Everyone is always looking for the best deal. Whether you’re buying a house, a new car, a great meal or a sweater, we’re always looking for the best price. It makes sense, why pay more for the same thing? The thing is, what if “the same thing” isn’t really the same thing? In the case of cosmetic surgery it’s impossible to find a true apples to apples comparison.
If you’re buying your favorite skin care system you might go online and shop around. You could look for the lowest price since the products are the same no matter where you get them. For cosmetic procedures that’s not the case. Having an injection like Botox or filler is not the same in one doctor’s office as it is in another’s. Even more so, your experience with cosmetic surgery and surgical procedures can be VERY different depending upon where you choose to receive your care. Obviously the price needs to be affordable or you couldn’t choose to have any procedure at all. But be careful about finding the lowest price in town for your breast augmentation, liposuction, tummy tuck or facelift. As I’ve written about before, if you look for the biggest bargain you may end up with more than you bargained for!
More and more I’m seeing patients with complications from some bargain basement practices and centers. Some patients saw a discount deal and jumped in without really checking out the doctor because the price was so good. Others figured that getting a breast augmentation for half the price made sense, until they had a complication. And I’ve seen more than a few that got lured in by a center that “specializes” in cheap facelifts, only to have a painful procedure, mediocre results and disappointment when the deal that was too good to be true, really was too good to be true.
There’s nothing wrong with looking for a good value. That doesn’t always mean the lowest price. Check out the doctor that is going to perform your injections or surgery. Make sure he/she is really a plastic surgeon and not someone who might not even be trained in surgery of any kind. Choose a board certified plastic surgeon that you feel comfortable with that has the experience to keep you safe and give you good results. It’s probably worth paying a little more for that piece of mind. You can start your search at SmartBeautyGuide.com where every doctor is a board certified plastic surgeon and a member of ASAPS (the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery). Experience matters. You wouldn’t want to fly to your vacation on a plane piloted by an amateur weekend pilot. You’ll pay the airline a fair price to get you there safely with a properly trained and experienced pilot – no mater how cheap the other flight might be. So if you’re shopping for a sweater the discount store might do just fine; but always remember that cosmetic surgery is not a sweater.
