What are the possible complications of a facelift?
Infection or bleeding rarely occur, infection being particularly rare. Numbness over the cheek and neck areas is common after a facelift and usually resolves over a period of months, although it is not uncommon to have some fairly minimal permanent numbness along the areas of the incisions. Permanent numbness of larger areas, in particular of the ears, occurs less that 1% of the time. Other nerves which can be injured during a facelift are those that go to your muscles of facial expression. Dr. Murphy has had a few patients over the years who experienced slight temporary weakness of the facial muscles to the upper lip areas that has taken a couple of weeks to resolve Smokers are at increased risk of areas of poor healing that may lead to poor quality scars after a facelift. It is not uncommon to have areas of temporary hair loss around the incisions as the hair follicles go into a resting phase, but the hair typically regrows over a period of months.
