While there is always a lot of debate whether certain things are worth their expense when there are cheaper options available, no one’s really come up with an answer. Some people stick to sayings like the more you pay, the more you get, and you get what you pay for, but the truth of the matter depends on what you’re talking about.
In the case of plastic surgery, this question is hugely important as plastic surgery prices range by thousands of dollars. While certain things, like cars, are more easily determined when it comes to price versus quality because the price is usually indicative of the materials and production quality, plastic surgery is a lot different. Prices typically vary mostly based on the surgeon’s fee, which is the fee determined by the surgeon/medical center. This complicates the question because the cost of plastic surgery is indicative of subjective matters apart from material and production, such as technique, performance, experience, and demand.
Despite typically being the result of subjective matters, pay due diligence to the idea that you get what you pay for. With that being said, it is not definite that paying for the most expensive surgery will lead you to the best possible results. On the other hand, the cheaper side of surgery costs do tend to correlate with lower quality performances.
HOWEVER, before living by this rule, it’s important to understand why such a correlation would exist. So, here’s some information that might help you decide how much you should pay for your plastic surgery:
1. Experience Pays:
Literally, experience in the medical field pays. When it comes to the medical field, and especially the plastic surgery field, the education, training, and other experience pays. Quality plastic surgeons typically spend over 10 years before becoming a plastic surgeon. All of the time they spend preparing must pay out at some point. So, between medical school, training required for board certification, and all of the technical training beyond that, you can expect that a surgeon’s price reflects their expertise.
Of course, this is not always the case. So, to make sure the correlation matches you should check for certain things that qualify them as a quality surgeon. Among those things should be:
· Attendance at a top-tier medical school
· Certification from the American Board of Plastic Surgery
· 5-10 years of training
· Affiliation with a certified surgical location and a board-certified anesthesiologist
In addition to those, there are also other qualifications you can check for, which you can read about here. If the cost correlates with what seems to be elite qualification and training, then you can feel assured that the cost is because of the experience. As many surgeons will tell you, if a surgeon’s price falls noticeably below the average, expected cost, it’s because they are cutting corners somewhere.
2. Cheaper Procedures = More Procedures
The last thing you want with a plastic surgery procedure is to be a product in a factory line. Often times, plastic surgeons who charge notably cheap costs for their procedures do so because they are performing enough procedures to make up for it. As a result, their performance can easily be compromised by their lack of individual attention and care for quality.
While this of course is not always the case, it is important to be weary of this tendency. As a 32-year old single mother found out when her liposuction and fat transfer surgery went horribly (and almost fatally) due to the fact that she was just one patient among an assembly line of many, many more looking for cheap surgery, there’s usually a reason why the procedure only costed her 5,000 dollars compared to the estimated average of $10,000-12,000. You can read more about her story, and many other stories here from a special report from USA Today.
3. Cost Correlates with Quality, but Ultimately Falls on Doctor:
As we already explained, most of the time the cost will have some correlation with the expected quality, but both the quality and cost depends on the surgeon performing the surgery. What does this mean? Well, don’t search for cheap procedures from cheap doctors. Instead, search for high quality doctors known for performing high-quality surgeries, and don’t let cheaper prices compromise your decision. You want to make sure your doctor is well-qualified, well-trained, and you are comfortable with them. This means you should put a lot of focus on your consultations. Treat your consultations as a chance to figure out why they charge what they do, and what you can expect from a surgery with them. Read 5 Questions To Ask Before Getting Plastic Surgery to figure out a little more about what you should learn during your consultation.
At the end of the day, never look to cut costs when it comes to plastic surgery. Plastic surgery, after all, is still surgery, and you have to live with your body and its functions every day. Compromising quality for costs could not only result in you reliving a nightmare every morning when you look in the mirror, but it could even be fatal in some instances. While the most expensive surgeon might not be the best, make sure you can afford the median cost, at the lowest, for whichever procedure. Also, most importantly, be certain that you are comfortable and confident in the surgeon performing the procedure by ensuring they are very well-qualified, practiced, and tested.