Medically reviewed by Dr. John Rosdeutscher – Written by Sine Thieme
How Much Does Liposuction Cost?
At NuBody Concepts Cosmetic Surgery in Nashville and Memphis, the baseline liposuction cost starts at $4,000 for the first treatment area. However, your actual quote will be determined in a personal consultation with our plastic surgeon. And before you compare liposuction prices with other providers, it is important to know what exactly you are comparing.
In this article, we are going to look at the factors you should consider when budgeting for liposuction.
Number of Areas Treated
How many areas you want to have treated will have a big impact on the overall cost of your procedure. Because the first area is typically the most expensive (as it is generally the area of body fat you are most concerned with or has been stubborn despite regular exercise) it makes sense to have several areas treated at once to cut down on the cost.
Here are our starting liposuction prices by number of areas:
| 1 Area | 2 Areas | 3 Areas | 4 Areas | 5 Areas |
| $4,000 | $5,200 | $6,500 | $7,500 | $8,800 |
Please note that these are “starting at” prices that may be adjusted depending on area size.
So what is considered an area?
Most areas come in pairs. Inner thighs, outer thighs, or upper arms are all considered one area each. Some bigger areas are divided into separate areas, such as upper abdomen vs lower abdomen. The following is a list of separately priced liposuction areas at NuBody Concepts:
- upper abdomen
- lower abdomen
- hips and waist
- lower back
- bra roll
- male chest area
- inner thighs
- outer thighs
- upper arm
- chin
- neck
All-Inclusive Pricing vs Fee-Based Pricing
According to Realself, the typical liposuction surgery is $6,825. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the average cost of liposuction is only $4,449*.
Why the large difference? It’s simple: Realself surveys patients on how much they paid, whereas the ASPS surveys surgeons on their fees. And these fees do not include the cost of anesthesia, operating room facilities, or other related expenses. Adding in such fees can easily double the price.
When you compare liposuction price quotes, you need to make sure you know what is included and what isn’t.
At NuBody Concepts, all prices are all-inclusive. What you are quoted is your final price – no hidden fees, surcharges, or taxes. We also include a compression garment for your recovery, which is another expense other practices may charge extra for. Lastly, we apply the fee you paid for your consultation (ranging from $50 to $125) to the cost of your procedure. Your only incidental expenses will be for the prescription medications (pain medication) we call in prior to your procedure.
Geographic Area
Liposuction cost – like the cost of cosmetic surgery in general – can vary greatly based on geographic location. Depending on various factors such as the cost of medical education, office rents, and consumer demand, you could pay anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 for more or less the same liposuction procedure.
You may have heard of cosmetic surgery tourism promoting low-cost procedures in countries such as Mexico, India, or Turkey. The risk here, of course, is that you can’t be sure that safety protocols are satisfactory in such countries.
But within the United States, you get the best of both worlds: If you live in high-cost areas of the country, such as the coasts and big metropolitan areas like Chicago or Atlanta, you could potentially save thousands of dollars without sacrificing your safety by traveling to a lower-cost area like Nashville, TN for your liposuction or other procedure. Please make sure to ask us about information for out-of-town patients.
Financing and Payment Options
Your total liposuction cost is just one part of the equation. Whether you pay it all out of pocket or are able to spread the payments over a long period of time can make a big difference in affordability.
Most plastic surgeons cooperate with medical financing companies to offer interest-free payment plans. How you budget for your liposuction procedure will depend on the specific plans on offer and your credit score.
If you don’t know whether you qualify for a payment plan, check out our Payment Options. There you can check your credit score (this is a free service). A minimum credit score of approximately 600 will qualify for medical financing from one of our four approved lenders. If you don’t get approved, you might try a different provider – each varies slightly in its credit score cutoff. Once you’re approved, you can schedule your consultation with our plastic surgeon and bring your lender account information with you.
Please also note that liposuction is considered elective surgery, meaning that most health insurance plans won’t cover it.
Type of Liposuction and Surgeon Experience
The cost of liposuction may be determined by the liposuction techniques that will be recommended to you as well as the level of experience of your plastic surgeon can affect the cost of your procedure.
The types of liposuction we offer at NuBody Concepts include:
- Tumescent Liposuction
- Power-Assisted Liposuction
- Ultrasound-Assisted Liposuction
- Radio-Frequency Assisted Liposuction
- Laser Assisted Liposuction
A board-certified plastic surgeon with many years of experience performing various forms of liposuction including the latest radio frequency technology will rightly charge more than a general surgeon with less experience.
This of course doesn’t mean that you should solely look at experience or choose to go for low-cost liposuction. However, the experience of your surgeon is a good indicator of the level of expertise – and thereby the outcomes from liposuction – you are likely to get. The last thing you want is a poorly executed procedure by a doctor trying out unfamiliar equipment. If you have undesirable results and need to have the area reworked later, your total cost is going to end up higher than if you had just picked the quality surgeon in the first place.
We invite you to meet our doctors who each have over 20 years of cosmetic surgery experience: Dr. John Rosdeutscher, our double-board certified plastic surgeon in Nashville and Chief Medical Officer of NuBody Concepts, and Dr. Mark Peters, our board-certified plastic surgeon in Memphis.
One-Time Procedure vs Repeat Treatments
A final word on procedures that might have you think you are getting liposuction when you are not. Liposuction should always be a one-time procedure, removing your fat in one go. You should be able to leave your doctor and literally carry the discarded fat out in a jar, should you be so inclined.
If you get quoted for a liposuction alternative such as CoolSculpting, you will have to reappear for repeat treatments. The allure of such treatments is that they are non-invasive and can be performed without anesthesia, but these repeat treatments can be quite costly by the time you add them all up.
We hope that we’ve given you a better understanding about liposuction cost. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions.
If you are ready to get started, use the pink button to schedule a consultation with our board-certified plastic surgeon in Nashville or Memphis.
* 2022 Update: These prices are from pre-2021 publications and have likely since gone up with inflation.
References:
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons: How Much Does Liposuction Cost?
- Realself: How Much Does Liposuction Cost?
