The future of facial rejuvenation surgery recovery

As a lymphedema therapist and board certified massage therapist, I have been helping clients recover from facial rejuvenation surgery for a decade. In that time, I have seen a radical change in the recovery process for facelift and necklift surgeries. 

Before the pandemic, the focus was on anti-aging quick fixes with minimum downtime. Most people were scared of facelifts because they didn’t want to look too ‘done’ or ‘pulled.’ The facelift clients I helped had their surgery in November, December and January, when they could stay inside for most of the winter. 

When the pandemic hit, Generation X and Baby Boomers discovered how they REALLY looked when they had to see their image staring back at them during online meetings. At the same time as many men and women were searching for a solution to looking ‘tired,’ social media threw a spotlight on plastic surgery procedures like facelift and necklift. Surgeons posted before and afters and patients became less secretive, using sites like Instagram to record their recovery in real time. ISAPS estimates that over 737K facelifts were performed by plastic surgeons in 2024, a 90% increase over 2020 figures. 

In 2024, 2025 and again this year in 2026 I am seeing facelift recovery clients year round. ISAPS statistics from 2024 list facelift is the 9th most popular plastic surgery procedure on their list, and eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, fat grafting to the face and perioral surgery are also in the top 10, with brow lift and neck lift coming in at 13 and 14. 

At the same time as more people are getting facelifts, the facial rejuvenation surgeries themselves are becoming more complex and comprehensive. Deep plane facelifts are now routine, necklifts often include trimming of glands and most facial rejuvenation surgery includes either fat grafting, lasers or both. According to the ISAPS statistics, fat grafting to the face has increased by over 19% from 2023 to 2024 and brow lifts increased by over 27% in the same time span.  

The next change I see in 2026 and beyond is the realization that facelift surgery recovery is not 2-3 weeks, or even 2-3 months. Influencers sharing their facelift recovery journey are showing their results beyond the traditional day before surgery/two week postop/three months postop before-and-after sequence. Facelift clients are going into the process asking about what they can do before surgery to promote a faster recovery and what they can include in their recovery protocol to maximize healing. Staying at a hotel after surgery with an overnight nurse and booking hyperbaric oxygen, light therapy, lymphatic massage and other treatments used to be just for high end clients. Now that facelift surgery and recovery is close to a $70k investment, clients are looking very carefully at their entire protocol. 

America is becoming obsessed with longevity medicine, and it is quickly becoming a part of the facelift recovery conversation as well. What should patients be doing in the months and years after facelift to preserve their investment and maintain their health, beyond wearing SPF? Anti-aging skincare is getting a makeover as products are becoming more longevity focused, and the conversation around facelift maintenance will soon involve topics like inflammation, oxidative stress and other causes of skin aging. In the future, keeping facelift results is going to be more than skin deep, with a focus on ongoing health and wellness long after scars have faded.