A personal experience of a local anaesthetic facelift

I am indebted to one of my patients who recently sent me an honest and personal account of her experience of a local anaesthetic MACS facelift…

My 50th birthday didn’t upset me as much as I thought it would. I looked reasonably good for my age, and as people usually thought me as being younger than I was, I didn’t mentally go into rapid decline.

However when I looked in the mirror I was increasingly finding myself pulling back my skin to soften my jowls and what were becoming rather loose cheeks, to unveil the younger me that was hiding underneath. Despite looking OK for my age, I had to admit the ‘younger me’ did look a lot better.

I had previously tried various aesthetic procedures including the Thread Lift (which I thought was a total waste of money) and the One Stitch Lift, which whilst it did achieve the lift I wanted, only lasted about nine months. A few months after the Thread Lift realising how much I had spent on what turned out to be temporary fixes, I took the plunge and opted for the longer lasting, slightly more invasive MACS Lift.

If the thought of undergoing surgery whilst awake makes you squeamish then this is not the right option for you. Whilst there is very little discomfort throughout the two or so hours it takes to perform the procedure, you are conscious of what is happening – or what you imagine is happening, taking place very close to your ears. And being so close to your ears, you of course hear it too.

The actual procedure:

After meeting the team supporting the surgeon, you lay flat but with your head elevated slightly.

Injections are made firstly to one side of the head around the ear area where the first half of the procedure will take place. The injections are by far the most uncomfortable part of the whole two or so hours.

The actual work being undertaken around the ear can only be imagined as there is no feeling whatsoever in this area. You can hear ‘things’ happening – you can quietly hear the scalpel cutting – but this is over so quickly. You also feel a slight ‘pulling’ to the sides of the face, but again this is not uncomfortable. On no occasion did I feel the sutures (stitches) taking place.

I happily chatted to everyone in the room whilst having a MACS lift which helped to pass the time. When it was over, the most discomfort I had was in my back for lying so long in the same position.

One of the nurses offered me a cup of tea and a muffin. The tea was most welcomed but whilst I would have liked a bite of the muffin my jaw was far too tight and uncomfortable to open. I sucked on a bit instead. Be aware that you will struggle with eating anything that requires you to break the food up before swallowing for about three days.

I got dressed, put some mascara and lipstick on and tidied my hair. I was soon ready for the taxi that was waiting for me. At this stage there is no bruising so the driver didn’t raise an eyebrow when I climbed in to return home to my mother who stayed with me that night. To this day she doesn’t know what I had done but comments I look so well.

As I said at the start of this, if you are at all squeamish with a vivid imagination then having a procedure like this under local anaesthetic is not the right thing for you. If however you know what to expect – and I hope this has helped you – then I truly believe once you look in the mirror after the surgery, revealing the face you thought you wouldn’t see again, not only will you be delighted you made the decision, you will have forgotten what all the fuss was about.