59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
Lifestyle lift provider: Sign in or join to view
I had lipo under my chin and then lifestyle lift for "turkey neck," slight jowls, and upper eyelids. Pre- and post-op patient education is VERY inadequate. Marketing makes it sound like, as others have said, everything will be ok in a few days; thank goodness I am off (school system) til the end of this month. The procedure was one of the most painful things I have ever gone thru (including emergency C-section & 2 vaginal deliveries); much more difficult and painful than lapband for sure! I never expected so many painful injections around the ears and eyes without any topical to at least numb the sites (valium only, which did little to nothing). Despite many questions at the consultation, none of this was revealed to me in advance - - and I asked alot of questions. I was terrified, in pain, and shook thru a good part of the 1.5-hour procedure. Now I have numbness in the lower half of one ear and hard areas in front of both ears. There are hypertrophic-appearing scars above both eyes that they say will go away, but I have concerns. I am using vitamin e and doing scar massage. The neck skin is very tight and I feel that if I don't continue to turn my head back and forth that I will lose some range of motion in my neck due to tightness. In addition, response to my calls to their office regarding swelling, discomfort, and downright fear regarding outcomes has been poor; I was promised someone I could talk to when I requested someone who had already been thru this but never heard from anyone. The technician I had for the procedure was cold and incompassionate. The response to all questions and concerns: it will take some time, everyone is different. I can't bear to think what decision I would have made had a found this website prior to the procedure and I am terrified to think about what the longer-term outcome may be. I don't have the money for "real" plastic surgery. I would warn everyone considering this to, as others have said, do your homework. LSL is new to Illinois. The doctor I had had a long list of credentials (as a plastic surgeon) so I thought he would be ok; I hope it is ok down the road but if the tightness and eye scars don't improve, I may decide to go for a consultation to another plastic surgeon NOT associated with LSL. If you're considering LSL in the Chicago area, you can contact me. I stated "fair" as I don't know long-term yet & cannot really say if worth it yet or not.
Lifestyle lift reviews by RealSelf.com users
Avg cost $5,319
41% say Lifestyle lift was worth it
59% say Lifestyle lift was not worth it
8/18/08
Hang in there; I heard after 6 mos. you get what your going to be left with. I was still very "fragile" after 2 wks. post-op.
I couldn't imagine going through my surgery without being knocked out. It was worth the Extra $$$ because i don't remember anything.
Keep us posted on your recovery.
8/29/08
Thanks for the encouraging words, Mamamia. I did have a consultation today with a family-recommended plastic surgeon. He basically said they save money on not providing anesthesia or a hospital setting and make money on volume. He also said make sure the doc is board-certified regardless of where you go. He acknowledged some problem areas (small pucker in front of ear, uneven area under chin where lipo was done, uneven suture/incision area above one eye) but felt that, all in all and given the (small) amount I paid, the surgeon did a fair job; in other words, you get what you pay for. A couple of things he pointed out to me for those who are considering but haven't had the surgery: he prefers non-dissolvable stitches for eye lids (my surgeon did dissolvable and said you don't know what's "left in there" with dissolvable ones; and, when he does face lifts, he cuts/stitches IN the ear, as opposed to in front of the ear, where mine are. Obviously, they wouldn't show as much in vs out. He also stressed the importance of continuing scar/face massage for a "long" time to address swelling and proper scar formation and soft tissue repair. Being a lymphedema therapist, I can't stress enough the importance of SOFT, GENTLE massage to reduce/prevent any hard-feeling areas in front of and below the ears. I believe if that accumulated fluid (swelling) is allowed to remain and not GENTLY massaged out, the skin and tissue will stay hard permanently. In patients I have worked on with swelling in various body parts (ie - post-mastectomy), this can take weeks or months. The good news is that I am feeling considerably better now and realize I shouldn't underestimate healing time. Best wishes to all of you trying to make decisions about this procedure - - do your homework!
8/29/08
I too had the lumps behind my ear lobes. I have no stitches in front. They were NOT dissolvable and I have no scars.
I went for a post-op recently. I showed him the hard scar just above my earlobe in the back, he injected a fluid that has softened it already and said the next time I come back he'll do it again to break it down.
The only dissapointment for me was the cheek implants..waste of $$$ as they did nothing and not even noticable. He just told me that's how it goes with some people...not a good answer for me to hear.
Neck & chin look great; brow lift is good, but I know in time it's going to furrow again.
The price we pay for vanity!!
9/7/08
I saw {edited}. Kind and empathetic but
doing his job, I suppose, getting patients in
and out per company requirements.
Editor note You must contact users privately to share provider information. To contact another user privately click on their username.