Plastic Surgery Without General Anesthesia

Facelifts, browlifts, upper blepharoplasties (eyelid lift), lower blepharoplasties (eyelid lift), lip lifts, rhinoplasties (nose jobs) and many other plastic surgery procedures that a typical facial plastic surgeon performs can all be done under local anesthesia without general anesthesia.

 

Dr. Jean-Paul Azzi is one of the few surgeons nationwide to safely and effectively perform almost all of his facial plastic surgery procedures under local anesthesia. Other than his natural and beautiful outcomes, this is one of the main reasons patients seek him out.

 

There are several reasons why Dr. Azzi prefers not to use anesthesia.

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First, for most procedures, it is completely unnecessary. In fact, the main reason most plastic surgeons put all their patients under anesthesia for facial cosmetic and reconstructive surgery is more because they are uncomfortable performing the procedures and do not want the patient awake if they struggle.

 

Second, it introduces a lot of risk that is not necessary for an elective, cosmetic facial plastic surgery procedure. Without anesthesia, there is almost no risk to the vast majority of facial plastic surgery.

 

Third, the use of anesthesia can cause a lot of physiologic changes to the body that can prolong recovery times, increase bruising and cause a lot of nausea and vomiting.

 

As stated, facelifts, brow lifts, eyelid lifts (blepharoplasties), lip lifts, rhinoplasties (nose jobs) and many other facial plastic surgical procedures can all be performed under local anesthesia ONLY.

 

This involves being given an oral relaxing pill such as valium and the plastic surgeon then injecting the area with numbing agents. This is done with an extremely fine needle and long and short-acting numbing agents are strategically placed to allow for no sensation during the plastic surgery procedure. The injections can be slightly uncomfortable and are similar in sensation to Botox or Xeomin injections, but they're over within seconds.

 

Dr. Azzi has successfully performed facelifts and revision facelifts under local anesthesia on patients who are afraid of needles. He is able to do this by injecting very slowly, breaking up the shots so they are not all given at once, using music to relax the patient with a calming decor to the procedure room and having a soft and calm demeanor.

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