Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Aging has officially taken a toll on your confidence. Every time you look in the mirror, you wonder, what would it look like if my face was a little tighter and my neck was a bit smoother? With these concerns at the top of your mind, you make a consultation with facial plastic surgeon and Haute Beauty expert Dr. Brian K. Machida to inquire about a facelift, and you’re sold.

Fast forward to surgery day – excitement fills the air. It’s time to tap back into your personal beauty, but before that, we got to talking with Dr. Machida to run through some post-op ground rules, particularly sleeping, to ensure your results look just as good as the image below.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Plastic Surgery, Inland Empire (@plasticsurgery.stc)

Sleeping Guidelines

• A facelift requires you to sleep on your back on at least two to three pillows for the first two days after surgery, get comfortable.
• Elevation is required, which precludes sleeping on your stomach. Side sleeping is also more difficult when sleeping on three pillows.
• After three days, elevation can be reduced to two pillows making it easier to sleep on your side but not the stomach. Stomach sleeping cannot be done until one whole week after your surgery.

On the first night, you’ll be removing from the sedatives that are given during surgery therefore will not need to take any sleeping pills from then through the first week, especially if you are on any pain medications. You can avoid discomfort by icing before you sleep for the first two days. After the first week, you should feel no sense of discomfort. In fact, you’ll probably sleep like a baby.

Keep in mind that if you do not follow these sleeping directions, nothing serious can happen to you other than prolonged swelling, which extends the time to when you’ll be able to see the stunning results!