During the recovery period, patients may experience numbness or tingling sensations as nerve endings regenerate. Common side effects of this process are swelling and temporary headaches; these symptoms usually appear within the first two weeks after surgery. Patients should watch for any signs of infection and attend all follow-up visits so that the surgeon can monitor their recovery. Numbness after a facelift is very common and is the norm.
A large part depends on the type of facelift and the extent of the skin dissection. Talk about this with your plastic surgeon to make sure everything is going well. In addition, following all post-operative recovery instructions and guidelines to resume normal activities will promote a speedy recovery and allow for optimal results. The feeling of numbness that may occur after facelift surgery is usually due to post-surgical swelling and inflammation that temporarily affects the sensory nerves in the skin.
Numbness of the cheeks, neck and lower eyelids after a facelift is a normal side effect and not a complication. The degree of numbness and its duration depend on the extent of the procedure, vary from patient to patient, and usually decrease over a period of months, up to a year after surgery. While postoperative numbness is normal and usually not a cause for concern, some cases may indicate a more serious problem. Numbness after a facelift procedure is normal and a certain degree is expected in numb areas or depends on the technique and extent of the procedure.