Kathy Griffin said on a podcast last fall that her third facelift cost $218,000, and E! put the figure at the top of its celebrity procedures by the numbers roundup this month. Dr. Frank Agullo has not examined her and names no surgeon. He wrote the celebrity read on drworldwide.com.
This post is the part of the bill patients rarely see itemized: what rides along with the lift.
What Comes With a Facelift Here
In Dr. Agullo’s words, from his facelift cost Q&A:
“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.”
| What rides along | What it does | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fat grafting | Puts back the volume a lift cannot | In the operating room, same anesthetic |
| Morpheus8 with Iriescence PDGF | Tightens and resurfaces the skin the lift repositioned | Same session or staged |
| Sciton MicroLaserPeel with Profractional | Resurfacing, chosen by skin type | Same session or staged |
| Exosomes or nanofat | Skin quality, healing | Same session |
| ELIXIR MD LED light therapy | Faster recovery | After surgery |
| Eyelids, lip lift, earlobe reduction | Finish the frame | Same anesthetic when needed |
Why Doing It Together Costs Less
“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.”
A headline facelift number is rarely a facelift alone. It is the lift plus most of the list above, in one sitting. Sensible, often. Not apples to apples.
What the Fee Covers
“The fee covers the surgeon’s fee, the anesthesia, the accredited surgical facility, your medical tests, your garments, and your recovery products. Prescription medications from the pharmacy are the one thing you pay separately.”
“Our patients get direct nurse access 24 hours a day, and all surgeries are done in an accredited surgical center.”
Tiers: the fees page and facelift cost at Southwest Plastic Surgery. A full deep plane facelift in El Paso is a fraction of this figure.
What No Price Buys
“I think patients are becoming a lot more willing to undergo facial procedures, including facelifts, because the results now are actually natural and do not change their overall appearance. So they still have a self identity after these procedures and they’re recognizable; they’re just looking ten to fifteen years younger.”
The result comes from the plane and the surgeon, not the invoice. The skin work keeps it that way; the Morpheus8 Cool post explains the device, and the MedSpa handles the LED recovery sessions and the maintenance after.
Why Choose Dr. Agullo
Dr. Agullo is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, completed his plastic surgery fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, and serves as Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He trained in the endoscopic deep plane lift at the Ponytail Academy in Pittsburgh (intermediate) and Santa Monica (advanced). He has been a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for thirteen consecutive years, 2014 through 2026.
Ready to Talk?
Bring any quote and the team will walk through what it covers, what rides along, and what the El Paso number would be.
Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online at agulloplasticsurgery.com. #StayBeautiful
Find Dr. Agullo at @RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook.
