How to choose a facelift surgeon

What a facelift involves

If you're looking for a plastic surgeon for a facelift, it helps to know what you're asking about. A facelift is an operation on the tissues of the lower face and, often, the neck. It involves incisions, an anaesthetic and a recovery period, and the details depend on the approach the surgeon uses. There are several, and your surgeon should explain which they'd suggest for you, and why.

No surgeon can promise a particular result, and a careful one won't. What you can control is who you choose, and how thoroughly you check them.

Who performs facelifts

Facelifts are not only performed by plastic surgeons. In the UK, Royal College of Surgeons of England cosmetic certification for surgery of the face is open to plastic surgeons, ear, nose and throat surgeons, and oral and maxillofacial surgeons on the specialist register. Other countries have their own arrangements.

Surgeon Shortlist covers specialist plastic surgeons. That's our scope, not a judgement on other specialists. Whoever you choose, check they are on the specialist register in the specialty they trained in, and ask how that training covered facial cosmetic surgery.

Check specialist registration

Search the surgeon's name on the official register in the country where they operate. For a specialist plastic surgeon, look for plastic surgery on the GMC specialist register in the UK, specialist registration with the Medical Council in Ireland, specialist registration in plastic and reconstructive surgery with Ahpra in Australia, or American Board of Plastic Surgery certification in the US. How to check if a surgeon is registered has the details, and the credentials glossary explains the letters.

Ask about their facelift experience

• How many facelifts do you perform, and how recently?
• Which approach would you suggest for me, and why that one?
• Can I see before and after photos of your own facelift patients, ideally with features like mine?
• Will you perform the whole operation yourself?

Questions specific to facelifts

• Where will the scars be, and how do you expect them to settle?
• Would you treat the neck as well, and what would that add?
• What anaesthetic will I have, and who gives it?
• How many nights will I stay, and where?
• What are the most common complications, and how would you manage them?

Take our full list of questions to ask at your first consultation as well, and ask for the answers in writing.

Recovery and flying

The NHS advises not flying for 7 to 10 days after facial cosmetic procedures, because air travel and major surgery increase the risk of a blood clot. Your surgeon may advise longer. Flying after cosmetic surgery has the details.

Having a facelift abroad

If you're travelling, check the surgeon on the register where they operate, and plan your stay around their guidance on recovery and follow-up. Read surgery abroad: what to check first before you book anything.

What the price should include

Compare quotes only once the credentials check out, and ask for each to be itemised. What a facelift price should include goes through it line by line. Then check a plastic surgeon's registration with us, free.

Sources

• NHS, Cosmetic surgery abroad Official
• NHS, Choosing who will do your procedure Official
• General Medical Council, the medical register Official
• Medical Council (Ireland), Check the register Official
• Ahpra, register of practitioners Official
• Royal College of Surgeons of England, Cosmetic surgery certification Independent
• Royal College of Surgeons of England, Choosing a surgeon and hospital Independent
• American Board of Plastic Surgery, verify certification Independent