Lipo Cost

Questions about the cost of Lipo are difficult to answer with generalizations. The cost of your Lipo will depend on a number of variables: the Lipo surgeon you pick, the Lipo method or technique that he or she uses, the number of areas treated, the amount of fat removed, the number of Lipo treatments needed and a host of other factors.

Nonetheless, this page will address some of the general things that people can expect about Lipo pricing.

The total fee for a Lipo involves a number of different smaller bills. One has to pay the Lipo surgeon for his time and effort. If an anesthesiologist assists during the Lipo surgery, he or she must be paid for their time, as well as for the cost of anesthetic. One also has to pay for the use of the surgical facility where the Lipo is performed. Some Lipo doctors break up this bill and have patients pay it separately. Others simply charge the patients a single amount and then pay the others themselves.

Because of all of these variables, the cost of Lipo can change a lot. If you require additional sedation or choose that you would rather have general anesthesia than local, the bill from the anesthesiologist will probably be higher. Similarly, some surgical centers charge higher prices than others, and your bill will ultimately reflect that price.

A very rough estimate for the cost of Lipo might say that it would cost somewhere between $2000 and $8000 for a limited surgery performed on one day. This would be for one or two body areas. If you would like to have multiple body areas targeted, your price will go up, although the additional body areas generally cost less than the first one because you have already paid for anesthesia, a surgical facility, etc. Additional body areas take less time, and thus cost less money. A ballpark estimate of what a second body area might cost could be $1200 to $4000.

These costs will have to be paid out of pocket. Most insurance companies won't pay for Lipos, with a couple of notable exceptions. If a woman has excessively large breasts that cause her severe back or shoulder pain, then some insurance companies will cover a breast reduction.

Similarly, if you have fatty tumors called subcutaneous limpomas, insurance companies sometimes will cover the expense of Lipo. If you suspect that you have either of these conditions, check with your insurance provider to see if they will cover it. Don't simply assume that they will, though.

Some companies provide financing for Lipo and other cosmetic surgeries, and this can be an option for people who don't have quite enough money. However, one should definitely be careful about going into significant debt for elective surgical procedures.

In order to make Lipo affordable, most Lipo doctors and financing entities offer a wide range of payment options for this procedure. In many cases a patient may be able to apply for a no interest loan with low monthly payments. Every Lipo doctor has different preferences, so you will need to speak to your Lipo doctor to know if he or she offers Lipo financing or if you need to apply for a loan from medical financing entity. In some cases the Lipo doctor may even give you a discount if you are able to pay for the full amount of the Lipo cost before the surgery.

Getting The Best Value Out Of Your Lipo

People obviously like to get the best value for their money. Thriftiness can be a virtue, especially in these hard economic times. It's a good thing to know what to expect and to want to get the best deal possible when paying for a Lipo.

However, in the field of cosmetic surgery, be careful about doing too much bargain shopping. Some of the cheapest Lipo surgeons are cheap because they aren't skilled enough to demand higher prices, or because they cut corners. If in your research you find a Lipo surgeon who is offering significantly lower prices than all the others in the area, you should probably do some extra research to find out just why he or she is selling their services so cheaply. If you find that you can only afford someone who is cheap but inexperienced, you may be best off waiting until you can afford a Lipo surgeon who can give you the results you really want.

Some people approach the problem from a different angle and choose to travel to a different country for Lipo because it may be cheaper there, but in general this is also a bad idea if you are not sure that the place that you are traveling to will give you the best possible care from trained Lipo specialists. Although some countries have very high medical standards and a patient is highly likely to get satisfying results from their Lipo surgery, some other countries have less rigid standards for medical training or cleanliness, and so in these cases the risk of complications could be much higher.

Furthermore, various travel expenses such as plane tickets and lengthy hotel stays for recovery and follow-up visits can jack the overall price up higher than you may realize. Traveling abroad is not a good option is the patient only desires to have one procedure performed. This alternative makes sense only when the patient desires to have more than one cosmetic procedure performed and is able to take at least 4 weeks off from work. Additionally, the patient may need to be able to pay for their procedures in full since financing is usually not an option when you are not a resident of the destination country.

If you are serious about getting the most value possible out of your Lipo, a better approach is to examine your own life. Although most doctors state that the effects of a lipoplasty are permanent, that is not to say that you will always look exactly like you do just after your Lipo surgery. How long your Lipo results last will depend on how you live your life.

Although the specific fat cells that your lipoplasty removed will not grow back, your surgery will not magically keep you from regaining weight either. If you struggle with problems of weight gain previous to your Lipo surgery, you will likely experience similar problems after your Lipo surgery unless you change your diet, exercise and activity patterns. Although the adult human body does not tend to produce large amounts of new fat cells when in a state of stasis, the gain of large scale weight can and does trigger the growth of new fat cells.

A situation that every person that has gotten Lipo should avoid and can be prevented is gaining large amounts of weight. Gaining large amounts of weight after a Lipo can lead to unpleasing results. Some patients report that they have experienced a regrowth of fat in their target area, leading them to exclaim that they can't tell the difference between their body before Lipo surgery and their body afterward. Others find that while their newly trimmed target area remains slim, other problem areas arise as the fat that would have gone there begins to accumulate in other areas after they gained weight.

The best way to avoid the fat from coming back after Lipo is to simply live healthily. Eat well, and exercise regularly. If you have problems with this, you might consider meeting with your Lipo doctor, or with a nutritionist or personal trainer. They may be able to help you to make the changes to your lifestyle that will help you to keep your newly-sculpted body. If you make these changes a month or two before your surgery, then not only can you have increased confidence that you really can keep the weight off, you may also be able to lose enough weight on your own to drive the price of your Lipo surgery down—the less fat your Lipo doctor has to remove, the cheaper it will be.

Of course such change is difficult—for many people the reason they want Lipo in the first place is because they’ve tried and failed to change their habits in the past. However, without some changes, there is a high probability that some or all of the fat will reappear over time.

Lipo And The Recession

There's no denying that the cosmetic surgery market has been affected by the recession. During times of economic struggle, luxuries are the first to go. Statistics given by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) show a 12% decrease in the number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States.

Lipo has certainly not been immune to this downturn. The ASAPS states that in 2008, 341,144 Lipos were performed in the United States, which is 25% down from 2007. Speaking of the decrease in cosmetic procedures, ASAPS President Alan Gold stated, "It's clearly the economy, and people's concerns about their future income, their time off from work to have a procedure, and recovery from that."

Given the uncertain nature of the economy, it's no wonder that the demand for Lipo has gone down. However, in some ways, now is an ideal time to get Lipo or other cosmetic surgery. The decreased demand for Lipo can lead to a number of possible benefits.

If the demand for a service goes down, frequently, the price goes down also. People looking to undergo cosmetic surgery now may be able to find doctors who offer special discounts or deals. Many cosmetic surgeons are looking for ways to attract new business despite the economic downturn, and price cuts are one popular way of doing that. By shopping around in your area, you may be able to find a surgeon who has lowered his or her prices.

Similarly, many clinics are beginning to offer package deals which offer several cosmetic procedures at a reduced price. For example, some clinics offer packages that include a breast augmentation or wrinkle treatment in addition to Lipo. For the people who can afford it, these deals can offer large savings.

Even if you can't afford Lipo out of pocket, it may be easier for you to obtain financing. Fewer people applying for cosmetic surgery financing means that your chances for getting it are higher. Also, there's a good chance that you can find lower financing rates now than are frequently available and even 0% financing rate.

One of the greatest assets for anyone considering cosmetic surgery is the free consultations that most Lipo surgeons offer. These let you find out more about Lipo in general and about the surgeon in specific. These can be a great way of shopping around in your area to find a Lipo doctor that meets your needs and your financial constraints.

Alan Gold of the ASAPS suggests that this relative low time will not be long-lasting. He expects a spike in cosmetic surgery as soon as the economy normalizes. Once the economy recovers, he believes, cosmetic surgery will be in higher demand than usual, as people begin to receive the procedures that they have put off during the recession. And when it does so, it is possible that increased demand could lead to an increase in price.