Problems with recovery after face lift

I had a face lift 2 weeks ago and I'm very worried because I have a lot of
swelling araound the ears and jowl area and my face looks distorted.
So distorted that I'm ashamed to go into work because i'm scared people
will notice (I don't want anyone to know at work).
Also, I'm having problems eating things that are hard because of the pain when I use the relevant face muscles. Even when I'm not moving my face, I can feel it so tight, as if it has been pulled upwards too much.
Can anyone relate or has advice?

Guest wrote:

I had a face lift 2 weeks ago and I'm very worried because I have a lot of swelling araound the ears and jowl area and my face looks distorted. So distorted that I'm ashamed to go into work because i'm scared people will notice (I don't want anyone to know at work). Also, I'm having problems eating things that are hard because of the pain when I use the relevant face muscles. Even when I'm not moving my face, I can feel it so tight, as if it has been pulled upwards too much. Can anyone relate or has advice?

I had my facelift on March 8th and he had to redo the left side last Monday (3/12) because of hematoma and I am experiencing the exact same problem you wrote about on both sides of my face.
I pray that you are better by now and would really appreciate hearing from you!

Hi there! You should worry!! I had a face and necklift in South Africa 40 days ago. The main visual problem is that my mouth still does not open properly - it pulls down to the left hand side as if I have had some kind of stroke, and is very noticeable and embarassing when I talk. Everything seemed to be healing and settling down O.K. until about five or six days ago when I started to notice what I can only describe as "band marks" showing on either side of my face running down from my temples to my chin, and the skin on both sides of the face started to pucker up and become lumpier than it had been previously.
The worst thing is that a month and a half after surgery, the neck areas just below each ear have started to swell up again, I wake up every morning feeling as though I have a tight, tight strap inserted inside my face reaching up from my chin to both temples, and I have no idea when this feeling is likely to subside. As both lower cheeks are also extremely hot to the touch, I am worried that I may have some kind of infection.
So consider yourself lucky!!!!! I think most of us expect the healing process to be a lot quicker than it actually is, but I wish my surgeon had taken the time to explain to me that healing could take up to six months.
Good luck and just try to be patient - I know it isn't easy. I'm just trying to stop myself having another panic attack!!!!

I can sympathize with all your symptems. I had a browlift, eyelift, face and neck lift mid February. The morning after the surgery I woke up and could barely hear a thing. It was like someone had stuffed rags in my ears. My neck was so painful and stiff I had to have someone lift my head up so I could move. The Doctor looked in my ears and said they seemed waxy. This went on for 2 weeks until they gave me cortisone drops to put in my ears. My hearing was restored, however at that time my cheaks and neck started swelling. Everytime I had a bite of food or drink I would feel horrible pain in my cheaks. After doing some research I found that the Perodit Gland can be affected after facelift. No one tells you about these issues, nor do they tell you exactly how long you will be laid up. Only recently I am finding my neck is losening up a bit, before it felt like I had been hanged and my ears constantly pulling downward. My ears, cheaks were numb until a week ago, one is coming out of it but the sensation feels like burning and pulling. I am now scheduled to see an ENT to check on my ears and glands. This took a lot of convincing to get them to book me an apt. I feel like they just want to get rid of me because they don't want to be responsible for these problems.
I'm tired of taking Advil, and swelling up over the simplest things. Has anyone else experience these problems especially with the Perodit Gland and is it currable?

I had the same problem - my peridut gland was damaged - my surgeon said he only had this problem once in his whole operating carerer ?? - I could not feel - my mouth dropped on that side as though I had had a stroke - swelling from the salava going into my cheek gavity was so bad I had to have a surgical drain inserted into my cheek cavity. 3 months on things have improved but I still have no feeling in my cheek & bad swelling on that side of my face still - after 2 courses on cortozone I can honestly say things haven't really improved - sorry but my prognosis is another surgery to correct the nerve damage & Lyposuction to take out the scar tissue - wonderfull !!! Oh & I still have no feeling in my ears.

Can you tell me the doctors or clinics you went to. I am thinking of having a lift and your blog as made me think twice about this procedure

I would be interested in hearing from those who have had relatively painless facelifts and emerged happy with the result. This would help us decide whether to take the procedure. Thanks.

There is no such thing as a painless facelift. I had my facelift in my mid thirties and if I had my time again I wouldn't do it. It's a very long recovery and the doctors do not tell you of all the problems associated with this surgery. I also had the side of my mouth pulling down which was due to temporary nerve damage from lipo under my chin. Thankfully this corrected itself. My ears now stick out at the top due to the way they were pulled down and sewn back on, not happy! I have very wide scars in my head and my hair is much thinner around the scars. Having this procedure at such a young age I didn't see the results I was expecting. The clever use of fillers and botox would have been enough and I would recommend this before a facelift. I stil don't have full feeling to touch on the sides of my face 2 years on. Immediately after surgery I couldn't move my jaw or neck and still now my neck is tight when I tilt my head back. Have every other non surgical procedure but don't have a lift!!

if you want to know i had a soft face lift 10 days ago my face was swollen and still it only alittle by now and blue and yellow but it went ok only problem i have is the strings are coming out on the side of my face makes me wonder because i payed a lot of money in germany Nuernberg can anybody tell me something????