Facelift Surgery Recovery - How To Reduce Hematoma Complications

If you receive a neck surgery along with your facelift, or if you smoke, take blood thinners, or have high blood pressure, then you may develop a hematoma after your facelift procedure. A hematoma occurs when blood pools under the tissues around the surgical area. A very large bruise will appear when this happens and your physician will likely need to drain the blood from your face. This is necessary because the hematoma can cause an infection to form, and it can also allow a blood clot to pull away from the hematoma and travel to the heart or brain. Thankfully, there are some things you can do after your facelift to prevent a hematoma from forming.

Keep Nausea At Bay

One of the most important things that you should try to do after a fecelift surgery is to keep yourself from vomiting. Vomiting can cause clots around the incision sites to dislodge both internally and externally and bleeding can occur. Unfortunately, if you have motion sickness issues, are female, and if you receive strong pain medication after your operation, then you are likely to have a nausea issue. Even if these things are not true, you will still have at least a 10% chance of feeling ill after receiving anesthesia. If you do feel nauseated after your facelift, then it is best to try to reduce nausea to prevent vomiting.

If you are nauseated immediately after you wake up from the facelift procedure, then make sure to give yourself plenty of time in the recovery room. You will need to spend some time in the room so that your surgeon can make sure that bleeding is well controlled around your face. When you are allowed to leave, make sure to move slowly. 

If you feel nauseated when you get home, consider drinking some ginger tea or eating ginger snap cookies. Ginger contains a natural anti-inflammatory agent that can reduce nausea. If you are too nauseated to drink the tea or to eat the cookies, then make sure to stock up on some small ginger chews or supplements before your facelift procedure. Take the supplements with water. Smelling peppermint oil can help reduce nausea too. You may also want to stick to a bland diet of toast, crackers, bananas, and rice until you feel better.

Wear Compression Dressings

Your surgeon will likely ask you to wear compression dressings around your face after your surgery is completed. You may need to wear a garment that sits around your chin, neck, and head, or you may need to wear one that places pressure across the entirety of your face. This will depend on the type of surgery you received and the placement of the incisions. The garment or dressing is needed to help reduce swelling and bruising.

While most swelling and bruising is likely to subside within 14 days, you may be asked to wear garments for up to six weeks until the end of the healing process. This is necessary to keep clots from dislodging and to also keep hematomas from building if incisions become damaged in some way and start to bleed. Make sure to wear the garment and only remove it when you need to clean your incisions. Since incisions are likely to bleed and drain fluid a small amount after surgery, it is wise to purchase two or three of the garments so you can replace them when they get dirty. Also, consider ordering new compression garments about halfway through the recovery period. The garments are made with elastic to place pressure on the face and this elastic can stretch out after many uses.

For more information, talk with a health clinic offering facelifts or visit websites like http://www.myplasticsurgerygroup.com.