These days, everyone’s budget is tighter. Inflation is making everything more expensive. Many people today recognize what years of studies by Human Resources researchers and social psychologists revealed: Attractive people are more likely to be hired, more likely to get promoted and less likely to lose their jobs. If you’re 45 or older, you’ve probably started to see wrinkles, lines, jowls or a turkey neck starting to appear. You might realize that a facelift could really help. But will a high-quality facelift cost too much? That depends on your surgeon. Did you know that the right surgeon with the right circumstances can reduce a $27,000 Beverly-Hill quality facelift cost by nearly 50%? Want to learn how?
Editor’s Note: Dr. Brian Machida is a highly experienced facial plastic surgeon. He has performed more than 6,000 facelifts and cosmetic surgical procedures, which is exceptional. Dr. Machida taught facial plastic surgery for years at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. At his practice, STC Plastic Surgery in Ontario, CA, he also offers neck lifts, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty and non-surgical procedures like microneedling, Botox, fillers, fat transfer, laser and Renuvion.
Experience increases efficiency – a key to lower facelift cost
Plastic or facial plastic surgeons who perform a lot of facelifts often find that their efficiency increases. As business leaders well know, greater efficiency reduces costs. Here’s how this works in facial plastic surgery. First, as a surgical procedure progresses, unexpected situations can arise due to the patient’s individual anatomy and the condition of their skin, muscles, blood vessels and other underlying tissue. Surgeons who haven’t performed that many facelifts often proceed quite methodically and slowly.
You can get more information about this in “Why experience makes such a difference in facial plastic surgery results.” The highly esteemed Dr. Malcolm Paul, past President of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, was my colleague at the same large facial plastic surgery practice. He explained the value of the experience we gained in performing facelifts:
Becoming really good at Cosmetic Surgery does not come from performing 100 different operations once. Rather, real skill in Cosmetic Surgery comes from performing a variation of one operation hundreds of times.
Highly experienced plastic or facial plastic surgeons can often provide outstanding results in less time without rushing. We know exactly how to proceed efficiently. Those of us who have performed thousands of facelifts find there are few issues we haven’t seen and successfully overcome many times before. For us, a comfortable pace may be much steadier and more efficient. We might finish a high-quality facelift that might take some surgeons 3 hours to perform in just an hour and a half.
How does that slower facelift cost? Surgical centers base their charges on the time your surgeon uses their facility for your procedure. A 3-hour facelift may generate twice the charges of one that takes half the time. In addition, assisting doctors, nurses, and surgical staff are often paid by the hour So, greater efficiency results in lower costs. Your surgeon can pass the savings on to you.
A safer facelift at a lower cost CONTACT Dr. Machida Inland Empire, CA
Expert Sacramento plastic surgeon Dr. Arnold Almonte explained in “Plastic Surgery: Maximizing Safety with Local Anesthesia” that using local anesthetics with oral sedation allows patients to be comfortably and naturally asleep while their surgeon performs a safer facelift. This method requires considerable experience. The maximum allowable dosage of local anesthetic will start wearing off in about two hours. Surgeons who have performed hundreds or even thousands of facelifts can comfortably work within that time frame.
However, many plastic surgeons who treat the entire body perform fewer than 25 facelifts per year. They feel more comfortable taking their time. General or I.V. anesthesia permits them to work more slowly. However, studies have found that complications, even serious ones, are much more common with general or I.V. anesthesia. For that reason, extra staff must be on hand to make sure nothing goes wrong. They’ll need to monitor you while you recover from anesthesia. That extra staff costs money, which you, the patient will have to pay.
Finally, there’s Parkinson’s Law, a business school staple. It states:
Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
Surgeons who use general or I.V. anesthesia have plenty of time to complete your procedure. Many take their time. Because of that, your procedure may take considerably longer. Who pays for the extra facility charges and staff hourly fees? You do.
An outstanding facelift or other facial plastic surgery procedure for a lower cost
The familiar expression, “You get what you pay for” is not always true. Paying more often gets you superior work. But the right surgeon can lower your facelift cost and still provide outstanding results. Look for a plastic or facial plastic surgeon who has lots of experience, performing hundreds or even thousands of facelifts. Then find out if they offer local anesthetics plus oral sedation.
If they do, you may have just found a rare professional: someone who can perform superior work more efficiently and pass the savings on to you. There are surgeons like that across the country. If you’re looking for a facelift in Inland Empire – metro Los Angeles, California, you can find me at STC Plastic Surgery in Ontario. An outstanding facelift doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg!
