Before and After Pics Together_Facelift

Hi Everyone. Here are the before pictures that I promised (as much as it hurts to post them).

I got home from my facelift in Costa Rica with Dr. Lev last night, and as much as I enjoyed my stay at Che Tica Ran*****osta Rica, I am so very happy to be home to my family. My husband loved my new look, btw.

You can see from the pictures that my skin tends to sag rather than to wrinkle. That made me a great candidate for good results from a facelift. Before my facelift, I was able to take an alright photo from the front, but had to take twenty or so to get one good one, carefully holding the camera up higher so that my ugly neck would not spoil the photo. Now, after my facelift,  I have a hard time choosing which picture to use because they all look pretty good.

However, my profile was ugly beyond words. I've always had a double chin, even when thin, but after losing weight, my neck hung with ugly skin. Dr. Lev gave me a beautiful neckline (If I might say so) that I've always dreamed of and would never have believed was possible for me. I'm thrilled beyond words.

I still have some very light wrinkles above my lips and under my eyes that I had pre-facelift, but Dr. Lev said that a chemical or laser peel would erase them if I wanted to be a perfectionist (which I'm not).

I've very early out in my recovery. My facelift was March 7th at CIMA hospital in Costa Rica. I had upper and lower eyes, classic brow lift, facelift, and a small chin implant. Dr. Lev also removed my old saline breast implants during the surgery. I spent one night in the hospital, then, moved to Che Tica Recovery Ranch. My stay there was wonderful, and they took me to each followup appointment, and even to the airport at 4:00 a.m. when it was time to leave. I felt very safe and well-cared for at Che Tica Ranch. The owners of the ranch are wonderful, as are the staff. I highly recommend staying at Che Tica Ranch for medical recovery, or for vacationing.

My total cost for my sugery, stay, meals, and transportation was 11,200. Here are the photos that I promised, and feel free to P.M. me if you have any questions. All photos posted here were taken with the same camera, and are original and unretouch...


Before Facelift. I was not squinting in this photo, but rather, had sagging of the eyelids...



Twelve days after Facelift from a similar view...



So embarrassing to post this, but here's my before profile. Ugly, sagging neckline ruined my profile...



My new profile, thanks to Dr. Lev. Notice that the incisions at the front of the ear are barely visible, even at this stage of early healing...



Here's one with no makeup from day following my facelift...


I can finally wear my hair up. Here's a picture from day 13 of my recovery. My mouth appears to turn up in an odd manor, but it's just an illusion as I have bruises at the corner of each mouth that distort the photo...

You look like a totally different person- definitely look younger!
I am only 35 and don't really care about anything on my face except the neckline.  Did he do lipo for your chin/neck?  or just pull with the stitching by your ear?

Thanks so much for your comments. I totally understand about the neckline thing, as mine has always bothered me. I am happy beyond words with my results.

No, Dr. Lev did not do any lipo at all. He is known for doing a nice, tight neckline (among other things), and is a Brazilian trained surgeon. He does a great deal of muscle tightening, and then redrapes the skin to get his tight necks. 

Not sure if it's because I had such a large degree of sagging or not, but I have incisions that extend into my hairline, but behind the ear. His incisions that could show on any visible areas are almost invisible already. I honestly can't see the incisions in my eyelid crease AT ALL, even when trying to find them. I know he made some because the stitches were once there, but they healed to be invisible. The one's in front of my ears are almost invisible already, too. Amazing. He's a great doc!

 YOU LOOK GREAT!  I AM LOOKING INTO GETTING FACE WORK, ESPECIALLY EYELIDS AND NECK ALONG WITH ALL MY BODY WORK.    I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO GET THE FACE DONE FIRST AS I CAN'T HIDE IT UNDER CLOTHES LIKE THE BODY.  CONGRATS ON THE NEW YOU!

Thanks! I had to make the decision between face and body work, too, and decided to do the face first. I needed to have some old breast implants removed, and was able to get Dr. Lev to remove them during my facelift. My breasts look alright, and actually a little better than they looked with the implants in place, so no hurry for a lift now. However, I WILL have a tummy tuck soon. Just want to fully recover from the facelift before going under the knife again. Thanks for your comments, and good luck with your journey.

 You look great!  But I think you were beautiful before your plastics too!

Thanks, Allypad64. I felt pretty good about my appearance before, except for my neck. I actually requested that my hair stylist cut my hair to help hide my neck. Now, I can cut my hair any way that I want. I feel much better about myself already, even though I've barely started the healing stages from this facelift. Thanks for your comments.

You are stunning! I am coming up on 46 yrs old and don't have a lot of wrinkles but since weight loss I have  the sagging neck =( I 'm with you on getting the face done first since you can hide the rest....lol   How did you find your surgeon? I can't believe how amazing your neck looks now. Congrats on your surgery....

Thank you so much for the compliments. One thing that I really liked about Dr. Lev was that he believes that doing work on patients who are younger gives better results than doing work on someone who is older and who has aquired deep wrinkling.  His U.S. coordinator has had two facelifts with him over the years, and her first one was around my age, I think. She's gorgeous. In her 60's, and looks like she is in her 30's to me. You can see her photos of her facelift journey at her website at www.eternallyvain.com (Didi). There are also links to other patients over to the side, including one lady (Bonnie Sue) who was with me on this trip to Costa Rica.

Bonnie Sue looks amazing. She is an example of someone who is a little older and who already had deep wrinkles (a facelift addresses sagging moreso than wrinkling). Still, Dr. Lev expertly balanced her face and gave her an amazing, cohesive look. She's gorgeous now, and looks even better than the photos show. All of the photos on Didi's site are sent in by patients of Dr. Lev. When you see him in his office, he has hundreds (if not thousands) of before and afters of patients that he has done.

I found Dr. Lev by doing searches on the Internet, and by reading forums like this one. He actually did another lady here on OH December 4th of 2012, and I emailed her to find out more info. I had already found other patients of his on makemeheal and on plasticsurgeryjourneys, and was interested in using him, but wanted to talk with actual patients that I found independant of Didi's site (just to be safe).

I've never found a bad word about him, and after meeting him, I totally understand why. In addition to being a very skilled surgeon, he's an amazing person who cares greatly about getting his patients through this six hours surgery safely, and about giving them the results that they are looking for. There are not words to express how strongly I feel about what a good doctor and a good person he is.  You can find cheaper surgeons in Costa Rica, but you won't find a better one. His  anesthesiolgist is also wonderful, and his brother is an instructor at a major medical college about 70 miles from where I live in Alabama. Small world. 

Thanks again for writing, and if you go see Dr. Lev, tell him the "Alabama girl with the Giant Schnauzers" told you how wonderful he is. I use my middle name on this site, but he'll know who you are talking about, lol.