Right After Surgery: What to Expect and How to Take Care of Yourself
Once your facelift and neck lift surgery is complete, your face and neck will be gently wrapped in bandages. These help protect the area and support healing. Under the bandages, there will be special medical stitches designed to control bleeding and swelling. You’ll also be wearing a soft medical compression garment that wraps around your face and neck.
For the first 2 weeks, it’s very important to wear this garment all day and night, only taking it off while you shower. After that, you can switch to wearing it just at night for another 2 weeks.
To keep swelling down, try to sleep with your head elevated during the first week. Using two pillows usually works well.
For the first 72 hours after surgery, you can gently apply an ice pack for 10–15 minutes every hour while you’re awake. This will help reduce both swelling and discomfort.
Even from the first day, as long as you’re feeling up to it, we encourage you to get up and walk short distances, like around your hospital room or the hallway. Gentle movement supports good circulation and helps you feel better faster.
What to Eat After Surgery
Your diet plays an important role in your recovery. Here are some simple guidelines to help you feel your best:
- Start with light, soft foods. In the first 24 hours after surgery, stick to easily digestible options like soup, yogurt, mashed potatoes, or pureed foods.
- Ease back into eating. About 4–6 hours after surgery, you can begin drinking clear fluids. By 6–8 hours, you may slowly introduce soft solid foods, as you feel ready.
- Prevent constipation. It’s common to experience slower digestion after surgery due to reduced movement and pain medications. To help with this, eat plenty of fiber-rich foods (like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) and drink plenty of water throughout the day.
- Support healing with protein. Your body needs extra protein to repair tissues and speed up recovery. Try to get about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. Good sources include eggs, lean meat, fish, legumes, and dairy.
Pain Management & Medications
After a facelift and neck lift, most patients do not experience severe pain. Instead, it’s common to feel tightness in the face and some mild soreness, especially around the ears.
What you may notice more than pain is a sense of numbness or skin tightness, especially in the cheeks, around the ears, and neck. This numb feeling is completely normal and may last for a few weeks to a few months as your nerves heal.
Your prescribed medications will include:
- Two types of pain relievers
- An antibiotic to prevent infection
- A stomach protector to reduce irritation from medications
- An anti-swelling medication
Please take all medications exactly as explained upon discharge.
Your topical creams (for scar care or healing) will be introduced after your first follow-up check.
If you are flying home shortly after surgery, we may also prescribe a blood thinner injection, if needed, to reduce the risk of blood clots during travel.
Wound Care & Hygiene
After your facelift and neck lift surgery, your head and neck will be wrapped in a bandage for the first night. Your doctor will remove or check this bandage the following day. Your medical compression garment will stay on and should be worn as instructed.
While you’re in Turkey, our medical team will handle all dressing changes and wound care for you.
After your first follow-up visit, you’ll be allowed to shower and wash your body and hair. When showering, be very gentle around the incision areas—don’t scrub or apply pressure.
Around day 10, once the tapes over your stitches are removed, you will need to:
- Clean the incision lines in front of and behind your ears twice a day using a clean cotton swab
- Apply a thin layer of antibiotic ointment after each cleaning
Please send us weekly photos of your healing progress. Based on your recovery, we will advise when to begin using scar creams or silicone strips to support the best healing and minimal scarring.
Swelling, Bruising & Bleeding: What’s Normal and What’s Not
After a facelift and neck lift, it’s completely normal to experience some swelling and bruising. These are expected parts of the healing process.
- Swelling and bruising usually peak within the first 72 hours, then gradually decrease.
- Most of the visible swelling and bruising will improve within 10 to 14 days.
- Applying cold compresses for the first 5–6 days can help reduce swelling.
Some patients may have more noticeable bruising than others. If needed, we may recommend creams such as Arnica or Hirudoid to help the bruising fade faster.
However, please contact us immediately if you notice any of the following:
- A sudden, one-sided swelling in your face or neck
- A firm, painful lump
- Increasing pain that doesn’t feel normal
In the first few weeks after surgery, it’s also common to feel:
- Numbness or tingling around the ears, cheeks, or neck
- A sense of tightness or mild itching, which is part of the healing process
These sensations usually improve over a few months as the nerves and tissues recover.
If you notice:
- Redness, warmth, or tenderness around your incision sites
- Unusual or foul-smelling drainage from the wounds
please notify us as soon as possible. These could be signs of infection and need to be evaluated
Exercise & Physical Activity After Surgery
Your recovery is just as important as the surgery itself — so it’s essential to give your body the rest it needs.
- For the first 2 weeks, you should rest and avoid any heavy exercise.
- Do not drive or do housework for the first 7–10 days. Gentle walking inside your home is fine, but be aware that you may feel tired more easily.
As you start feeling stronger:
- Around week 2, you can slowly increase your daily activity and go for light walks.
- Avoid lifting anything heavy, intense workouts, swimming, tennis, aerobics, or similar activities for 6 full weeks.
- After 6 weeks, you can start exercising again gradually—but wait until around week 8 before resuming more intense activities like running or weight training.
Scar Care
Facelift and neck lift incisions are usually placed in front of the ears, behind the ears, and along the hairline at the temples. These scars are carefully planned to be as discreet as possible.
- In the beginning, scars may appear red or pink and feel slightly raised — this is normal. Over time, usually within 6–12 months, they fade and become thin, barely noticeable lines.
- Protect your scars from the sun: For at least the first 12 months, do not expose incision sites to direct sunlight. Always apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen (SPF 50+) when going outdoors.
- If recommended by your doctor, you may start using silicone gel or silicone sheets on your scars around 2 weeks after surgery to help them heal smoothly.
- Once stitches are removed and scabs have fallen off (usually after day 10), you can gently cover healed scars with hypoallergenic camouflage makeup if you wish.
When to Seek Urgent Medical Care
Contact a medical facility immediately if you notice any of the following warning signs:
- High fever: Temperature over 38.5°C (101.3°F), chills, or shivering
- Severe pain or vomiting: Pain not relieved by prescribed medications, or persistent, intense nausea/vomiting
- Signs of infection: Excessive redness, warmth, severe tenderness, or foul-smelling pus at the surgical site
- Signs of hematoma: Sudden swelling, firmness, and increasing pain on one side of the face or neck
Uncontrolled bleeding: Persistent bleeding from the incision that does not stop after 20 minutes of direct pressure