| robert frank md

Robert Frank, MD Plastic Surgery offers facelifts to patients from Munster, Hobart, Crown Point, and Frankfort as a way of significantly reducing signs of aging.*

A board-certified surgeon with years of experience in plastic surgery procedures, Dr. Frank prioritizes patient safety and comfort by striving to offer consistent high-quality care and natural-looking, youthful results. His procedure addresses jowls, as well as laxity in the neck, lower, and upper face, and other facial concerns.

Dr. Frank’s Approach to Facelift

In the initial consultation with Dr. Frank, patients share the features that they would like to improve in their face and neck. In some cases, a facelift is an ideal solution for these issues. Typically:

  • A facelift works well for patients with heavy wrinkles, jowls, and excess skin, which is causing their facial features to shift downward.
  • Patients with less prominent concerns are often candidates for less invasive procedures such as ThermiTight, ThermiSmooth, BOTOX, or fillers.
  • Some patients may benefit from a neck lift and chin implant in addition to a facelift.

At the end of the consultation, Dr. Frank provides facelift patients from Munster, Hobart, Crown Point, and Frankfort with a complete price quote. While many surgeons only share the cost of surgery—excluding facility costs and anesthesia—our practice wants those in our care to make a fully informed decision.

In a second visit, patients have a careful discussion of their health history and examination to ensure they are healthy enough to have surgery. Smoking, for example, is a contraindication for a facelift procedure. During this visit, patients also have the opportunity to complete consent forms, ask any further questions they have, and schedule their surgery.

About the Procedure

Dr. Frank performs facelifts in JCAHO-accredited facilities near Munster and Hobart. Patients receive general anesthesia so that they remain comfortable throughout the surgery.* In the procedure:

  • Dr. Frank typically uses a SMAS lift. Rather than adjusting just the facial skin, he lifts the support structures of the face. This helps patients resist the effects of aging and gravity. It also puts less strain on the upper level of the skin, keeping the facelift natural-looking.*
  • Neck lift incisions usually take place around the ear, where scars will be mostly hidden.*
  • Dr. Frank may also liposuction and adjust areas of fat, tighten muscles, and reduce excess skin to achieve the desired result. ThermiTight may also be an option in treating a lax neck.

Recovery from Facelift

Facelift patients usually do not experience a lot of discomforts.* They should expect to have a drain for a week as they heal, after which time they can return to work.* Swelling and bruising go away within about four weeks.*

Dr. Frank’s Advice on Recovery

We all have our own ideas of how long recovery should take. Unfortunately, this means many patients try to rush their recovery and go back to normal activities. This trend is especially true among young mothers who want to spend every moment with their children. They may attempt to play with or pick up their children before their bodies are ready to handle that strain.

Dr. Frank sees rushed recoveries in several ways, with one of the most common being pain. Patients who try to be too active too early in the recovery process often find themselves running through their pain medication too soon and have to ask for an early refill. Rather than increase the amount of medication you take, you will feel better sooner and end the period wherein you need the medication faster if you allow your body to rest. Do not force your body to undergo more physical strain than it is ready to handle. It is okay to take 30-minute breaks on the couch.

Another way Dr. Frank sees patients push themselves too hard is an increased risk of both swelling and dangerous hematomas.

For example, after liposuction, your body needs time to move fluid out of your skin. Patients who have had liposuction will have skin that feels firmer than untreated areas because of this fluid buildup. Getting that fluid out of your skin is one of your recovery goals during the weeks after surgery. But if you activate your muscles near the treated area, that activity draws fluid into the area, which increases swelling and often pain. In the case of a tummy tuck, too much activity early in your recovery can increase blood pressure, which then causes more oozing into the space created during surgery. While a little fluid is normal, it’s easy to overwhelm your body’s ability to absorb this fluid. A hematoma is the result.

To minimize these concerns, Dr. Frank encourages all patients to clear their schedules of everything except the most essential duties for the two weeks after surgery. You should minimize the amount of childcare, job responsibilities, meetings, social activities, and home chores in which you partake so your body can rest. You will feel better and recover faster if you plan ahead so that your body, not your calendar, determines when you are ready for your physical activities.

Results After Recovery

Dr. Frank’s facelift often restores ten years of youthfulness to a patient’s appearance.* They will continue to age in appearance gradually as before, but they can enjoy natural-looking rejuvenation during that time.* Patients who want to preserve these results can also try various non-surgical treatments, such as:

Renew your appearance at Robert Frank MD, Plastic Surgery. Patients from Hobart, Munster, Crown Point, and Frankfort can learn more about facelift surgery in an initial consultation with Dr. Frank. Call our office at (219) 513-2011 or use our online form today.

*Individual results may vary