Face Lift

Getting ready for surgery

If you decide to go ahead with the procedure, Dr. Eleftheriou will perform a full consultation, examining your face and making the necessary preparations. He will also walk you through the steps before your operation. You may be asked to:

• give up smoking two weeks before and two weeks after the procedure to minimize the risk of infection and avoid vain clogging in your legs,
• stop taking anti-inflammatory medicines such as aspirin two weeks before surgery to reduce the risk of excessive bleeding
• stop any vitamins and supplements that might interfere with the blood clotting mechanism.

About anaesthesia

Normally this operation is performed under "Twilight" anaesthesia (IV sedation) and local anaesthesia.

This new and innovative method of anaesthesia for facial cosmetic surgery is also extremely safe compared to the standard general anaesthesia techniques still used today.

Twilight anaesthesia

Its main advantages are:

• it does not require putting a breathing tube in the throat,
• it does not require a breathing machine
• the recovery is much faster,
• there is much less "hang-over" from anaesthesia,
• and there is much less nausea,
• avoids the risk of deep vein thrombosis

During twilight anaesthesia a small flexible IV (intravenous) needle is placed into one of the veins of the back of the hand. Through this IV line, relaxing medication is given to make you fall sleep.

The beauty of twilight anesthesia is that during the procedure you are unaware of anything going on and cannot hear anything, yet you are still breathing on your own.

When the procedure is finished, the relaxing medication is discontinued and you begin to wake up and after a couple of hours you can even have a cup of tea. This is a very important aspect of Dr. Eleftheriou's work and requires a lot of talent and skill from the anaesthetist and the surgeon as a team.