Considering Having A Facelift With A Surgeon In Australia or Overseas?

Four Things To Consider When Weighing Up Facelift Surgery in Australia vs Overseas Cosmetic Tourism Operator

Considering facelift surgery and curious about the difference between having cosmetic surgery with a local Brisbane specialist plastic surgeon vs cosmetic tourism operator? It’s a question we receive from patients weighing up their options, and associated pros and cons.

Here are the four key considerations we recommend exploring when planning your facelift surgery:

Australian Surgical Specialist Training

If you have cosmetic surgery with a specialist plastic surgeon in Australia, you can be certain that they have undergone over 12 years of surgical education including years of advanced supervised training in major hospitals, administered by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (denoted by FRACS after your surgeons’s name). Not all countries who promote cosmetic tourism have the same training standards. 

When you are considering permanently changing your appearance, your surgeon’s trainings and specialised experience is paramount.

Use the helpful Find A Surgeon tool on the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons or RACS websites to identify the plastic surgeons that practice near you. 

Pre Surgery Education And Consent

In Australia, patients having facelift surgery must have at least two consults – one of which is face to face, many weeks or months prior to their surgery.

This provides the patient with plenty of time to consider the benefits, risks and complications. It also allows the surgeon plenty of opportunities to conduct important surgical examinations and assessments, and create a tailored surgical plan – well in advance of the patient even committing to surgery. 

When having surgery overseas, the only way to achieve a consultation process of comparable quality and thoroughness would be for the patient to make multiple international trips to visit the surgeon overseas, prior to surgery being booked.

Image: before and 3 months after facelift and fat grafting surgery with Dr David Sharp, still in the early stages of scar development. If video does not play, please log into YouTube to confirm you are over 18. View our full gallery of before and after images here.

Recovery and long term support

Facelift surgery is a large operation entailing a significant recovery across weeks and months. Swelling, nerve compression and scar development can require frequent in-clinic support to provide the best possible recovery. Due to deeper swelling, results can take months to appear – and scars take 24 months to fully mature. In our clinics, facelift patients frequently visit our clinical team for postoperative care, non ablative laser resurfacing and therapy for swelling, bruising and healthy scar development in the months following their procedure. This is best practice clinical care, after such a big procedure. 

This is standard practice for facelift patients who do not have any complications. For patients who do experience complications, an even greater level of post operative support and monitoring is required.

All surgeons experience complications from time to time, and although these are rare following facelift surgery, your surgeon’s clinic needs to be accessible should you need any ongoing care at 1 week, 1 month – or even many years later. Even if you intend to travel back to your overseas surgeon for ongoing care, if you are experiencing a post operative complication, it’s unlikely you will be deemed fit to travel.

We receive requests from patients who are experiencing complications after surgery overseas, and cannot receive care from the surgeon who performed their surgery. Sometimes these patients have been bundled back on an international flight to return home with open wounds, infections and complications that require hospitalisation. These wounds may contain bacteria that do not normally exist in Australian hospitals and as such quarantine may be required.

Why Am I Seeing So Many Cosmetic Tourism Advertisements Lately?

With Australian surgeons now prohibited from advertising the benefits of facelift surgery, overseas cosmetic tourism operators (who fall outside Australia’s laws) are heavily promoting the benefits of combining a holiday with surgery.

Perhaps the first warning sign that something is awry in the way that we govern surgical advertising in Australia, is that patients tell us they are coming across cosmetic tourism operators while using Google to try and research Australian clinics.

Because overseas operators sit outside Australian laws, they are able to circumvent regulations that prohibit Australian surgeons from advertising in unethical or misleading ways. When we have asked regulators why this is being allowed to occur, they’ve advised that they don’t have any way of controlling overseas cosmetic tourism or the way their advertising targets patients. This should be the first warning sign of a surgical care delivery that sits outside Australia’s high regulatory standards. 

Whether you are considering surgery in Australia or overseas, there are some important questions you should ask your surgeon during your facelift consultation:

• Are you a member of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons?
• Are you a qualified specialist plastic surgeon? You can check here.
• Am I a good candidate for this procedure?
• What will be expected of me pre and postoperatively? 
• Where and how will you perform my procedure?
• What surgical technique is recommended for me?
• How long of a recovery period can I expect, and what kind of help will I need during my recovery?
• What are the risks and complications associated with my procedure?
• How are complications handled?
• Where do you have admitting rights at an inpatient hospital?
• If I need to stay in hospital for longer than expected, would you be the surgeon providing me with ongoing care?
• What are my options if I am dissatisfied with the cosmetic outcome of my facelift surgery?

To find out more about our clinic’s approach to facelift procedures, please call our patient care team on 3202 4744.

Facelift surgery is also known as rhytidectomy or meloplasty surgery. All procedures carry benefits, risks and a recovery period. To learn more about these, please navigate to the surgical menu on our website (link in bio). Results vary due to lifestyle habits, skin condition, age, natural body habitus and adherence to post operative instructions, among other factors. These images are only reflective of the outcome for this individual patient.

About Dr. David Sharp:

Dr. David Sharp is an experienced specialist plastic surgeon in Brisbane, with a special interest in breast, body and facial cosmetic surgery.

With over two decades of experience in medicine, Dr. Sharp has performed over 20,000 surgical procedures in Australia and has an established surgical and non surgical practice in Brisbane.

Read more about Dr Sharp's credentials and expertise here. 

For more information and to schedule an appointment with Dr. David Sharp, please contact our patient support team at 3202 4744 or visit our online booking request form here.

This information is intended for general knowledge and should not replace personalised advice from your surgeon. Always consult with your surgeon for individual care.