Recovery

The vast majority of patients go home on the day of their surgery. You will need a responsible adult to be with you for the first 24 hours. The residual effects of the local anaesthetic will still be in effect and as such surgical discomfort is usually easily controlled. As the local anaesthetic wears off, the use of oral pain-relieving medications that Mr Masters will prescribe for you becomes necessary.

Most patients experience a degree of discomfort for approximately three days when the jaw is opened due to the tightness of the underlying structures. Patients have a varying response to this discomfort. Some patients literally take no additional pain relief; others find themselves in considerable discomfort for a number of days, requiring strong oral pain relief. There is no way to predict how a certain individual will respond to the post-operative discomfort. Although, as a rule of thumb, the S-lift is a low post-operative discomfort procedure.

Usually there are areas of altered skin sensation at the operative site. Full return of sensation is the norm, however this may take a number of weeks to months.

Most patients are able to return to gentle cardiovascular exercise at one week. Higher impact exercise (eg aerobics classes, running, etc) should not be resumed until at least 3 weeks after the procedure. Your body needs this time to help reform the fibrous tissue that joins your skin firmly to the deeper layers. Swimming is an excellent post-operative exercise; however, should not be commenced until the wounds have absolutely healed (approximately 14 days).

There are usually no drains or significant post-operative bandages. Mr Masters will ask you to apply anti biotic cream to the suture lines to keep them clean and infection free.