Is Facelift Safe? Risks and Complications

Is Facelift Surgery Safe?

Like all elective surgical procedures, facelift surgery has risks and potential complications.

The most recent literature reports complication rates for rhytidectomy as hematoma, nerve injury, seroma formation, and scarring.

Not all facelift patients are at the same risk levels.

One surgical plan may carry less risk than multiple plans. One person may require more than one surgical plan due to several factors, such as complex medical issues, interfering medications that affect bleeding, smoking, or if the person needs multiple extended surgical procedures.

So when patients ask if facelift surgery is safe, the answer is not that simple. It can’t be reduced to a vague percentage.

So, is facelift safe for every patient? Not necessarily, because individual health and the planned surgery can change the level of risk.

For someone searching is face lift safe, it is important to separate normal surgical risk from the idea that any operation can be completely risk-free.

What Are the Main Facelift Risks and Complications?

Most people associate surgery with swelling and bruising. But the many side effects of facelift surgery, for example, can include hematoma and facial nerve injury, poor healing of the wounds, chronic pain and numbness, scarring, and imbalance of the facial features. Facial surgery can even cause fluid collections, tissue changes, and color changes.

In addition to the complications specific to facial surgery, there are the normal, expected risks of surgery, such as bleeding, infections, blood clots, difficulty breathing or reactions to anesthesia.

The presence of these complications doesn’t mean that surgery will not go as planned.

The main facelift risks should be discussed before surgery so the patient understands both common and less common complications.

It is the responsibility of the surgical team to provide the patient with the risks and complications that they may expect should they decide to go through with the procedure.

What Is a Hematoma After Facelift Surgery?

A hematoma is a collection of blood under the skin and may require surgical drainage.

Facelift surgery increases the risk of hematoma, swelling and bleeding due to the nature of the surgery, and surgical drainage to control the bleeding can happen, which may even increase the risk of additional surgery.

The 2025 systematic review noted that hematoma was reported as a complication in many of the reviewed studies and was noted as being one of the most prevalent complications.

This type of post-operative problem is unlike your typical bruising.

While early stage recovery from a facelift is expected to result in some bruising, many hematomas require the attention of a medical professional and, potentially, further intervention.

Swelling is considered a concern if it suddenly develops and/or is severe and must be addressed according to the instructions of the surgical team.

Can Facelift Surgery Cause Facial Nerve or Sensation Changes?

Yes. Numbness and/or changes in facial skin sensations can occur and MedlinePlus reports that damage to the facial nerve can occur from a facelift and may sometimes persist.

A systematic review also reported neurapraxia among the post-operative complications of a facelift.

Not all changes in sensation are due to an injury to the nerve.

Changes to your face may occur while the tissues are healing.

Should it be determined that the weakness or increase in symptoms is greater than what would have been expected, an evaluation by your surgeon should be done sooner rather than later.

What Are the Risks of Anesthesia?

The type of anesthesia can influence the risks associated with a facelift.

MedlinePlus lists reactions to medicines, breathing problems, bleeding, blood clots and infection among general surgical and anesthesia risks.

General anesthesia may be used for some facelift procedures depending on the surgical plan.

Each individual’s risk related to anesthesia can vary due to his/her health history.

Patients are required to provide a complete medical history. Information pertinent to the surgical procedure must be disclosed. It is unwise to assume that preexisting conditions, medications, and supplements being taken do not impact the outcome of the surgery.

Anesthesia selection also needs to be considered as part of the surgical planning process.

Which Facelift Patients May Have a Higher Surgical Risk?

Not all facelift candidates have the same medical history.

Patients with diabetes, heart disease or other medical conditions may need additional assessment before surgery.

Risk factors can also include:

• Medical conditions that impair healing
• Use of medications that affect bleeding or clotting
• Previous facial surgical procedures
• Additional procedures being performed simultaneously
• Smoking or nicotine use

Being in a higher risk category does not mean surgery will not be an option for you.

An incomplete assessment may prompt an additional evaluation and, at the very least, postpone the scheduled surgery.

A pre-operative consultation allows the medical history, medications and individual risk factors to be reviewed before patients undergo facelift surgery.

Informed consent also requires the patient to understand the expected benefits, limitations and possible complications before proceeding.

Why Is Smoking Important Before Facelift Surgery?

The many health concerns related to the habit of smoking include the fact that smoking affects the body’s ability to heal.

MedlinePlus states that smoking, as well as being exposed to smoke, makes the recovery from a facelift more difficult, prolongs healing, and increases the risk of blood clot formation after the surgery.

Facelift surgery involves tissues that need to be realigned. Incisions create wounds that need to heal.

Patients need to provide an accurate account of smoking and nicotine usage during the consultation.

A surgeon and their surgical team create a bespoke plan tailored to the procedure and patient needs. They no longer need to follow a generalized schedule from the internet.

What Can Cause Poor Wound Healing?

When a wound heals, there are a number of factors that come into play.

Smoking is just one of those factors. The surgeons’ plans and the patients’ health status and post-surgical care come into play as well. One of the more widely known complications of facelift surgery on MedlinePlus is the nonhealing of a wound.

Wound healing of incision sites is very important.

Patients are instructed not to add any products to an open surgical wound. This can increase the risk of further complication.

In our facelift scars guide, we discuss how the incision healing process can affect the final appearance of the incision.

Poor wound healing is not normal, has functional implications, and is a cause for medical concern.

How Can Facelift Risks Be Reduced?

The stress caused by surgery cannot be removed. However, it can be managed better.

Selecting a surgical facility and a plastic surgeon who have the proper credentials from an accrediting body, as noted in Yale Medicine, will help reduce the risk of cosmetic surgery.

The surgical setting and the qualifications of the surgical team are also part of safety planning.

International patients should ensure that the surgical facility and the surgeon meet the local accrediting body and standards for the practice.

Planning for surgery is different, but also equally important.

According to MedlinePlus, patients should tell doctors about their illnesses, medications, and supplements. They should state all pertinent medical history and follow directions about blood thinners that can affect surgical bleeding.

Patients should know the reasoning behind the proposed surgery and the risks involved before deciding to undergo a deep plane facelift.

We shouldn’t be trying to come up with a surgical technique that ensures zero failure potential.

Reduce the risk while developing an optimal surgical pathway.

Understanding these factors helps answer is facelift safe in the context of an individual surgical plan.

When May Revision Surgery Be Needed?

Revision surgery is typically discussed because something about the healing or final outcome requires more attention.

According to MedlinePlus, poor cosmetic outcomes may require surgery due to unacceptable scars, unevenness of the face, collections of fluid(s) or irregular contours.

Early healing in and of itself should not warrant revision.

During healing, several factors may affect the face and how it feels.

The rationale and timing for revision are shaped by the condition to be corrected.

Each surgery carries an array of potential hazards.

What Symptoms Require Medical Attention?

Patients should have very clear instructions about how to contact the surgical team when they are able to do so.

Facelift complications may include bleeding, hematomas, infections, blood clots, slow healing, nerve injury and breathing difficulties.

Some facelift complications require assessment rather than waiting to see whether the symptom disappears on its own.

Sudden or significant swelling after surgery should be assessed according to the instructions provided by the surgical team.

Even though discomfort and swelling can be expected after surgery, new and noticeable swelling may be a cause for concern. New or significant blood loss may be troubling, as may difficulty breathing, signs of infection, new weakness, or deterioration of the wound.

Your post-surgical instructions will be more important than general guidelines.

Distinguishing what is expected during the healing process from new or worsening symptoms that call for further evaluation is important.

Can Before-and-After Photos Show Whether a Facelift Was Safe?

Before-and-after photos can be used to illustrate and document changes in different areas of the face.

They by no means illustrate every single event that occurs during surgery and the entire recovery process.

One patient may have an excellent outcome from surgery after resolution of many complications. The other patient’s early post-surgery photograph may show extensive bruising, while the recovery is straightforward.

Photographs alone cannot show whether anesthesia was safe, whether bleeding occurred, whether complications developed at the surgical site, or whether short term nerve injuries occurred.

Images described online as face lift gone wrong may show early healing, a cosmetic concern or a true complication, which are not necessarily the same thing.

Our facelift before and after guide offers an explanation of how photographs are useful in documenting the changes that occur after a facelift.

Ultimately, appearance alone cannot demonstrate safety in surgery.

Final Thoughts

Are facelifts safe? Surgery to lift the face has an overall low complication rate; however, no surgical procedure can guarantee complete absence of risks and possible complications.

A systematic review found generally low rates while still noting common issues like hematoma, scarring, nerve-related complications, and seroma among important reported issues.

The health of the patient, whether they smoke, their past and present medication use, and other factors should all be accounted for in order to create a proper plan and guides for their postoperative care.

Other factors that should be accounted for are the surgeon and the surgical facility or office.

The question is facelift safe is therefore better answered through individual assessment than through a general promise.

For the person asking how safe is a facelift, the most accurate answer is probably an individual assessment as opposed to a generalization about facelifts.

Understanding the potential risks of surgery is an important part of planning and informed decision-making.

Medical Sources

• Facelift — Medical Encyclopedia — MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
• Aesthetic Plastic Surgery — Yale Medicine.
• A Systematic Review of Rhytidectomy Complications and Prevention Methods: Evaluating the Trends — PubMed / University of Alabama at Birmingham.