Fees for cosmetic eyelid surgery vary so largely that it is all but meaningless to list average price ranges. For upper or lower eyelids, expect to pay about $3,000-$4,000. All four lids done at the same time, expect to pay about 50 percent more. For fancy and adding brow lifts, chemical or laser peels, and midface lifts, fat repositioning, prices quickly climb.
One legend that should be exposed from the start is the largely held misperception that the most costly surgeon is the best. This is not a truism the most expensive surgeon is often simply a more active promoter of services and also be aware of the bargain basement deals. Average price in different regions of the U.S. may vary by as much as 50 percent, being highest in the New England states and lowest in the south central states.
Fees may vary somewhat from office to office, but the nature of supply, demand and marketplace competition will keep prices reasonably close together. A variety of innovative and creative promotions have emerged to capture the consumer out shopping for the lowest possible price. Online, they have encountered advertisements for $999 surgery, 50 percent member discounts, auctions, and sites that will negotiate costs. Cosmetic surgery centers from Costa Rica to Thailand offer surgery vacation packages at fees considerably less than those in the U.S.
Cosmetic surgery is a luxury service provided at a substantial price by practitioners. All surgeons know this and thus have given careful consideration to the price at which they are willing to provide services. There is no standard method for quoting price for cosmetic eyelid surgery, and so buyer bewares the add-ons can be substantial. When queried by phone, some plastic surgery offices will quote only the surgeon's fee for an operation.
Costs include above and beyond a simple surgeon's fee. Fees for the office operating room, if used, fees for free-standing facilities such as hospital or surgicenter, if used, Fees for administration of any anesthesia, Fees for an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist, if present, Fees for before and after photography, fees for visual field testing, Fees for preoperative laboratory testing, fees for any laboratory examination of removed tissues, Costs of required medications for use after surgery and Costs of required supplies.
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