The first step of a facelift or face stretch operation is a meeting of the patient and the plastic surgeon. In this meeting the plastic surgeon will find out what bothers the patient, what is the requested extent of change he is interested in, and what are his expectations regarding a facelift operation.

In this meeting the doctor gives the patient a general examination (blood pressure, weight, and face skin examination) and asks him questions about his medical history and lifestyle (concerning past operations, allergies to medications, smoking habits, blood problems, neurological problems, etc.), in order to find out if there is any medical state or health issues that could prevent him from performing a plastic operation and specifically a facelift operation.

In this meeting the surgeon gets a general idea if there is indeed justification to make the operation and if the patient's expectations are reasonable. Surgeons tend to explain in this stage that the procedure's results are not permanent and that sometimes there is a need to make a supplementary operation shortly after the initial operation, but only once the final results are achieved.

The surgeon will explain the patient how the operation is conducted and what versions of a facelift surgery exist – starting with a complete plastic operation and down to a local face stretch of the neck or forehead alone. The surgeon will also detail to the patient the risks involved with a facelift operation, and what are the expected results. Furthermore, he will make it clear to the patient that the results of a facelift operation are different from one person to another due to various factors, and emphasize that a facelift operation does not completely stop the aging process.