What’s the Difference Between Social vs. Physical Downtime After a Facelift? (Updated 2025)

Social downtime refers to the period after surgery when visible signs such as swelling or bruising have resolved enough for you to feel comfortable attending social events.

Many facelift patients at my Toronto practice feel comfortable returning to work a couple of weeks after their procedure. But they may feel less confident about attending a big social event so soon after surgery. Patients planning to get a facelift before a big social event, such as a wedding or a class reunion, need to plan ahead because social recovery can last longer than your physical recovery.

How Much Downtime Should You Plan After Facelift Surgery?

This facelift recovery timeline includes both physical and social downtime. These are estimated postoperative milestones; each patient’s recovery is unique.

• 0-10 days: You’ll probably want to avoid seeing friends or co-workers during the first week or so after getting a facelift. I often apply a large dressing immediately after the surgery to help minimize swelling and replace it about a day later. Even though you should limit activities during this stage, it’s important to walk around the house starting the day after the surgery to enhance the healing process.
• 10 days to 3 weeks : At this point, most facelift patients feel generally back to normal but may still have some bruising and swelling around the incision sites. Many patients return to work and feel comfortable going to the store and being out in public generally. Using makeup or wearing your hair differently is a good way to camouflage any signs of surgery.
• 3 to 12 weeks: Results of a facelift improve with each passing day in most cases. A person’s comfort level attending a class reunion, wedding, or other significant social event varies. But by 6 weeks post-op, most facelift patients have no residual signs of surgery. Results that look good after a month tend to look even better after 3 months.

Planning facelift surgery around a major event should ideally begin six months in advance. Allow time to schedule consultations with at least 2 or 3 plastic surgeons, and time to schedule surgery after choosing a surgeon. It’s never a good idea to feel pressured to choose a surgeon because of an impending deadline.

Alternatives When You Can’t Accommodate Surgical Downtime

If that kind of time frame isn’t possible for some reason, consider nonsurgical treatments such as a “liquid facelift” using BOTOX® Cosmetic and fillers to produce effective, but temporary, results. They can’t match the more dramatic and long-lasting results of a facelift, as you can see in our gallery of before-and-after photos, but nonsurgical treatments are viable alternatives.

Request Your Consultation

If you’re looking for a facial plastic surgeon in the Toronto area, you can contact our office using the online form. Or you can call us at (416) 925-7337 (Toronto) or (905) 743-9888 (Oshawa) to schedule an appointment.