Medically reviewed by Dr. John Rosdeutscher – Written by Sine Thieme
How Much Does a Facelift Cost?
The starting price for a facelift at NuBody Concepts Cosmetic Surgery in Nashville or Memphis is $9,800. This includes all doctor’s fees, anesthesia costs and miscellaneous charges – no hidden fees to worry about. Please note that each patient is different and that aesthetic goals vary from person to person. Your actual price quote will depend on the outcome of your personal consultation with our board-certified plastic surgeon. Please also note that the cost of a non-surgical facelift will be different.
Before choosing a cosmetic surgery practice, it is important to know what goes in your cost estimate before you compare prices between different providers, as each might price the procedure differently.
Below we are going to examine the factors to consider when budgeting for a facelift.
Average Cost of a Facelift
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the average cost of a facelift is $9,281. According to Realself, the cost of a facelift – also called rhytidectomy – is $12,625 (numbers as of 2024).
Why is a facelift so much more expensive on Realself? The reason is simple: Realself is a site helping patients research and compare cosmetic surgery procedures and share their experiences with each other. When it comes to costs, it shows the price the patients paid or said they paid. ASPS is an association for plastic surgeons and uses data its members report – meaning any prices posted on its site are based on their members’ average surgeon fees. It even clearly states that such fees “do not include anesthesia, operating room facilities or other related expenses.”
Needless to say, the surgeon fee is only a portion of the cost for the patient. Adding the aforementioned fees can easily double the price of a procedure such as a facelift.
What is Included in the Cost of a Facelift?
To do a comparison of facelift prices, make sure you understand what is included and what isn’t. Some providers include the facility fee or anesthesia in the price, and others don’t. When speaking of a facelift, a neck lift is usually included, but this could vary between providers. Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), brow lifts, chin implants, or any kind of skin resurfacing or dermal fillers are typically not included in the cost of a facelift.
At NuBody Concepts, every rhytidectomy – aka facelift – price quote is all-inclusive. What you see is what you pay – no hidden fees, surcharges, or taxes. We also apply the fee you paid for your consultation with our plastic surgeon to the cost of your procedure when you book one. The only additional expense not included in your NuBody price quote is the cost of any prescription drugs our surgeon will call in prior to your procedure.
Differences in Facelift Cost
Even if all the above factors are accounted for, facelift prices can still vary from one provider to the next. Below, you will find factors that can drive the cost of a facelift up or down. How much you pay for a facelift will depend on how important each one of these is for you.
IV Sedation vs General Anesthesia
We mentioned anesthesia fees above. Facelifts used to be performed exclusively in a hospital setting under general anesthesia. However, this is no longer true. You can have a facelift on an outpatient basis at most cosmetic surgery practices. This is good news. General anesthesia requires intubation and generally carries higher risks than so-called IV sedation. It also typically prolongs your recovery. Not to mention that it is more costly, meaning it will inflate the price of your procedure.
IV sedation is perfectly adequate for facelift surgery. It’s the same type of sedation you receive for wisdom teeth extraction or a colonoscopy. It can be timed precisely to the length of your procedure and is easy to recover from. You will need a driver to take you home afterwards, but by the next morning you will feel relatively normal.
IV sedation – coupled with a local anesthetic – helps to keep the cost of the procedure affordable without affecting your results.
When asking for a facelift price quote, make sure to ask whether your plastic surgeon would operate in a hospital or in his private operating suite at his or her practice. Your savings from a facelift in a cosmetic surgery practice versus at a hospital could be significant.
Facelift Surgeon Experience
There is a wide variety of skill among cosmetic surgeons, and this will reflect in the prices they charge. A board-certified plastic surgeon with years of experience under his belt will probably be more pricey than a younger, more inexperienced surgeon. If you are willing to pay for the difference, it could be well worth it. Surgeon experience will be reflected in the results you can expect. Also, make sure your plastic surgeon routinely performs the procedure you are looking for. If their bread and butter procedure is the application of injectable fillers, you might not want to trust them with a surgical facelift. If you’re not sure, ask for before and after pictures of real patients who have had work done that is similar to what you are hoping to achieve.
As with any major purchase, it is important to do your research ahead of time. If a procedure seems pricey to you, consider how much you’ll save overall if you are happy with the results on the first try rather than having to have the area reworked later.
We invite you to meet our NuBody Concepts team. Each of our plastic surgeons has over 20 years of experience: Dr. John Rosdeutscher is a double-board certified plastic surgeon in our Nashville practice who also serves as Chief Medical Officer; Dr. Mark Peters, is an award-winning board-certified plastic surgeon who heads our Memphis practice. Both have extensive facelift experience.
Facelift Cost by Geographic Area
The cost of rhytidectomy surgery – or any other cosmetic surgery – may also vary substantially among different locations in the United States. In higher living cost areas such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, or Atlanta, you might have to pay as much as $20,000 for the same kind of facelift that would cost you $8,000 in Tennessee.
The same is true for price variations between the U.S. and other countries. There exists a lively cosmetic surgery tourism for Americans traveling to Mexico, India, or Turkey for lower-cost procedures. However, if you want to be sure that safety protocols as established by the ASPS and other organizations are adhered to, the United States is your safest option.
It’s understandable if you prefer to undergo plastic surgery close to home where the environment is familiar and you have support during your recovery. But if you are on a tight budget, consider getting your facelift done in Nashville, TN or a similar lower-cost area for plastic surgery. You could save thousands in cost without sacrificing your safety or quality of results. Please make sure to ask us about information for out-of-town patients.
Cost of Different Facelift Types
Lastly, which kind of facelift you get will greatly influence the cost of your procedure. There is really no such thing as a standard facelift. Each facelift procedure is highly customized to accommodate the patient’s individual contours, skin condition, and aesthetic goal.
Make sure that when you compare providers, you compare apples to apples. Here are some questions you might ask the surgeon to make for an easier comparison:
- Is the kind of facelift I’m having considered a classic facelift, mini-lift, awake facelift, mid-face lift, cutaneous facelift, liquid facelift, or non-surgical facelift, just to name a few?
- What kind of anesthesia will be used?
- How long is the procedure going to take?
- Is the facelift going to involve surgery, a minimally-invasive procedure, or a combination of both?
- Will the neck be lifted as part of my facelift?
- Will I get a discount if I add on eyelid surgery or a brow lift?
- Are there any additional fees or surcharges not included in the price quote?
Facelift Financing Options and Payment Plans
So far we’ve only discussed the total, one-time price of a facelift. However, many patients take advantage of interest-free payment plans offered by medical financing providers such as CareCredit, Alpheon, United Medical Credit, or PatientFi. Such plans allow you to spread out the costs over up to 12 months to make the procedure more affordable.
Please visit our Payment Options page for a free credit score check and to select a payment plan from one of our four approved lenders. You will typically need a minimum credit score of approximately 600 to qualify. Each lender has a slightly different credit score cutoff, giving you other options if the first plan you try doesn’t work out. Once you have your lender paperwork, make sure you bring that to your consultation with our plastic surgeon so that we can process it for you on the spot.
Since it is an elective procedure, a facelift is typically not covered by health insurance.
We hope that we’ve given you a better understanding about the cost of a facelift Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions.
If you are ready to get started, use the pink button to schedule a consultation with our board-certified plastic surgeon in Nashville or Memphis.
References:
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons: How Much Does a Facelift Cost?
- Realself: How Much Does a Facelift Cost?
