Dr. Sameer Desphande

It is no longer possible to tell a person's age by simply looking at the face. With the advances in cosmetic surgery, today it is very easy to effectively hide your age. A facelift or rhytidectomy is a cosmetic surgical procedure to reduce wrinkles and improve the overall appearance of your face. A facelift is considered a relatively safe procedure.

However, like any other surgery, it is associated with few risks.

1. Pain: While a facelift surgery itself is usually performed under anesthesia, recovering from it might be a little painful. Your skin may also feel numb for a few days. Taking the pain medications prescribed by your doctor can help relieve the pain. However, if the pain is severe or if it suddenly increases, you must consult your doctor immediately.
2. Swelling: Don't worry if your face looks swollen after the surgery. This is simply your body's natural reaction to the surgery. You will notice this swelling reduce in a few days. Though most of the swelling will subside in the first few days after the surgery, it can take a few weeks before the swelling completely subsides.
3. Bruising: Like swelling, bruising is a natural reaction to surgery. In most cases, people see pronounced bruising especially around the eyes in the first few days after the surgery. Most of this bruising will fade away in a few weeks, but it may be a few months before your skin is clear again.
4. Scarring: As your face heals after a facelift surgery, scarring can be seen wherever the incisions were made. Most cosmetic surgeons will make these incisions along the hairline or the natural creases of the face. This ensures that the scars are not prominently visible. In most cases, scarring fades with time till it is barely noticeable.
5. Bleeding and hematoma: A certain amount of bleeding is normal after a facelift surgery. However, excessive bleeding or uncontrolled bleeding can lead to the formation of hematomas. A hematoma can be defined as a blood clot that occurs under the skin and outside a blood vessel. This can leave the area swollen and a minor surgery may be required to flush out the clot.
6. Loss of sensation: Sometimes, nerve endings may get damaged during a face lift surgery. This can result in temporary loss of sensation in the area and difficulty in controlling the facial muscles. There may also be numbness or a tingling sensation around the incisions. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Dermatologist.

Successful living is a state where the mind and body are in perfect sync. In this state, one is able to make use of all of the available resources to live happily and with satisfactory results as far as life, work and relationships go. This does not mean that there are absolutely no problems. It simply means that you look at the problems and challenges as opportunities for growth, and solve them to live to the best of your abilities.

So what are the rules for successful living? Here is our list!

1. Believe and Understand: While you may have heard the phrase, 'Believe in yourself', you would not have heard the word understand associated with it on a normal basis. Yet, the crux of the matter is this to believe, you must understand. Believing in your abilities is one side of the coin. Understanding your limitations is the other side. So, once you have both things in place, it becomes easier to plan your actions in a realistic manner. When you believe in your competence and understand your limitations, you will either take on those tasks that will be commensurate with your skills, or you will equip yourself with higher skills so as to take on even more varied activities and tasks.
2. Simplify: This is an often repeated and extremely underrated term. To be more organised, you do not merely need the latest modular fittings in your home and office. One of the aspects of simplifying is decluttering. When you declutter, you are effectively removing all those things that do not serve you. If these things were to remain in front of you, they will only serve to expend your energy with thoughts of wastage and wastage of time as well, since you will be working your way through chaos to get to your core.
3. Moderation: Simplification and moderation go hand in hand. Superfluous acts may give instant gratification, but they do not serve you in the long run. They strip you of self-control and can even alienate you from your relationships as you get closer to things rather than people. So, it is good to have a healthy dose of everything in your life for true balance and successful living.
4. Perspective: If problems are bogging you down, then there are chances that your perspective is all wrong. Being more open and looking at the big picture are two sure shot ways of ensuring that the problems come and go without affecting your equilibrium.

Being in the moment and putting your family first is a part of creating a balanced situation in life where judegments, material wants and egos will not matter.

It is important that you understand and fulfil the needs of your partner and address issues that concern you both. Sexual intercourse for humans is not only a reproductive act, but is also considered to be an emotional and pleasurable act. However, statistics report that almost 30% of the women experience pain during intercourse. This not only hampers the pleasure but is also an unhealthy sign since it is indicative of a problem.

Painful intercourse could be a regular occurrence, or a sporadic one. There could be numerous reasons that cause the discomfort and pain. Though it might be an early manifestation of grave diseases such as endometriosis or fibroids, but more often, it is triggered due to conditions such as vaginal dryness, yeast infection, bacterial vaginiosis, which can be easily treated. It is pertinent to understand that it is not the physical infirmity of the entire female anatomy that causes such pain/ discomfort, but the existence of certain conditions that can be treated by a medical practitioner. 

Certain such causal factors associated with painful intercourse and the efficient ways to deal with them are discussed below:

1. Vaginal dryness: Vaginal dryness is one of the most commonly cited causes for painful intercourse. There are various causal factors of vaginal dryness. These include, but are not limited to, consumption of certain drugs, bathing with hot water, health conditions or even lack of foreplay. Vaginal dryness due to the aforementioned causes is a short-lived condition that can be treated well with the help of a medical practitioner. Usage of lubricants that is suitable for you, as advised by a medical practitioner, could go a long way in aiding the ease of sexual intercourse. The lubricants act as an effective substitute, if the body is unable to naturally secrete vaginal fluids to ease intercourse, thereby greatly reducing the pain that is experienced.
2. Improper vaginal expansion: The female anatomy is designed in such a way that it expands normally during intercourse. Proper foreplay enables the woman to get excited, which results in the release of vaginal fluids that aids in sexual intercourse. However, in the event that the female is not excited enough prior to the act, sexual intercourse can become a painful act, since the vagina is unable to expand in the absence of vaginal fluids. In such cases, take things slow and give your body time to comfortably go with the flow.
3. Vaginal itching caused by infection: Vaginal infections can be caused by antibiotics, prior sexual activity that has resulted in contraction of Sexually Transmitted Diseases etc. This results in an itching or burning sensation while having sex. It is essential to rest your body instead of forcing things and to consult your doctor as soon as possible. The doctor can correctly diagnose the causal factors behind the infection, and prescribe the necessary medicines for it.

However, if your symptoms vary from the common ones mentioned above, or in case you have a different query, it is always advisable to consult the doctor.