Top Complications: Cosmetic Surgical and Non-Surgical Procedures Near Me in Boise, Idaho

There are always risks when it comes to plastic surgery. Generally speaking, the face is so vascular that complications are rare. Idaho Eyelid and Facial Plastic Surgery in Boise, Idaho has seen very few complications from our own surgeries (a track record we are proud of). The infrequent complication is mitigated through best post-operative care practices provided by our experienced surgeons and medical team. It is more common that patients come to us seeking help with resolving complications resulting from surgeries they have had outside our practice. In order of frequency, we have seen these top complications occur: overcorrection, overfilling, necrosis, hematomas, and infection. Each of these are briefly discussed below.

• Overcorrection – Patients come to us to repair surgeries that have overcorrected their area of concern (eyes, jowls, etc.)… by this we mean too much skin was removed and pulled too tight. This is somewhat common with ptosis repairs, either over or under correction. There is now a general trend to reduce overcorrection through combination surgeries. This allows our surgeons to rely on multiple procedures to address patient concerns, which yields the best results. For example, during the turn of the century, plastic surgeons had the tendency over-tighten the face through facelifting. Today, our best surgeons have other options. They can still use facelifting techniques, but can combine those techniques less aggressively along with other available methods to reduce wrinkles and improve skin tone and texture, such as the ablative CO2 resurfacing laser.
• Overfilling – Hyaluronic acid fillers, such as Restylane and Juvederm, help many aging patients restore lost volume. These fillers are also used to fill in unwanted depressions, improve jawline contours, and are now injected beyond the face. As we age, however, our skin becomes more elastic and requires more filler to achieve the same effect. Some injectors use more filler, which can result in over-inflating the face. We have all seen the growing faces of Hollywood who only resemble their younger selves. Not infrequently, patients come to us to correct misplaced or overly used filler, complaining about ballooning contours that don’t look natural. Since fillers are longer lasting than expected, patients are not willing to wait out absorption. Consequently, we always have reversal agents on hand to help turn this around and provide best results.
• Necrosis – Necrosis is the death of body tissue when there’s not enough blood and oxygen flowing to a specific region. It can occur when filler injections inadvertently cause vascular occlusions. It can also occur with patients who smoke after surgical procedures like face, neck, and forehead lifting. It is our policy to always avoid situations that could result in necrosis. Our experienced injectors use best practices, such as avoiding filler injections near the nose, minimizing injection depth and duration, and using cannulas to reduce the risk of necrosis. In addition, we never perform face/neck/forehead lifts on patients who smoke. Necrosis requires immediate medical attention, reversal agents, and trained and experienced professionals to quickly address the blockage before permanent damage occurs. While some medical professionals believe that hyperbaric chambers can reduce the effects of necrosis, we have not witnessed patients recovering better through use of hyperbaric chambers.
• Hematomas – A hematoma is a localized swelling filled with blood resulting from a break in a blood vessel. It is rare in eyelid surgery, and a bit higher in face/necklifts. The national average in face/necklifts is 3-5 percent. We have seen a few hematomas occur from surgeries at Idaho Eyelid and Facial Plastic Surgery; however, our medical assistants carefully monitor our patients post-operatively. The infrequent hematoma is drained quickly in our office so that healthy healing and recovery resumes.
• Infections – Infections are extremely rare in head and neck surgery. The incidence of surgical site infections following facelift, blepharoplasty, and other facial surgeries performed at Idaho Eyelid and Facial Plastic Surgery is very low.