Why More Patients Are Choosing Local Anesthesia for Facial Surgery

While the safety of anesthesia has significantly improved over the past four decades, it is important to recognize that its use still carries certain inherent risks and added costs. These include the potential for adverse reactions, the need for extensive monitoring, and the involvement of specialized personnel and facilities. General anesthesia, though safer today than ever before, can introduce complexities that many patients and surgeons would prefer to avoid when possible.

Fortunately, advancements in technique and patient care have made it increasingly viable to perform facial plastic surgical procedures using local anesthesia alone. Over the past ten years, this approach has gained widespread acceptance and popularity. It allows many procedures to be carried out comfortably and effectively in an office-based setting without the need for a hospital or surgical center.

My experience with local anesthesia for facial plastic surgery first began in 2004 when my patients requested facial rejuvenation, including facelifts, be performed under local anesthesia as an office procedure rather than an operating room procedure.  In response to this demand, I developed the Active Lift^®, a trademarked procedure.  The Active Lift^® is a facelift, often performed with tightening of the platysma muscle, under local anesthesia.  The postoperative care and scheduled visit 10 days after your procedure with our esthetician Elise Adelman, is part of our unique Active Lift^® process.  Most of our patients return to social activities just 10 days following the procedure.

While it is remarkable to be able to perform such a procedure under local anesthesia, I can assure you we have vast experience with more than a thousand successful Active Lift^® procedures. We have even performed endoscopic browlifts, eyelid surgery, and laser resurfacing at the same time as an Active Lift^®, all in the comfortable office setting with just local anesthesia.  Our ability to perform complete facial rejuvenation makes us quite exceptional and our patients are very happy with their experience, as well as their results.

Please consider coming to one of our evening seminars or schedule your consultation.