There are various factors which determine price of a facelift which I have listed and explained below. 1. Commercial companies versus skilled independent surgeons ? 2. Price differences between hospitals ? 3. Prices dependent on procedure ? 4. Price dependent on anesthetic ? 1. Commercial companies versus skilled independent surgeons ? There is a large difference in London for facelift prices between commercial providers of cosmetic surgery and independent surgeons who offer more expert and skilled services. Many commercial and branded companies will employ surgeons on the cheap. These surgeons may come from other countries or may be surgeons who are very young and inexperienced and as a result are relying on the company advertising dominance to recruit patients for them. You therefore need to be aware of this when choosing your surgeon. As a very senior surgeon who also works in a teaching hospital I regularly hear of my junior and freshly appointed consultants who talk about working for these companies since they want to gain experience and have no patients themselves ?! You have to ask yourself whose hands are you in when contemplating facial surgery. Worse is the surgeons who can never get a Consultant job or those who are from abroad with limited experience. There are numerous examples of these surgeons working for these companies who have dubious and limited experience. Therefore, remember that you get what you pay for?! 2. Price differences between hospitals ? Apart form the commercial providers above there is a huge price differential between various hospitals. The price for a procedure is split up into the surgeon fee, the hospital fee and the fee for the anesthetist. Even if the surgeon fee is similar, the hospital fee can vary by thousands of pounds. A prime example is some of the central London hospitals whose procedure fees are almost double that of equivalent hospitals just outside central London. For example if the standard price for a facelift in Central London by an experienced independent and well respected surgeon is somewhere in the region of £12000, the same surgery in a hospital outside central London will be just under £10000. Therefore, as an experienced facelift surgeon myself I do not use central London hospitals. A significant saving can be provided by travelling just a very short distance outside the central london area. My secretary will always advise my patients how to make this cost saving. There are highly reputable and safe large hospitals just outside central London where your procedure can be arranged. 3. Prices dependent on procedure ? The price of a facelift varies according to the complexity of the procedure and also according to whether adjunctive rejuvenation procedures are carried out. A facelift should be an individualised procedure and tailored to the correction of the specific ageing factors which may be different in every individual. The prices quoted above are for a simple facelift. However, a mini-facelift may be all that is required and will therefore cost less. On the other hand, eyelid, browlift or fat transfer may be required in addition and this will cost more. Fat transfer is a very powerful technique which significantly enhances the results of facelifts in a very natural way and should be considered in many situations. Most prominent facelift surgeons in the world are routinely using fat transfer with facelifts to achieve the best results. Therefore, the finesse of the result often depends on the adjunctive procedures carried out together with the facelift. 4. Price dependent on anesthetic ? There is no doubt that a local anesthetic facelift procedure will cost less. However, remember that not all facial problems are amenable to correction under local anesthetic surgery. There is a tendancy for some surgeons to promote local anesthetic facelifts in order to gain business. However, this is marketing ploy to exploit some patients who may be insecure about undergoing a general anesthetic. The correct procedure needs to be preformed to achieve patient goals and therefore the anaesthetic needs to be appropriate to that goal. It would be unwise to consider a procedure which involves a SMAS facelift, with a platysmaplasty for the neck and fat transfer all under local anaesthetic. However, a simple mini- facleift or standard facleift could be achieved under local anesthetic. Don't be taken in by local anesthetic facelift promotions ! Rather than this choose a surgeon who can offer the full range of surgery and anesthetics and who tailors the surgery to meet your concerns in an understanding manner. At the same time, there are surgeons who don't have access to general anesthetic facilities, You will therefore always be offered a local anesthetic procedure and this may not be in your best interests so be aware !