Two doctors, same cost facelift. the one using local anesthesia rather than general, makes more money, correct? would that be why local, not safety?

Not necessarily: Costs and profit are very difficult to calculate . Unlike a third party payer where every cost is billed including meds and IV and monitoring equipment etc, cosmetic surgery providers usually charge a global fee. It is difficult to quantify the value of a surgeon's experience. However, a facelift procedure typically performed under local will be less aggressive than under general anesthesia.

Facelift: The value a surgeon places on their cosmetic services is partly based on real expense and partly subjective. A rolls royce and a toyota will both get you to work but one clearly costs much more even though they do the same thing. If it is a priority and within your budget choose your surgeon carefully and have faith.

Depends: The choice of anesthesia for a facelift depends on your health, anxiety level and what type of facelift you are doing. More invasive facelifts are probably best done under sedation or general anesthesia if you are healthy.

No.: Not a money issue. It should cost the same whether using local or ga. Most likely it is a comfort issue with the surgeon, that is, he may prefer to do it this way and has a good technique in doing face lifts this way. Most plastic surgeons would use an anesthesia person whether it be local or general and the cost for this provider would be the same.

Depends: Costs can be difficult to determine. In general, general anesthesia costs more than an in office procedure since their is the cost for an anesthesiologist and formal operating room suite.

Cost of facelift: There are many factors that determine cost and can vary widely from surgeon to surgeon and geographic area. But, facelifts are most commonly performed in an accredited doctor owned facility where local anesthesia together with conscious sedation or with general anesthesia maybe used. The cost could be exactly the same if the surgeon uses a nurse anesthetist or md anesthesiologist for both procedur.

Choices, choices...: Local anesthesia is a great and safe option for a procedure like a facelift, if both patient and surgeon are comfortable with that option. There are some benefits to a local only procedure, however, for some patients, the idea of being "awake" during a procedure is very disturbing. For those patients, IV sedation or general anesthesia (in an accredited facility) is a good and very safe option.

Anesthesia options?: Comparison of local vs general anesthesia for facelift may be more about non-plastic surgeons (like dermatologists who call themselves cosmetic surgeons) that do not have surgical privileges (because they have not completed surgical training). Rather than discuss training/expertise and operating at an accredited facility, the claim is that "local is safer." not true. Could also be the money!

Not really: The plastic surgeon usually does not bill for the anesthesia. That will be done by whoever provides the anesthesia services. Using general anesthesia would actually be generating more income from one procedure than just the surgeon using local. Different physicians will do similar procedures a different way. One probably uses sedation with local because that's the way they were trained.

Facelift under local: For some types of facelifts which involve smaller incisions and less dissection, the procedure can be performed under local anesthesia. Have your face evaluated by a board certified facial plastic surgeon to determine which procedure is best for you.