Do I need to stop smoking before having a facelift?

The answer is simple; you should stop smoking before facelift surgery. The nicotine will cause decrease blood flow to the undermined skin and can cause skin death. This is a basic principle in facelift surgery and a principle to practice. However, in have a do perform facelifts on smokers who reduce their intake. My protocol is to pre-treat with Oxygen treatment before and after surgery. The surgery must be modified. The skin is lifted with the SMAS attached which is the deep layer of tissue. This will maintain a ok blood supply. The area behind the ear is the problem area and a short scar facelift is better. This is a more aggressive approach to facelift surgery. The patient needs to understand the risk. This, however, is not the standard of most plastic surgery practices and is more risk to the patient.

Absolutely you must stop smoking. I do not operate on people that smoke, as they have ten times or more of a chance of having complications including infection, and loss of skin. I would highly recommend you stop smoking 6 weeks preoperatively and never again resume smoking.