What to prepare before your facial lift consultation

Start with a clear question about your face

The most useful preparation is not arriving with the name of an operation already chosen. Start by explaining what has changed, what bothers you and what you hope to preserve. “My cheeks look heavier than they used to” opens a different discussion from “I want the smallest incision possible.” Both may matter, but they are not the same goal.

Dr. Moon describes sometimes asking patients to bring a photograph of themselves from five or ten years earlier that they liked. In his explanation, the photograph helps communicate what has changed and what “looking like myself” means. It is a reference for discussion, not a promise to reproduce an earlier face. Bring the image with a short description of the feature you want to discuss.

Make a one-page medical summary

ASPS consultation guidance includes health conditions, allergies, medicines and supplements, alcohol and tobacco use, earlier surgery and your goals. It also describes examination, photographs, treatment choices, anaesthesia and possible complications as consultation topics. A concise summary gives you something to check together instead of relying entirely on memory. Read the ASPS consultation outline.

Use the names on your actual medicine containers or prescription record. Include nonprescription products and supplements. Note allergies and what happened when you had a reaction. Record significant previous surgery and problems with anaesthesia or healing. If you are uncertain about a detail, label it uncertain and ask which records would clarify it. Do not fill a gap with a guess.

Keep earlier facial treatment in a separate timeline

A short treatment timeline can accompany the medical summary without overwhelming it. For each treatment, record the approximate date, area and product or procedure if known. Include what changed afterwards and any unresolved concern. The previous-treatment guide explains this in more detail. Here, the aim is to make those records available before an operation is selected.

You can organise your folder into three parts: health information, previous treatment records and your goals. Give documents descriptive filenames rather than a long sequence of unnamed screenshots. Ask the clinic which channel to use for sensitive information and which items it actually needs before the appointment. Sending more material is not necessarily the same as communicating it clearly.

Separate consultation from preoperative clearance

An initial discussion of options does not mean that medical preparation is complete. NHS guidance explains that assessment and tests depend on the operation and anaesthetic, with individual instructions about eating, drinking and usual medicines. Those instructions should come from your care team. Do not copy a fasting or medication schedule from another patient's story. See the NHS explanation of preoperative assessment.

Dr. Moon's international guide describes an in-person consultation, preoperative tests and finalising the plan after arrival. Ask what can be prepared beforehand and what remains dependent on examination. Leave room in your travel planning for a recommendation to change the operation, obtain more information or postpone treatment.

Obtain instructions rather than changing medicines yourself

ASPS notes that preparation may include testing, medication review and stopping smoking. It also advises arranging transport and someone to stay with you after surgery. These are topics to settle with your clinicians, not a personalised prescription from this page. If a medicine is prescribed for another condition, ask the surgical team and prescribing clinician to coordinate any change. Read the ASPS preparation overview.

For your own planning sheet, write who will confirm each instruction: the operating team, the anaesthesia team or the clinician managing an existing condition. Keep the final instructions together and ask for clarification if they conflict. A checklist should reveal unanswered questions, not create a false impression that you have medically cleared yourself.

Leave with a plan you can explain back

At the end of consultation, describe the proposal in your own words: which areas will be treated, what is expected to remain unchanged, what the alternatives are and what support you will need. Then ask the surgeon to correct anything you misunderstood. Include the practical arrangements for reviews, unexpected problems and costs.

For international care, plan how to obtain an English procedure summary and discharge instructions for clinicians at home. CDC guidance recommends keeping overseas medical records available for subsequent care. This should be arranged before you are relying on a remote conversation about a new problem. Read the CDC medical-tourism guidance.

Why examination and imaging answer different questions

In its November 2026 explanation, ILCHI separates two parts of assessment. It describes using 3D CT to examine cheekbone and jaw shape, while direct examination considers cheek height, tissue fullness, skin elasticity and descent that a scan alone may not explain. The purpose is to relate the supporting skeleton to the soft tissues being considered for movement. This is the clinic’s description of planning, not a recommendation that every patient needs the same imaging. If a scan is proposed, ask what question it is intended to answer and how its findings will be considered alongside your examination.

ILCHI explanation, 6 November 2026 · English source summary

Why two sides may need different plans

An October 2026 clinic article describes comparing the front and side of each cheek before deciding the extent of treatment. A concern concentrated in the front cheek may lead to a different plan from descent extending further sideways. Where the two sides differ, the article explains that movement direction and fixation position may also differ. This is a planning principle, rather than a promise that surgery creates perfect symmetry. Ask the surgeon to identify which differences are present before treatment, which are within the proposed operation’s scope and what is likely to remain. The aim is an explained plan for the existing face, rather than identical arrows drawn on both sides.

ILCHI explanation, 28 October 2026 · English source summary