Touch up Lipo after tummy tuck - cost?

Thank you for your question. It looks like your plastic surgeon is "eating some of this cost". He does not charge you any surgical fee. It all goes back to the initial communication and office policy, I hope you reviewed and signed. This should spell out the revision policy of the practice so there would be no surprises. Good luck.

For cases like you describe, I'll generally charge the patient for facility and anesthesia time, but won't charge them a 'surgeon's fee'. All of these policies are explained to patients prior to surgery - so there are no difficult post operative discussion about revisions.

Cost factors vary significantly for a number of good reasons: Prices vary greatly because the surgery itself encompasses a wide range of techniques that can be performed to different extents. My recommendation is to first find the most qualified surgeons where you want the surgery performed that are board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery you trust, then compare prices between them. See the below link on suggestions on how to find the most qualified plastic surgeon for your procedure. General Factors that influence the price of plastic surgery include:


1. Location - Will it be performed in a hospital with an overnight stay, an independent out- patient facility or a doctor’s office? Geographical location also has a significant influence. RealSelf has average charges for most areas of the USA.


2. Type of Anesthesia - local, IV sedation or General Anesthesia? Will a board certified anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, or an RN be used?
    
      3. Experience and training of your surgeon. The best and longest trained is most often a plastic surgeon board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery
   
      4. Length and Complexity of Surgery - how difficult will your surgery be and how long it will take, etc. Will other complementary procedures also be also performed during the same surgery?

There are typically 3 main components to the cost of your surgery: anesthesia, facility, and surgeon.  From your post, it appears that your surgeon is waiving his fee and is only charging you for the facility and anesthetic fees (which means he is collecting no money for himself).  I should also mention that the fees he is quoting you seem very much on the low side for anesthesia/facility if that is any consolation.  Obviously there are no "guarantees" in terms of outcome although all surgeons strive for the very best possible results within the confines of a safe and appropriate procedure.  Nonetheless, it is reasonable to discuss your concerns with your surgeon to at least understand where the money is going and perhaps get some peace of mind.  Sorry to hear of your dissatisfying experience.  Hopefully you'll end up at the outcome you envisioned for yourself.  Good luck!!

Dirst, the fees are extremely low dor ANY touch up. Second , the" promise" of a flat tummy is relative and , perhaps doing lipo at the time of the tummy tuck might have been risky. If your weight has changed, I would ask that you get back to preop weight before doing a "touch up".

The amount of liposuction that can or should be performed at the time of tummy tuck depends on a variety of factors.  Because of this, plastic surgery procedures are not the same as other non-medical services and it can be difficult to find an analogy.  The best way I can explain it is that the end result in cosmetic surgery frequently involves being more 'aggressive' in the amount/type of surgery performed.  There is a fine line between being 'aggressive' and having a perfect cosmetic outcome vs suffering a major complication.Your doctor may have put your safety as a higher priority vs your cosmetic outcome (as he should).  It seems from your post that your surgeon is in fact 'fixing it for free,' as he/she is only charging for anesthesia and facility (which are costs beyond the surgeon's control).  As stated by other surgeons on this post, the fees that you are quoting are very much on the low end.I'm sorry that you not completely satisfied with your end result, but hopefully your final outcome will meet your expectations.  I try to have a discussion before surgery with my patients to outline the rationale and likelihood of touch up procedures if I feel they are going to be necessary for a certain result.

Thank you for the question.  This really depends on the surgeon and/or the facility he's working with.  Some of it may be out of his hands since we do have to pay for the anesthesia, nurse, tech, facility, surgeon, and the like.  We do have different protocols and pricing as it differs from surgeon to surgeon or clinic to clinic.  Best, talk to your board-certified plastic surgeon on any options to reduce the cost.  Best of luck, Dr. Michael Omidi.

Thank you very much for your question.I would continue to discuss this with your surgeon.  It sounds like your surgeon is eating much of the cost by waiving their own fee, but may not be able to waive the OR or anesthesia fee (which, by the way, seems pretty small to me).  I would continue to talk with your surgeon about the fees and see what can be done.