Search “facelift cost” and you get a national average, a range so wide it is useless, and eleven pages of practices inviting you to call for pricing.
Call for pricing. As though the number were a trade secret rather than the single most common question in aesthetic surgery.
I publish mine. Not because I am cheaper (I am not) but because the alternative is a consultation that opens with sticker shock.
The Numbers, Since You Asked
The full range is $15,000 to $75,000, depending on what combination the result actually requires. The tiers underneath it, published on the fees page:
| Procedure | Starting Fee |
|---|---|
| Mid facelift (mini or S-lift) | $15,000 |
| Lower facelift (lower face and neck) | $19,500 |
| Full facelift | $25,750 |
| Endoscopic facelift (the ponytail lift) | $30,000 |
| Neck lift alone | $15,000 |
“Those prices are minimums, and they include anesthesia, the surgical facility, medical tests, garments, and recovery products. Because pricing does change, please confirm current pricing at agulloplasticsurgery.com/fees, which is the page we keep updated.
A final quote is only given after a consultation, and it will include everything.”
Two quotes that look thousands apart are frequently the same operation described differently.
The Naming Problem
Deep plane. Extended deep plane. Endoscopic deep plane. Ponytail lift. MACS. SMAS plication.
Patients arrive fluent in this vocabulary and convinced the terminology sets the price. Mostly it does not. Deep plane, extended deep plane, SMAS plication: all map onto the tiers above.
The ponytail lift is the exception. It takes a little bit longer, and it always requires fat grafting in every case, so the graft is bundled rather than optional. Operative time and a second procedure, not a demand premium.
What decides technique is anatomy:
“The differentiator is how much excess skin there is. If there’s substantial excess skin, then we do a deep plane open facelift with an incision in front of the ear. If there’s not a lot of excess skin, we can get away with doing everything through the incisions behind the hairline. Nevertheless, a full facelift is always going to have the endoscopic portion of the forehead and brows.”
Why the First Hour Costs the Most
The economics patients never get told:
“Combining does change the total, but usually in your favor compared to doing things separately. The first hour of operating room and anesthesia time is the most expensive, because of the equipment and the setup, and you only incur that once instead of two or three times. The same goes for medications, moisturizer, scar cream, and lymphatic massages, you only pay for those once.
That said, each additional procedure adds surgical time, and pricing reflects the time and the complexity of the combination. Adding eyelids, a lip lift, an earlobe reduction, fat grafting, or a skin resurfacing treatment will increase the total.”
Not a discount. Arithmetic.
What I Am Actually Charging For
The version patients think and rarely ask:
“Cost varies with the doctor’s experience. Surgeons in high demand consistently deliver good results in a safe environment with top-quality products, and that increases cost. I allow sufficient operating room time to work in a paced fashion, for safety. Low-cost surgeries get compressed to cut anesthesia and operating room fees.
Our patients get direct nurse access 24 hours a day, and all surgeries are done in an accredited surgical center.”
Pace is not a luxury. Compressed surgery is what makes a low quote possible.
What I tell every patient shopping on price:
“I always feel like when things are too good to be true, they usually are. If a price seems far below what everyone else is charging, you have to ask what’s being cut, the surgeon’s experience, the accreditation of the facility, the type of anesthesia, or the follow-up care.”
It is always one of those four.
What Goes With the Lift
“With most facelift procedures we also do fat grafting. We usually recommend Morpheus8 with Iriescence PDGF, or the Sciton MicroLaserPeel with Profractional, depending on your skin type. We can also use exosomes or nanofat. We recommend ELIXIR MD, which is LED light therapy, for almost double the speed of recovery. And a lot of patients will require an upper blepharoplasty, a lower blepharoplasty, a lip lift, or an earlobe reduction. Those all do increase the cost.”
Lifting tissue that has lost volume gives you a tighter version of a deflated face.
Patients Are Arriving Earlier
“I think the deep plane lift and the endoscopic deep plane lift are great procedures, which create very natural and long-lasting results, and we’re seeing patients completely avoid the noninvasive procedures and go straight to the surgical procedures early on.”
They watch the results hold, and they come earlier. I think they are right.
Paying for It
“Patients can finance through PatientFi, AlphaEon, Cherry, or CareCredit. We also offer direct financing through the practice, where you make payments directly to us ahead of your surgery. That lets you schedule the procedure out for the time you need, and make the payments periodically at your convenience.
Beyond that, patients can pay by credit card or cash, or arrange financing through their own bank or another institution.”
Where I Trained on This
Double board-certified. Mayo Clinic plastic surgery fellowship. Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. Castle Connolly Top Doctor thirteen consecutive years. Endoscopic deep plane training at the Ponytail Academy in Pittsburgh, then the advanced course in Santa Monica.
The full clinical detail, including what each tier covers and how the add-ons price, is in the clinical breakdown on agulloplasticsurgery.com.
Ready to Talk?
Come with a budget and a question and leave with a real number that includes everything. Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online. #StayBeautiful
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