What do plastic surgeons not warn you about?

Alena is 43 years old. This is a beautiful and bright business woman whose profession is related to communications. “I am one of those people who believes that the best investment is an investment in yourself. Beauty for a woman, especially in my professional field, is an effective tool. After 40 years, I stopped recognizing myself in the mirror, especially in the morning. And for me, the operation was not an opportunity to change the appearance, as others do, reshaping the nose, cheekbones, eye shape, chest, but a return to myself, ”she explains.

Preparatory stage

Alena began the selection of a doctor by viewing the works. The surgeon she was interested in had a consistently good result on different faces, with clients of different types of appearance. This became the deciding factor. The doctor described in detail how the preparation and the operation itself would take place, how the body would recover. But Alena was still waiting for a lot of unforeseen and unexpected things, not only from a physiological point of view, but also from a psychological one.

The woman admits that, perhaps, she herself did not study the sites and forums where clinic clients share their impressions and advice. And she made the decision to have blepharoplasty and a lower facelift spontaneously. She had thoughts about this before, but she said the final “yes” to herself in just a few days, having prepared the necessary amount (about 400 thousand rubles) and choosing a clinic.

“I’m not going to dissuade anyone from plastic surgery now, but I want to warn and prepare those who are thinking about it so that they can correctly calculate their psychological and temporal resources,” says our heroine.

Body Surprises

1. The presence of seams

She knew the stitches would be visible, but she didn’t expect them to be so large and visible. At first they remain red and only after six months they turn pale, turning into barely noticeable scars.

2. Painful stitches

Alena did not know that the stitches would hurt and constantly pull the skin: “I felt tension almost non-stop, at first it was impossible to turn my head. Once again, don’t touch. I was told that it would be so, but how exactly it will manifest itself, you will not understand until you experience it yourself.

3. Long-term rehabilitation

She was promised that in two weeks she would be ready for work. “On the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, after 14 days, the swelling has not completely subsided yet,” Alena explains. – In addition, immediately after the operation, I constantly wore a bandage on my head that supported my chin: two hours with it, then a half-hour pause, and again with it. Slept all the time in it too. That is, for at least six months you need to sleep on your back.

The actual recovery takes two months. Only by the end of the eighth week the face returned to normal. Long before the operation, the girlfriend of Alena’s youngest daughter spoke about her mother’s experience.

According to her stories, for a month the woman’s face was stone, did not express emotions.

“Perhaps this prepared me for the fact that my own face will not be capable of facial expressions for some time. At some moments I was very afraid that this would be forever, and in my profession this is completely impossible to allow, because non-verbal signals are an important part of communication, ”the woman shares. But a month later, the facial expressions revived, the face “thawed out” and acquired symmetry.

4. Appearance after surgery

Immediately after the operation, there were severe swelling, bruising, the mouth smiled with only one corner: “I did not recognize myself. The number of mirror views reached hundreds of times a day. I looked at him and did not understand who this person was in the reflection. And although the doctor reassured me that everything would return and I would be the same as I was, only younger, it still scared me very much. What if it’s forever? Who is this woman who is looking at me now?

5. Improve skin quality

A good bonus was that Alena’s skin quality improved. Whether the blood supply has changed, or other reasons. Or maybe just a coincidence.

Psychological nuances

For Alena, such radical changes in her face became a real loss of identity. And although a friend warned that emotionally she would be thrown from side to side, it was difficult for her to imagine the extent of these differences.

“I was thrown from despair and horror to delight and anticipation of pleasant changes. I seemed to have lost myself. I regretted that I had the operation, reviewing old photos, where I seemed to be so beautiful, missed my old image, cried, and then again praised myself for courage and determination.

Now that my face has returned to its normal state, I do not regret the operation at all, because even the opponents of surgical intervention in my environment – and there were many of them – admit that I look 43-28 years old at 33. I see my reflection and feel great, but I had to come to this state, ”says our heroine.

Another moment arose that Alena had no idea about before: “By a certain age, we accept ourselves, get used to our face. And after the operation, there was a period when I didn’t like everything about myself. I seemed to be younger, but I stopped liking my nose and eyes. It was as if that teenage feeling of self returned, when every pimple and dash, it seemed, could affect our whole life.

I saw myself with new eyes. The focus of attention on myself became strong, I began to discover what I had long ceased to notice in myself. I lived through my adolescence again and again, as then, I was shy – but how do they perceive me? Is this how I like it or not?

environment and pressure

Alena experienced strong social pressure both on the eve of the operation and after it. In social networks and the media, she met too many publications about the consequences of operations. Not all relatives supported her in this decision. Especially well-read reproached that she does not accept and does not support herself. “But I’m just convinced that this step is an act of true love for yourself and care for your face and body,” says Alena.

After the operation, not everyone is ready to see the naturalistic “beauty” of bruises and swelling. Therefore, it is important to think in advance who will be there at this moment. Who will help buy groceries, do housework, because even bending over and turning around is very difficult at first.

It must be someone who accepts us in any condition, someone we are not ashamed of.

“I warned my colleagues at work that I would be having the operation. Because I understood: rehabilitation would take much longer than they said everywhere. Management and colleagues will definitely notice something, so why hide it? I did the right thing, because openness allowed me to soften an already difficult period, ”our heroine admits.

“I often heard that those who performed the operation get a taste and continue to change something in themselves. I had a moment when I saw the effect. I felt that what was previously out of my control is now in my power. If I want, I will change everything in myself. It was interesting to experience this feeling and observe yourself. I promised myself that I would do only a circular facelift, nothing more, ”she adds.

Whom would she dissuade from the operation? “Probably those who are in a state of crisis, despair, loneliness. Who thinks that changes in the face and body will change their lives. This is not a panacea for solving problems, they are not going anywhere. The confidence that comes with facial changes can stay forever, or it can disappear. But for those who just want to prolong their youth, the operation can be a serious psychological support.”