Life After Face Lift: What to Expect

Monique Ramsey (00:04):
Welcome to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast. I'm your hostess, Monique Ramsey. Let's talk about facelifts. And feeling a little nervous before a facelift is normal, especially if you tend to go down rabbit holes on the internet about recovery. But honestly, with a skilled surgeon, you're not going to be having these kind of fringe, nightmare stories. And so I have with us today, Diana Breister. She is a board certified plastic surgeon here at La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Center and does a ton of facelifts and facial rejuvenation. So welcome Dr. Breister.

Dr. Breister (00:42):
Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Monique Ramsey (00:44):
Yeah, so we want everybody to feel really prepared for that facelift and that recovery process and really that what does that life after through the recovery look like? And so everybody feels like, oh, okay, it's maybe not as bad as I'm thinking it might be. So what are some things that patients have said to you about how results, let's go to the end and then we'll work our way back after going through the whole thing and their results, how it has changed their lives.

Dr. Breister (01:16):
Many women just have a certain looseness of the lower face of the neck that increasingly starts bothering them, like bothering them to the point that they think about it every day. So once they get to that point, they eventually get to surgery and we can talk a little bit about that process as well. But once they actually commit to the surgery, have the surgery, get through the surgery, their lives are just dramatically better because they can go on and they don't have to have that annoying profile or laxity of the skin that bothers us. Once that is eliminated, I think women just feel so much more confident, more comfortable. They can think about other things in their life other than, God, I hate this jowl or I hate this extra skin. So I think it really frees them up to just have more emotional space to do the things that matter and feel so good about themselves, restored back to what they want to feel like.

(02:24):
And many, many of my patients are not looking for extreme situation where they are turning back the clock 20 years. They just want some refreshing and look, you know, so they don't have that little bit of hanging skin. So it's really a fantastic procedure and I can't really say enough about it because it is so life-changing and so gratifying and not as scary and hard as some people think. There's a societal stigma, if you will. Society just has these preconceived notions of when that word facelift is thrown out, a lot of us just bristle. Why? I don't know. Because it's society, I guess it's society and it's the cultural ingraining that we get, but it's not that scary, and in the right hands, it can just be such a wonderful thing to do for yourself.

Monique Ramsey (03:25):
And I think back in the day, way back, it was sort of you didn't have the facelift until after you retired and you're living your golden years in Florida. And then by that point A, you don't have the time to enjoy it as long, and it's almost more extreme at that point.

Dr. Breister (03:48):
It's so drastic. You go from having wrinkles to being crazily pulled or something like that.

Monique Ramsey (03:54):
And so do you find that people now are sort of coming in younger and wanting

Dr. Breister (03:58):
Absolutely. Yeah. Times have really changed in that. Obviously, I mean, our society, we want to feel good about ourselves. So there's a lot of tools. The Botox, the fillers, the lasers, we're inundated with creams, collagens just go on TikTok, that's all you hear is the cream and the collagen. We're very self-aware. So that ultimately brings more women into our office just saying, Hey, is it time? What do you think? I'm thinking about this, or I don't, the filler's not really doing it what I want. Or they want to know, is it a good time? And that absolutely can be a good time, even at 47 or 45, it just depends on the woman, her laxity, her skin, and what her goals are. So you definitely see it, and I think it's a great thing to do earlier than later because like you said, you have many years to now enjoy it.

(04:53):
Why wait another five or six years? It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. And the other thing is that it can even be kind of redone and tweaked in 10 years or five years, and that's not a big deal either. So I'm very supportive of women who actually need it. I am very honest with my patients about if I think they should wait a year or two or you're not quite there. I mean, I don't want to do any unnecessary surgery obviously. So I'm very frank about that. But many women can use that rejuvenation earlier than they may have planned.

Monique Ramsey (05:33):
And you're right in terms of all the non-surgical alternatives out there. But there is a point at which they just stop working or they're not going to do your goal.

Dr. Breister (05:42):
There is a point. There is extra skin and the skin has moved and that no matter how much cream or collagen or Sculptra or anything, nothing can really tighten it like surgery can, which can actually redo things, remove things, relift, replace. So yeah, it's a very powerful tool that no cream is ever going to completely replace that, thank goodness.

Monique Ramsey (06:08):
As much as we wanted to. Yeah, I had a friend who said, oh yeah, I was a Costco and I got the whatever kind, and I'm like.

Dr. Breister (06:17):
I know, I know. And we all get sucked into it.

Monique Ramsey (06:19):
But I just want it to work.

Dr. Breister (06:21):
We all get sucked into it. We really do. We just are like, oh, anything. We are so ripe to just clinging on to anything.

Monique Ramsey (06:28):
Right, exactly. So let's talk about the recovery of a facelift and let's talk about the psychological effects. We will talk about the physical effects, but is it sort of a lot to take on for patients or does it depend more on the patient?

Dr. Breister (06:43):
I find that it is a lot to take on, and I find many women are very a little nervous of it. They're not quite ready for it. It is daunting. It is the stigma. They say, I never thought I'd be doing this. My mom had this, and I thought, I will never do that. But here I am. There's a process that women go through I think, and the wheels start kind of turning, like, hmm, I don't know. They go to the mirror and they do this and they go like this. Oh, would that be nice? Yeah, maybe a little this and that. So they go through that and then they probably have to get through the leaps of what does my husband think? What do my kids think? What do my friends think? There's all of that opinions. And then they finally get into the office, thank goodness they say, I'm just going to get the information.

(07:31):
At that point, I am so honest about what it is all about and how if they're a good candidate and things like that. So then they have the facts, the information. And then some will jump on it. Some will just say, I'm ready for this, let's go. They can't wait. Some take some more time to process to get used to the idea. It just depends on the patient, but it is a lot psychologically to put yourself into that mindset like I am the woman who's going to have a facelift. But what you have to remember, at least in my hands, and I tell women, I can look them in the eye and say, with 200% certainty, when this is all done and you're healed, you are not going to look weird. You are not going to look pulled, you're not going to look like someone else.

Monique Ramsey (08:19):
And so, what are sort of the phases maybe mentally and physically that women or patients, because there's male patients having face lifts too, that they go through on that journey to seeing their final result.

Dr. Breister (08:33):
So that's a whole new territory and category. And it's scary because you're a lay person and you don't know. So obviously after surgery and you will be swollen, you'll be distorted a little, the tissues will look strange. So we have to really stress that that is going be a couple of days of really feeling a little bizarre. We like to really prepare people for that, guaranteeing them that once it's all done, it's going to be great and perfect. But we do tell them that we are going to be there for them through every step of the way, through the swelling, through the bruising, the paranoia through the emotional ups and downs.

Monique Ramsey (09:19):
Yeah, because I think there is that for even if it's a 24 hour phase, if you're the one going through it where you're feeling like, oh my God, what have I done? Everybody goes through that. And it doesn't matter whether you're having a tummy tuck or you're having your face done. Everybody has that kind of like, what have I done to myself? And I walked in willingly.

Dr. Breister (09:40):
It's normal. It's totally normal. It's an elective surgery. Now what did I do? Is this going to heal up properly? So yeah, we are there reassuring, helping people get through those phases. And the phase can last more than a day. It can sometimes last a week or two, just depending on the person's level of anxiety and things like that. Everyone is a little bit different. So we just kind of try to manage that as we see as the patient kind of needs it. If we need to see them more in the office, if I need to give them my cell phone and say, Hey, give me a call. Send me a picture if you're worried about this or that. I find that that's very effective. I find that the best way to manage that is being available to people knowing that they're not alone, knowing that they've got a whole team of providers that are there.

Monique Ramsey (10:31):
I think that we all go in thinking it's going to be a certain way, and whatever that internal brain plan is isn't always what is happening. And usually that's easier. Usually it's easier than they thought it would be.

Dr. Breister (10:48):
Yes, the physical pain, discomfort, all that stuff is usually a lot easier. I mean you tend to, if people do a lot of Googling and research, I find people find the worst stories for some reason, the scary stories, the bad stories. But in actuality it is really quite a straightforward recovery process.

Monique Ramsey (11:15):
And would you say that part of what you help coach them on is the emotional side and then also how to take care of themselves physically and what to eat and how to deal with their bandages or their drains?

Dr. Breister (11:31):
So it's a combination. Obviously, we try to run through all of those psychological feelings that try to anticipate what that's going to feel like or how you're going to feel. That is obviously a kind of a case by case basis. Everyone can react a little differently than they even thought they did. So we see patients the second day after, and we can get a sense, okay, patient is pretty relaxed about it all and they're just going with the flow, or if someone seems to be more anxious. So the good thing is that we have tools. We have medications that can help to get you through some of those crazier times where you feel a little scared or out of control. And then we are really upfront about the physical things that they're going to do. We provide a whole list of things that they can do before the surgery to get themselves in the best shape and also many things that they can do after so that they are using all their powers to optimize their healing.

(12:32):
And one of the most important aspects of all this is good sleep. Many, many people, obviously after a surgery, oh gosh, I have to sleep on my back. I'm not used to sleeping on my back or this or that. And sleep is just critical to good healing and your brain being able to handle that. I can't tell you how many times someone's like, oh my gosh, I was up all night. And I don't know about you, but most people become very fragile in a sleep deprived state. So that's one thing that I don't mess around with. If someone's not getting good sleep, we do whatever we can to try to change that because that's super important.

Monique Ramsey (13:13):
Now getting into social situations, and I think first, going back to the expectations, don't have your face lift a week before a wedding or something. Like let's be logical and give yourself the time so you're not under some internal deadline pressure where you're like, oh my gosh, I'm not going to be ready. So one is giving yourself that in the beginning, but then as, okay, let's say they've got a wedding in a month or they're going to a play with friends in 10 days or something. How do you help them navigate social situations while they're recovering from surgery?

Dr. Breister (13:54):
Well, everyone is different in their, if they want to be seen, right? Or if they don't want to be seen until they're all healed. Some people could care less. They say, you know what? I don't care if I have a bruise, I don't care if people know. And then some people are like, I don't want anyone to know and I don't want to be seen. So first of all, I assess the patient's level of that. And so for the patients, let's say that are like, I don't, I'm very paranoid. I don't want people to see me, I don't want, you know, I tell them, you've got to give yourself 10 to 14 days totally with no social obligations. You need that time because you could be bruised, you could be this, you could be that. But 98% of the time, after 14 days, you could go out and people may not totally know because not, people who don't know you, obviously, wouldn't know. We can help the patient to set up for success in that if people have things they have to attend or things like that. There's always a lot of makeup we can use to help conceal a bruise or we can think about more of a turtleneck or something like that. I always encourage hairstyles to be down, not pulled back. Obviously in those first couple months, even after surgery, it's always helpful because hair is a great camouflage. It basically can cover up any incisions that are bothering you, that you're worried about. So for people with short hair, I always recommend they grow out the hair a bit so that we do have a little bit of hair camouflage. And for those patients that want to get right back on a zoom call or something, you just let them know you're going to be a little bruised probably. You might be a little swollen, but zoom can also conceal a lot of things too. You can put on a pair of glasses, you can kind of do things. You can turn the light down a little. So it just depends on the person and what their goals are, what their obligations are, but we can really individualize that guidance.

Monique Ramsey (16:01):
That's great. And I think also one of the things that has been helpful for patients is having lymphatic drainage massage and talk a little bit about why that is a helpful tool.

Dr. Breister (16:15):
Our body works with a lymphatic system that drains the lymph and provides immunologic support for us. So when we do a facelift, we are kind of disrupting some of those channels, some of the main stations of the lymph drainage, so then we get swelling, which is absolutely normal. So by about seven or eight days after surgery, when you don't have a lot of pain, we highly recommend the patient visit, like a skilled lymphatic massage person who knows exactly how to start opening those channels and facilitate the drainage after surgery. There's a period of time where the tissue is very kind of firm, it can feel a little woody in texture, and that is normal. But by going to the lymphatic massage expert, they can help start softening those tissues. And I've had many, many women say, oh my gosh, after I had that lymphatic massage, I felt so much better. It kind of ramps up healing.

Monique Ramsey (17:27):
And I can personally attest to that, the wellbeing aspect of it. Yes, it helps soften everything. It helps decrease bruising and all the good stuff. You feel less like a pumpkin, but it really, I felt so much better in general.

Dr. Breister (17:45):
Reassured.

Monique Ramsey (17:46):
Well, but even just physically felt better. And it was like, okay, all this light touch on my face and neck and what is it doing? But it's crazy how it made a great change for my face and healing, but I also just felt emotionally better from it. And maybe it's, it clears stuff out, I don't know. But it was

Dr. Breister (18:06):
A lot of factors work in there.

Monique Ramsey (18:08):
Right, exactly. And something you mentioned recently on a podcast, you were talking about light therapy.

Dr. Breister (18:14):
There's been a lot of studies that a laser light helps to stimulate growth factors, stimulate blood flow, bring healing into the tissues. So I've had some experience with a gal that I really trust and who has done some light therapy on, a few little injuries on my knee and my post-surgery areas, and it's really powerful. It's really helpful to speed up healing. It helps with scarring. It feels good, and there is backed science behind that. So yes, laser therapy is absolutely a great modality as well in conjunction with the lymphatic massage.

Monique Ramsey (18:54):
And then as they go through this healing for the first few months, how do you help them manage their expectations for that final result? Because we are a very, I want it now society. This is not an immediate, you're not going to look the same at the third week as you are at the third month or at a year.

Dr. Breister (19:19):
So once again, it's just a matter of setting up those expectations, setting up those milestones before, and then reiterating those as they go through it. So I always tell my patients, you're going to look kind of strange for a week or two. By the two to three week mark, you're going to start looking more normal and more like yourself. By four weeks, you can go out into the world, but the healing goes on. It goes on, and it's not going to be completely healed till four months. So what does that mean? Well, it means you might have a little lump under there. There could be a little swelling that you feel, there could be a tightness, there could be something. So as long as they understand the healing process, and that is very well laid out to them, then they are really good about accepting that, okay, it's five weeks, but it's still kind of red back there. We talked about that, and they know they're very well aware. And obviously some people are going to heal a little faster, a little slower, there's a range there. But I think that that upfront setting, the expectation of when the final, final, final result is going to happen, is really helpful for the patients to get through those, the couple of months.

Monique Ramsey (20:36):
And I think that's where pictures come in. So looking at those progression photos of patients who've gone before you, those who have trodden where you want to go and seeing, oh, okay, here she was two days later and here she was in a week and here she was at three months. And then you're like, oh, okay.

Dr. Breister (20:58):
Right. This is the process.

Monique Ramsey (21:00):
I can do it. And I think it's even good to take pictures of yourself every day because you forget what you looked like before.

Dr. Breister (21:10):
Absolutely. Yeah.

Monique Ramsey (21:10):
Right. Don't you think that people totally forget, and so then it brings some perspective.

Dr. Breister (21:16):
Absolutely.

Monique Ramsey (21:17):
Now, how do you help them build a strong support system that will help them through recovery?

Dr. Breister (21:23):
Once again, it's you want people surrounding you that are positive about this, who are supportive of you, who are on your side and believe in that. So that's going to be the number one factor is that, maybe it's a girlfriend that has, is excited, wants to do it herself, wants you to be the first one, the Guinea pig, but then she's there helping you out because she's excited about that. So I would say it's really important that whoever is going to help them in those first couple of days, that it is someone that is excited for you and positive about it and really wants to help you.

Monique Ramsey (22:03):
Going into what they look like. You go home, okay, it's the day of surgery, you're on your way home, and what can they expect to look like and for how long? Especially in terms of bandages.

Dr. Breister (22:16):
A lot of people, not only do they do a facelift, but they will do something in conjunction with that, maybe a fat transfer, maybe an eyelid surgery. So it kind of depends on what they're all doing. So if they are doing just a straight lower face and neck lift, which basically involves rejuvenating the tissues kind of from here on, when they leave this surgery center, they will be wrapped up all the way around their head. Some people say it looks like a Q-tip. It's not that big, but it is like a teletubby kind of helmet, if you will. But their face should look pretty good. Their face, it'll be a little puffy, it'll be a little distorted. It could be a little bruised if they do the eyes. Okay, that's a kind of a different situation. The eyes create a lot more bruising. It's almost guaranteed that there's going to be some bruising.

(23:10):
We put a lot of tape on the eyes, so the eyes could almost be swollen shut, and the eyes could be black and blue. So when we do the eyes, you have to prepare them more for that because you may not be able to see as well as you want. You're going to be very swollen, your eyes will be itchy. You'll need to use some drops and some ointment to lubricate the eyes, and then you need to put a lot of ice on the eyes. So if it's just a facelift, they're going to pretty good. Really, it's not as distorted. You're just a little puffy, a little swollen. And if you do a fat transfer, yes, you're going to more swollen, a little more puffy. But adding the eyes adds more of a scary factor, if you will. It's black and blue eyes, they're a little puffy.

(23:54):
So the main thing with the eyes, adding the eye surgeries that you need to do a lot of icing to that to help to control that. So I would say the first couple days you can expect to look like that. Now the patients always come back the very next day, we take off that dressing and we inspect everything, make sure everything's looking good, and then we reapply a dressing similar to the first one, a little lighter, and that is for another 48 hours. So you're really just going to go home. You're going to relax. You're not going to do dishes, you're not going to cook, you're not going to organize closets, you're not going to do any of that. You're not going to walk your dog. You are going to relax, sit in a chair, watch some tv, listen to a podcast.

Monique Ramsey (24:41):
Listen to podcast.

Dr. Breister (24:42):
Right? Get up, go to the bathroom. Yeah, exactly. Get up, walk around your house every hour. But other than that, it's very critical that you are quiet. You don't do anything to raise your blood pressure or increase swelling because any kind of activity or action is going to increase your blood pressure, contribute to swelling. So that's going to be the most important thing is those first 48, 72 hours, it's very important that you have all your ducks in a row so that you've got your food set up, you've got your rides set up, you've got your medications at your bedside table. Those are the things that really create a nice, smooth recovery is having all those things lined up.

Monique Ramsey (25:25):
And I think one of the main questions people have, and I think because they see maybe they've seen these head dressings and maybe there's drains involved and they see that and it looks scary, then they associate that look to pain. And my own personal experience was it wasn't painful at all. And in fact, you're kind of more numb than anything. So it wasn't a painful experience. Do you find that doing certain parts of the face or eyes, is it more painful?

Dr. Breister (25:57):
I agree that the face and neck lift in and of itself is really not super painful. It can be a little uncomfortable. The dressing can be a little annoying and uncomfortable, but that full on pain I agree, is very minimal. Now, we always give patients, though, pain pills as a backup in case they may need it. But I would say a large majority don't ever take those narcotic pain pills. They say, yeah, didn't hurt, I was okay. Now adding the eyes once again, not necessarily painful, but once again, uncomfortable, annoying, itchy, puffy, that kind of thing. So I agree with you, even though it looks very dramatic, and like it would hurt so badly, it's not as bad. It's more of a mentally prepared to be kind of uncomfortable.

Monique Ramsey (26:53):
And sometimes it's more about having to make sure your bed is set up, or if you have a La-z-boy recovery chair, something where, because you're going to be sleeping maybe in a different kind of position than you're used to, and then that is the right, you might be having some Advil or something, maybe not Advil, I don't know what you, no, because then you'll bleed, but maybe Tylenol or something because you're having maybe lower back pain where you thought you'd have face pain.

Dr. Breister (27:21):
Your body starts to get uncomfortable because you've been in that weird position that you're not used to. So yeah, having position changes, having multiple pillows around to boost you and have you move around can be very important in the comfort of healing and relaxing, because a lot of women aren't used to relaxing either at all. So they kind of don't dunno how to do it.

Monique Ramsey (27:43):
Right. What is that?

Dr. Breister (27:44):
What? Lay down in a bed for how long?

Monique Ramsey (27:46):
And I talked to a patient on the podcast a couple of years ago, and they did something that I thought was so genius, which is they rented a La-z-boy recliner. She didn't want to buy one, but she rented it. I'm like, okay, you know what? That's a good idea. She thought that was the greatest thing. I'm like, well, that's pretty ingenious. So you can do some things. Do you have any other suggestions for people that they should have on hand or that you recommend that they do or buy something, anything ahead of time to make that aftercare easier?

Dr. Breister (28:18):
It's always good to kind of assess where your bed is in your house. So if it's up and down some stairs, they may want to, like you say, be in a La-z-boy or be in a bed or a couch downstairs. So those first couple days, you don't have to go up and down. Now you could do that once or twice, but you just don't want to be doing it all the time. Other than that, there's not a lot of things that I require that we do need the patient to be sitting pretty upright, not completely upright, but at least elevated for those first couple of days to a week. That really helps a lot with swelling. So whatever it takes, they may want to get a wedge pillow or something like that. There's a lot of probably things online that you can find that help to prop up your back without it being actual pillows per se.

Monique Ramsey (29:09):
When can they put makeup on again? Let's say it's a female patient and she's ready to maybe get back out to life. When is it safe?

Dr. Breister (29:18):
Usually by about a week later, it should be totally fine to put on some coverup, put on some concealer, absolutely. I don't think makeup really does much harm at all. Most makeups are pretty natural and have natural ingredients, so as long as you're just kind of gentle in removing it and washing it off, I would say about a week is a good time. Now with the eye surgery, a lot of mascara, that kind of thing, you may want to wait a little longer on that, but as far as the facelift, yeah, people can start using makeup by about a week.

Monique Ramsey (29:51):
And then taking it at that a step further. What about hair color? Because most of us are doing something to our hair. Does the hair go into shock? Somebody said something to me about, well, the follicles could be in shock. I'm like, what does that mean? What does that mean? And when is it safe to go back and get the blonde or whatever color you're using?

Dr. Breister (30:16):
So with the facelift, I usually try not to shave any hair, but inevitably there might be a little bit here or there that I do shave just to make the incision line a little cleaner. So that's one thing we like to warn the patients. It's just very little, but it's not going to be dramatic. It's not going to be anything that you don't lose any hair. I always recommend that the patient get their hair done, whatever coloring or whatever they need to do shortly before the surgery. And then I would say by about three weeks is a good time to aim for. As long as those incisions are all healed and sealed, I'm fine with people coloring their hair.

Monique Ramsey (31:02):
Well, and I think if you get it done before, then

Dr. Breister (31:05):
You've got some time.

Monique Ramsey (31:06):
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So last question, sort of go into activities. Is there any specific things you want them to avoid as they're going through a facelift recovery?

Dr. Breister (31:16):
The first 48 hours are very critical in that we really don't want to have an issue with bleeding, and the face is very vascular. There's abundant blood supply, which is good in the fact that we heal, but it can also work against us in that if a patient is not careful, if they start retching, okay, they're vomiting, that's bad because it raises your blood pressure. It can make a little blood vessel pop loose or something, and there could be bleeding. So super important to try to avoid a lot of coughing, avoid bending over and picking things up in those first couple of days. We just don't want a surge of blood to go to that area that we've just operated on.

Monique Ramsey (32:04):
And let's say, okay, in a 1 in 50 people that maybe that happens to, or a hundred, I don't know. So what would happen? What is the worst case, how bad is it?

Dr. Breister (32:15):
We call that a hematoma, and what that is, is it's a collection of blood. The statistics are about less than 4% of people might have that. It happens more likely in men. And we think that is because the beard and the hair follicles even has more vascularity to the area. So we stress it even more in men than women to lay low, avoid all the things that can cause bleeding, but let's just say you're doing everything right. It happens and it can happen. It's very not common, but it can. And how that would usually present, the patient is kind of relaxing just on their own, and then all of a sudden or gradually they notice that one side of the face is starting to hurt more. I think that's the first sign, like, wait a minute, my face is kind of more sore on the left than the right.

(33:09):
There's an obvious difference in that pain. And then along with that, there can be some swelling that's noticeable. Even in the dressing, it starts swelling and it creates a little pressure. So it's always very important that the patient has direct line to the physician that they can call immediately. If there's something like that with technology, it's really great because usually a patient can send a picture and we can tell right away if they need to be evaluated. And usually if that does need attention surgically, it's a pretty well orchestrated thing that happens. We say, listen, meet at the office. It can be anytime of day, any hour. That's the beauty of being at La Jolla Cosmetic. We have full control of our OR, anesthesia, our nurses. We make one phone call to the head nurse who we say, listen, we might have an issue. She contacts the entire team, and within a very short period of time, we can have you back to remove that, remove that issue, solve that problem.

(34:18):
The good thing about hematoma is that the area puts pressure on itself, so you're not going to bleed to death per se. It just kind stops. What I want to stress about that is with a patient who's kind of aware of themselves and a doctor who's available, this issue becomes kind of a non-issue. We can take it back, we can evacuate it, and it doesn't cause any effect to the final result. It's mainly like a little bump in the road. We open it, we evacuate it, we find the little culprit, usually buzz it, and then close things back up, and you're back on the road to recovery. It doesn't even really delay the recovery overall very much at all. So that's the main thing that can happen. Once again, less than 4%.

Monique Ramsey (35:04):
It's good to know that then you've got this whole team right behind you and not to feel shy about making the phone call. It's okay. That's why we're here.

Dr. Breister (35:13):
That's why I've given you my number. Exactly. You call me anytime of day. If there's a concern, a worry, we want to know about that immediately. We don't want to know the next day like, oh, I didn't want to bother you. No, no, no. We want to be bothered. We want you to have the very best results.

Monique Ramsey (35:29):
Right. Well, this has been so helpful, Dr. Breister, for helping, I think giving patients a good idea of what it's going to be like physically, emotionally, and how you can enjoy those amazing results for many, many years afterwards.

Dr. Breister (35:48):
And once again, what I like to stress, anyone who's listening here, who's obviously maybe thinking about a face lift or they probably wouldn't be listening, the best thing to do is come and talk to us. Come talk to me. That way we can give you that information, give you the data, the hard data that you can figure out, okay, is this going to work for me? Am I equipped to get through this? Do I have the support system? Do I have the time off? Do I have everything? So it's always good to gather information to see if it's the right thing. And it's like I said, it's a very powerful surgery. It's a wonderful operation.

Monique Ramsey (36:24):
Well, thank you Dr. Breister.

Dr. Breister (36:25):
Anytime.

Monique Ramsey (36:25):
And we'll have links in the show notes for seeing our beautiful gallery of Dr. Breister's before and after pictures.

Dr. Breister (36:34):
Very natural results.

Monique Ramsey (36:36):
Yeah, very. And I think that's the key, is that the techniques that you use, really, it's not about trying to look 30 years younger. It's trying to look refreshed.

Dr. Breister (36:46):
Best version of you.

Monique Ramsey (36:47):
Yes. And so we'll have those in the show notes and thanks everybody for listening, and we'll see you on next one.

Dr. Breister (36:53):
Thanks Monique. Have a great day.

Monique Ramsey (36:55):
You too.

Announcer (36:56):
Take a screenshot of this podcast episode with your phone and show it at your consultation or appointment, or mention the promo code PODCAST to receive $25 off any service or product of $50 or more at La Jolla Cosmetic. La Jolla Cosmetic is located just off the I-5 San Diego Freeway in the Ximed Building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus. To learn more, go to ljcsc.com or follow the team on Instagram @ljcsc. The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast is a production of The Axis, theaxis.io.