Why Cheap Plastic Surgery Can Be Dangerous

Everybody wants to pay less for an excellent service. However, that's not the case with plastic surgery. What first seemed to be an affordable plastic surgery operation can later on become a very expensive one.
When you expect a highly successful plastic surgery operation, you need to hire a competent plastic surgeon. And a skilled surgeon charges more.
Though this is not always true in all cases (there might be great plastic surgeons who are charging less than their worth) most people agree that this is generally the expectation.

The key when deciding on a cosmetic procedure and a surgeon is obviously to do the best research you can. If you really dig into the results from affordable plastic surgeons who offer cut-rate prices, most inexpensive cosmetic surgeries give lesser quality results.

Inexpensive surgery may not necessarily mean an unsafe and sub-standard operation however. The key when deciding on a cosmetic procedure and a surgeon is obviously to do the best research you can. If you really dig into the results from plastic surgeons who offer cut-rate prices, most inexpensive cosmetic surgeries give lesser quality results.

National Average Plastic Surgery Cost per Procedure 2010

Surgeon/physician fees only. This does not include costs for surgical facility, anesthesia, medical tests, prescriptions, surgical garments or other miscellaneous fees related to surgery given earlier in this article. Data taken from ASAPS (American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery) and ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons)

Procedures	Surgeon Fee(ASAPS)	Surgeon Fee(ASPS)
Autologous Fat (injectable)	$1,763	$1,700
Botox	$398	$375
Breast Implant Removal	no data	$2,288
Breast Augmentation (Implants)	$3,600*	$3,351
Breast Lift	$4,401	$4,207
Breast Reduction in Men	$3,377	$3,013
Buttock Augmentation (Implants)	$4,459	$4,500
Buttock Lift	$4,950	$4,379
Cheek Implants	$2,732	$2,739
Chemical Peel	$679	$706
Chin Augmentation	$2,239	$2,000
Collagen, Bovine Injections	$473	$475
Dermabrasion	no data	$1,200
Ear Surgery (Otoplasty)	$3,048	$3,054
Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty)	$2,912	$2,828
Facelift	$6,629	$6,231
Forehead Lift	$3,173	$3,161
Hair Transplantation	no data	$4,676
Hyaluronic Acid (Juvederm)	$558	$547
IPL Laser Treatment	$384	$470
Laser Hair Removal	$314	$383
Laser Skin Resurfacing (ablative)	$2,232	$2,040
Laser Skin Resurfacing (non-ablative)	$952	$1,156
Laser Treatment of Leg Veins	$351	$404
Lip Augmentation (surgical)	$2,022	$1,683
Liposuction	$2,914	$2,884
Lower Body Lift	$7,904	$7,247
Microdermabrasion	$123	$146
Polylactic Acid (Sculptra)	$897	$940
Polymethyl Methacrylate (Artefill)	no data	$1,099
Rhinoplasty	$4,314	$4,306
Sclerotherapy	$344	$354
Thigh Lift	$4,882	$4,507
Tummy Tuck (abdominoplasty)	$5,332	$5,130
Upper Arm Lift	$4,070	$3,729
Vaginal Rejuvenation	no data	no data

* Silicone gel implants are $3,797 whereas saline implants are somewhat cheaper with $3,486

Actual Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery Prices

The following table gives an estimate of the total average cost including all the costs outlined earlier for some of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures.
The next table gives you the 2010 US national average cost for only the surgeon fees.
The last table below gives you the 2010 cost by region.

Procedures	Average Total Cost
Breast Augmentation	$6,000
Breast Lift	$5,200
Breast Reduction	$5,200
Eyelid Surgery	$4,000
Facelift	$8,500
Liposuction	(one area) $4,000
Male Breast Reduction	$5,200
Rhinoplasty	$5,000
Tummy Tuck	$6,400

Cheap Plastic Surgery

As far as cheap plastic surgery goes, many patients consider the option of going overseas for their procedure as the actual surgical costs can be much lower.
The cost of a tummy tuck in Thailand, for example, is much lower than the cost here in the United States. India is also a popular place known to have good quality plastic surgery services for very affordable prices.
Many international surgeons are of course just as good as the ones in the US, and do come at a much cheaper price. But overseas plastic surgery comes with its own set of risks as well. (You can read more on cheap plastic surgery at the bottom of this page.)
In the US, the cost of the surgery can differ from one state to another and on the expertise of the plastic surgeon. The more experienced the surgeon is, the more expensive his or her services are.
More factors in the overall cost of plastic surgery include the operating room and facility fees, anesthesia, lab fees and more, so bear in mind that plastic surgery is rarely "cheap" despite the price (typically only the surgeon's fee) you see advertised.

Cheap & Affordable Plastic Surgery

Further down this page you can read about US national averages from 2010 for different plastic surgery procedure prices. There are a few other factors to consider not connected to the actual procedure. One is the geographic location of your surgery.

The cost of plastic surgery is dependent on a few factors, cost for the actual procedure, amount of work involved, medications, anesthesia, medical tests, surgical garments or other miscellaneous fees related to the surgery.