Plastic surgery abroad - Estonia

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Cosmetic facelift

Younger and prettier face

UV radiation and stress are only a few factors that contribute to changing your (facial) skin and getting wrinkles. You can see the first signs of aging in the face and neck area. For example the fold between the upper lip and nose (nasolabial fold) deepens, jaw is not outlined as clearly as before, but slackens and a jowl appears, there will be folds and excess skin. It is facelift that can help with these kinds of problems.

Both men and women, who are not content with their aging looks or who have premature wrinkles and slackening facial skin at the same time (as a consequence of for example excess UV radiation and smoking or the like) want to have a facelift.

Facelift cannot stop the aging process, but can make your face look more youthful and "fresh".

• Excess fat and skin will be removed during a facelift.
• Facial muscles under the skin and facial and neck skin will be tightened.
• The incisions will be behind and in front of the ears, near the hairline.

The anterior lift will affect the lower part of the face, cheeks, lower jaw, the area below the jaw and neck. Therefore it is not effective for removing wrinkles around the eyes and on the forehead; we recommend an upper lift for that. If the whole face is problematic, we will perform a full facelift.

If necessary, facelift can be combined with other procedures:

• eyelid surgery,
• filling wrinkles on the forehead and on the nose, around and above the lips with filler injections,
• all kinds of skin rejuvenating and peeling procedures.

Facelift is recommended to men and women over 40 years of age. Those, whose facial or neck skin has started sagging, but is still supple enough, can expect the best result. Facelift also has a better effect on those, whose skin is thin and who have a good bone structure

Cosmetic facelift procedure

Facelift is a very individual procedure that depends on the wishes and possibilities of the patient, facial structure and the surgeon's technique. The surgeon has to evaluate the condition of the face (and skin) thoroughly. Younger patients (30-40 years old) may only need a slight facial skin correction, however, older patients' (50-60 yeas old) operations are more extensive and their recovery takes more time.

It all depends on how much you want to correct your face and whether you want to combine facelift with other procedures. The operation is performed under general or local anesthesia. The surgeon will mark the places of the incisions before the surgery. The following technique depends on the surgeon.

The usual procedure is the following:

1. Incisions will be made on both sides of the face, starting from the temples near the hairline and then going down along the ear line until it reaches down and the back of the ear to the hair. The incision that is in front of the ear will be extremely thin and will look like an ordinary wrinkle.
2. If you also want to correct your neck, the surgeon also makes a small incision under the jaw.
3. After that the fat and muscle under the skin of the neck, jaw and cheeks are separated from the skin.
4. The surgeon then removes as much fat as needed, tightens the muscles and skin and removes excess skin.
5. The wounds will be stitched with absorbable or nonabsorbable sutures and/or wire sutures.
6. A cannula might be inserted under the skin to the back of the ear after the surgery, by which tissue fluid and blood that have gathered under the skin are drained.
7. Finally, a bandage is tied around the head, which reduces postoperative swelling.

The whole procedure usually takes two to three hours, but it still depends on how extensive the surgery is. The result is a smoother and more firm facial skin and an overall improvement to your looks and profile.

Pre-surgery and post-surgery advice

Facelift requires a detailed consultation with a consultant and surgeon before the surgery and you should think about what you want. The surgeon will examine and evaluate your face, as well as your skin and bone structure.

You should provide the consultant or surgeon the following information:

• an overview of your medical history,
• current state of health,
• allergies, medications and vitamins you are taking in order to find out any possible contraindications for the surgery.

It may be necessary to stop taking some medications; you should also stop smoking for some time, since it hinders postoperative recovery. In case you want to hide the fresh scars after the surgery, people with short hair should grow their hair beforehand.

You should also think about transportation from the clinic to home after the surgery. You can take painkillers if you need after the surgery, but mostly people just feel discomfort, not pain after a facelift. Your face may also be numb, but this will pass. Your face may probably be malformed for the first few weeks after the surgery due to swelling, this is absolutely normal.

You can see the final result after half a year or a longer period of time, when the scars are barely visible. The bandages will be removed after at least five days, sutures after about a week – it all depends on the concrete patient. You should rest at home for at least two weeks after the surgery. During that time you should avoid strenuous activities, sauna and drinking alcohol. You should avoid direct UV radiation for a year.

Taking care of your face

There are many things to blame for the aging of facial skin

• unfavorable weather conditions,
• smoking,
• too much alcohol,
• incorrect diet,
• too little exercise,
• not enough sleep,
• stress,
• chronic illnesses,
• not taking care of your face or incorrect care.

Yet, there are factors a person cannot avoid, for example heredity. A pale skin type hereditary from your parents is prone to be wrinkled sooner and quicker. Pale skin is also thinner, therefore the danger of getting sunburns is greater. The more the sun damages the skin, the faster the skin ages. However, not only people with pale skin type should protect their skin, dark-skinned people should also sunbathe moderately.

Pale skin is inevitable, but you should use special lotions to protect you from UV radiation. The pollutedness of the environment (exhaust fumes and dust) and temperature (either a very cold or very hot weather, strong winds as well) affect the skin's aging process – however, there are skin protection lotions for these abiotic factors too.

In addition to hereditary pale skin, a person could have dry skin type, which ages many times quicker than oily skin. It is important to use skin care products that consider different skin types and therefore either moisturize or reduce oiliness. In any case, skin humidity decreases the older you get and as a result skin's suppleness decreases and skin becomes sagging.

Different means and procedures have been created to slow this process down:

• plastic surgery,
• skin care products,
• chemical skin peeling,
• laser and micro polishing,
• filling injections (Botox and the like),

One of the possibilities is facelift, which is probably the fastest way to restore youthful looks. Nevertheless, as was already said, facelift makes you so to say look fresh, but does not stop aging.