Facelift surgery is the go-to cosmetic procedure of choice for men and women whose physical age has exceeded their vitality. If these patients choose the right surgeon and follow recovery protocol, they can almost always wear their hair up after the procedure.
Years of overexposure to the sun and the elements and a less than perfect skincare regimen can, for the most part, be resolved in as few as 2-3 hours, though at a cost of anywhere from $8,000 – $10,000.
Yes, it’s a pretty penny to pay, but it offers years of age-reversing cosmetic work that allows you to put your best face forward both literally and figuratively.
People who feel they look good feel good.™
Apart from the cost of the surgery and its relatively short recovery timeline, scars that form along the various incision lines required of any facelift are the last downside to the exceptionally popular procedure.
Alas, these incisions and scars can be hidden in their early stages of recovery and near-disappearance, and great facelift recovery tips make for a safe and seamless few days.
But—
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Can You Wear Your Hair Up After a Facelift?
That, really, is all that matters.
Yes, you can wear your hair up after a facelift, but don’t do so before your incisions have fully healed. The incisions required in a facelift are (carefully) placed along the existing natural contours of the upper face—running from the temple to the tragus and along a portion of the hairline—and, if done right, allow for women to wear their hair up after surgery.
Scars mature over the course of about 9-12 months or more, and during this entire time, work can be done to further reduce their appearance. The most important and effective time to try reducing the prominence of facelift scars is immediately after your surgery, and for that reason you may wish to start wearing your hair up no earlier than 3-4 months after your facelift, allowing for the most uninterrupted healing period possible.
Ponytail penchant? You should be able to wear one safely anywhere from 3-6 months after surgery.
There are also genetic and hereditary factors that differ from person to person that will largely determine how “invisible” your scars become, but it’s important to understand that the best way to lighten the look of a scar is through active care of it
Here is what to anticipate after your surgery.
Facelift scar recovery process
There are many different types of facelift methods available in the industry and each of them have their own set recovery times. That being said, most recovery timelines take from seven to fourteen days to fully heal from your incisions. In some cases, it may be even longer than that depending on the severity of your facelift procedure.
For this reason, it’s important to avoid tugging or pulling on the skin around the hairline and behind the ears so that the incisions have the time to heal properly. Once your incisions have healed and your surgeon has given you the all clear, you’re free to wear your hair up as usual.
Can you style your hair however you want after a facelift?
This is a significant question that a lot of people ask before getting a facelift. The incisions for a facelift are often made at your hairline, where your hair will grow up through the scar to conceal it. The method used here might alter your hairline just a little but in most cases will grow back to normal.
Depending if your facelift surgery was a more complex procedure, a ponytail may never be possible for you to wear again. Your front ear’s tuft of hair could shift due to the sutures which may affect the way your hair gets pulled back. While each person’s results will vary, this is one of the cases that can happen.
Without incisions, a facelift isn’t a facelift
The only way to get rid of the excess skin that develops from the drooping that comes with age is to have the surgeon cut it off. After that, the surgeon will use sutures to pull the skin back into place and make it more taut. Incisions done around the sideburns and ears are the only places where excess skin may be removed from the head. In addition, incisions are necessary in order to reach the deeper tissues that are responsible for lifting the skin. It is unfortunately not possible to do a facelift using just the skin’s tension alone.
What facelift creates the least obvious scars?
The least obvious scars aren’t necessarily created by any one form of facelift. Sure, a mini facelift requires smaller incisions and scars than a full facelift, but for all of the various forms of a “full facelift,” incisions of roughly the same length are required. If incision length varies slightly from facelift style to another, they all pass over the same delicate areas of the face, right into the hairline.
The facelift that produces the least obvious scars is a facelift done by an expert and caring facial plastic surgeon, who is working with a patient who does his or her own work to reduce the look of the scar and help it heal well. Smart facial plastic surgeons and their patients can further reduce the appearance of scars by using silicone scar gels, sheets, strips, creams, and other topical products that help reduce the size and darkness of the scarring tissue.
To provide the most undetectable results with the least amount of scarring, your surgeon will probably recommend a deep plane lift. For this procedure and also depending on the patient’s anatomy, the incision may begin inside the sideburn or along the hairline.
This incision will be made to prevent pushing the sideburn upward when a substantial quantity of skin has to be removed and/or the patient has a high sideburn. In this instance, the incision is made at an angle to allow the sideburn hair to grow through and assist with hiding the incision. While this is just one of the approaches that provide almost undetectable scarring, each procedure will be tailored based on the patient and what their goals are.
In conclusion, scarring is inevitable after any surgical procedure, whether medically necessary or elective and purely cosmetic.
With a facelift, you may continue to keep your hair up and no one will be able to see the incisions since they will be concealed by your hairline or by natural creases.
To help guarantee appropriate healing and the ability to conceal scars once they have healed, it is crucial to take care of your incisions throughout the healing process.
Once they’ve healed completely, you may wear your hair up and enjoy your results.
[Photo by Andrea Piacquadio]
