For many patients with facial plastic surgery, the last thing on their mind is skincare. However, taking care of your skin is important for its health, as well as to enhance and extend your results.
Be Gentle
After surgery, your skin will be extremely fragile and vulnerable to infections. This means keeping your skin clean will be especially important while it’s healing. It will also be sore and tender, so you’ll have to be careful with how you take care of it to avoid introducing any harmful contaminants and causing any additional injuries. Basically, you should treat your skin the way you would treat a baby’s skin – with lots of gentle care.
Treating your skin gently should involve using products that are milder than what you use for your regular skin care. Hypoallergenic, fragrance-free products will work the best. You should also be gentle with your touch and cautious about your surroundings. Try to avoid bumping or banging into objects and don’t be too rough when you’re using cleansers or lotions.
Sun Protection
Your skin is also more vulnerable to damage from the sun’s UVA and UVB rays, especially if you have a procedure like dermabrasion that involves removing the top layers of your skin. Any time you know you’re going to be outdoors, even if it’s cloudy outside, use sun protection. Sunscreen with a SPF of 30 or 40 and a hat to keep the sun off your face will be the best way to guard your skin against the sun. Reapply sunscreen every few hours, especially if you have been sweating a lot or been in the water.
Stay Hydrated
Your skin needs a lot of water to stay flexible and healthy. Proper hydration ensures that your skin is getting the nutrients it needs to heal while removing any toxins or foreign contaminants. Stay hydrated throughout the day, especially on hot summer days, by drinking water every couple of hours.
Extending and Enhancing your results
In the case of face and neck lifts, keeping collagen stimulated is vitally important to extended your results. Procedures such as Pixel laser, IPL/Photofacials, and Microneedling, all stimulate collagen and enhance the look of your skin. Botox and fillers can also be used to address any problem areas after surgery. Keeping your face looking youthful also enhances the results of rhinoplasty surgery. Overall, investment in your entire face is a good idea to keep up your results, no matter where you’ve had surgery.
By taking care of your skin post-surgery, you can ensure that your skin stays healthy as you recover, as well as enhance your results.
If you have any questions about post-surgery skin care, or about facial plastic surgery in general, you can contact Dr. Jay Calvert at 310-777-8800 or ROXSpa at 310-777-0496.