as you can.
In recovery time, your body uses all its energy for healing. We encourage you to move from time to time to avoid the formation of blood clots, but without getting yourself tired doing that. Sleep with your head elevated helps reduce the swelling and improves your blood circulation making your healing even faster.
- Avoid extensive exercise, steamy showers or baths, and the sun for a few weeks.
It’s not recommended to resume an exercise routine for at least 2 weeks. Also, steamy baths or showers are not recommended because steam can prevent wound healing. Taking care of your skin will improve your overall results and make you feel happy about your appearance again.
How painful is the neck lift recovery process?
After getting a neck lift procedure, patients will experience some soreness and discomfort feeling in their neck. However, this can be easily managed by taking painkillers. A neck lift is considered one of the simplest and low-pain cosmetic procedures. Surgeons will use tape and bandages at the incision spots to minimize discomfort and swelling.
How to speed up healing after a neck lift?
To speed up the healing process after getting a neck lift, you must keep your head elevated, sleep on your back all the time, stay hydrated and eat enough protein, keep the incisions clean, dry, and protected from sunlight, take multivitamins in addition to following all your doctor orders.
References:
https://www.healthgrades.com/right-care/cosmetic-procedures/what-to-expect-after-a-neck-lift
https://www.plasticsurgery.org/cosmetic-procedures/neck-lift/recovery
