Fourteen questions to ask at a facelift consultation

01How to use this list

Consultations are short, unfamiliar and frequently emotional, and almost everybody leaves one having forgotten to ask something that mattered to them. A written list solves that problem entirely, and no reasonable surgeon minds. Several will recognise the questions and think better of you for asking them.

Three practical suggestions. Write the answers down in the room rather than trusting your memory. Take somebody with you if you can, because two people hear more than one. And ask the questions in the order below, because the early ones establish facts and the later ones only make sense once you know which operation is being proposed.

What you are listening for. Specificity. A good answer names a technique, a plane, a number, a timeframe or a policy. A weak answer describes an approach, a philosophy or a reassurance. The difference is usually obvious the moment you are listening for it.

02The fourteen questions

1. Which specialty are you on the GMC specialist register in, and can I look you up?A good answer: A specific specialty named without hesitation, and no discomfort about being checked. Cosmetic surgeon is a description of practice, not a specialty entry.
2. How many facelifts do you perform in a year, and how many are the technique you are proposing for me?A good answer: A number, and a distinction between total volume and volume in this specific operation.
3. Which technique are you proposing for my face, and why that one rather than the alternatives?A good answer: A named plane and method, with reasoning tied to what they found on examining you rather than to the general merits of the technique.
4. Will this include my neck, and if so what specifically will be done to it?A good answer: A clear statement about the submental incision, the platysma and any fat management, or a clear statement that the neck is not included.
5. What will this operation not change?A good answer: A specific list. Skin quality, dynamic lines, volume loss, the eye area and the brow are the usual answers. Vagueness here is the strongest single warning sign in the whole consultation.
6. What are the main risks, how often do they happen in your practice, and how do you manage them?A good answer: Haematoma, nerve injury, wound healing problems and scarring discussed unprompted, with their own figures and their own management protocol.
7. What would make you decline to operate on me?A good answer: Actual criteria. Smoking, unstable weight, uncontrolled blood pressure, unrealistic expectations. A surgeon who says they can help everybody is describing a sales process.
8. Who performs the operation, and who assists?A good answer: Named, confirmed, and written into the agreement. Not allocated later.
9. Where will you operate, what anaesthetic will be used and who administers it?A good answer: A named registered facility you can look up, a stated anaesthetic type appropriate to the length of the operation, and, for a general anaesthetic, a consultant anaesthetist you can meet.
10. What does recovery look like week by week, and when will I be presentable?A good answer: A timetable that distinguishes presentable from settled, and that acknowledges numbness, firmness and swelling lasting months rather than weeks.
11. Who do I contact out of hours in the first week, and how fast can I be seen?A good answer: A specific number, a named person or team, and a stated response time. Not a general clinic reception line.
12. What is your written policy on revision, and on the cost of managing a complication?A good answer: A written policy, whatever it says. Ask specifically who pays for the surgeon, the theatre and the anaesthetist in each case.
13. What is the total cost of the whole episode, itemised, including everything not yet mentioned?A good answer: An itemised written quotation covering surgeon, anaesthetist, facility, follow up, garments, medication and any pre-operative testing, with exclusions stated.
14. May I see before and after photographs of your own patients with my sort of face and my sort of problem?A good answer: Matched lighting, angle and expression, at least six months apart, with the specific operation described for each case.

03What to do afterwards

Do not decide in the room. UK professional guidance is consistent that patients should have time to reflect before consenting to cosmetic surgery, and any practice discouraging that is behaving in a way you should factor into your decision.

Write it up the same day

While it is fresh, write out what operation was proposed, what you were told it would change, what you were told it would not change, and the total cost. If you cannot write those four things clearly, you did not get a clear answer to at least one of them.

Check the register yourself

Do not rely on what the website says. Search the GMC register directly and look up the facility with the Care Quality Commission or the relevant national regulator.

Read the quotation line by line

Specifically look for what is not on it: pre-operative tests, medication, garments, complication management, revision, and any overnight stay.

See somebody else

A second consultation costs a consultation fee and is the cheapest risk reduction available in this entire process.

Wait

If the offer is genuinely reasonable it will still be reasonable in a fortnight. If it will not be, that is information about the practice rather than about the surgery.

Before you go, read the risks page so that you can judge the completeness of what you are told, and the surgeon page for the checks worth making in advance.

Frequently asked questions

What should I ask a surgeon before a facelift?

At minimum: which specialty are you on the GMC specialist register in, how many of this specific operation do you perform each year, which technique are you proposing and why for my face, what will it not change, what are the main risks and how do you manage them, who do I contact out of hours, what is your written revision policy, and what is the total cost of the whole episode including complications.

Is it rude to ask a surgeon how many operations they have done?

No. It is a routine question asked by well informed patients and most surgeons expect it. Volume in a specific operation is one of the factors most closely associated with outcome, particularly for deep plane surgery. A surgeon who is uncomfortable being asked has given you useful information.

Should I take someone with me to a facelift consultation?

If you can, yes. Consultations are dense and often emotional, and a second person hears things you miss, remembers answers differently and is less invested in the outcome. They are also useful afterwards when you are deciding, because they will have heard what was actually said rather than what you hoped to hear.

How long should I wait before booking after a consultation?

There is no fixed period, but UK professional guidance consistently supports building in time to reflect before consenting to cosmetic surgery, and a practice that discourages that is telling you something. A fortnight is a reasonable minimum for most people. Any offer that will not survive two weeks of thought was structured to prevent thought.

What if the surgeon will not answer one of these questions?

Note which one, and how they responded. Every question on this list has an answer that a well run practice can give, even if the answer is one you do not like. Vagueness about revision policy, out of hours contact or total cost is usually about how the practice is organised rather than about the surgery, and both matter to you.

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