Thinking about removing excess skin with a body lift here in Baltimore?
You’re not alone. A body lift removes hanging skin around your entire torso: abdomen, outer thighs, and posterior buttocks.
Interest in the body lift procedure has been dramatically increasing in the past two years, likely prompted by the popularity of weight loss methods, such as gastric bypass surgery, and medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Following weight loss, patients often develop excess skin in their abdomen, outer thighs, and posterior buttocks that cannot be improved with exercise or diet. The body lift procedure effectively removes this excess skin, restoring a smoother, more toned appearance.
How Much Does a Body Lift Cost?
The cost of a body lift can vary significantly based on the scope of the procedure and additional expenses. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the average cost of a lower body lift surgery is $9,449, but that only covers the surgeon’s fee. It doesn’t include things like anesthesia, operating room, and other associated costs. Meanwhile, RealSelf reports an average cost of $16,425 for a body lift, with patient reviews indicating a range from $10,300 with insurance to as much as $40,000 out of pocket.
At our Baltimore office, the cost of a body lift ranges from $17,500 to $21,000. Our comprehensive price includes the surgeon’s fee, anesthesia, operating room facilities, 2 medical grade compression garments, Exparel injection, and all post-op office visits. With Dr. Rodriguez, your body lift will include the following surgical components:
- Tummy Tuck with muscle repair
- Outer Thigh Lift
- Posterior Buttocks Lift
Is there an alternative to the lower body lift?
If you’re wondering if you’d benefit from a full body lift or if there any alternatives to a body lift, it’s important to know that some people opt to have just the tummy tuck and the outer thigh lift when the amount of loose skin over the buttocks isn’t significant. This is known as the Extended Tummy Tuck, and patients can have a dramatic body change with just that.
The cost range for an extended tummy tuck here at my Baltimore office is $9,450 to $14,000, depending on how far around the hip the incision goes. Learn more about the tummy tuck component and the extended tummy tuck.
Factors Influencing the Cost of a Body Lift
Let’s take a look at the factors that influence lower body lift costs and go over what you can expect.
Body Lift Cost = Surgeon’s fee + Anesthesia fee + OR fee + Garments + Pain control + Post-op visits
While the formula above is a basic surgical cost guideline for our office, every plastic surgeon is different and may or may not include those things in their quote, too. Other aspects contribute to the surgeon’s fee, the OR fee, and the overall cost of a body lift surgery:
- Surgeon’s fee
- Anesthesia fee
- Facility (OR) fee
- Compression garments
- Pain control
- Post-op visits
- Geographic location
- Extent of your surgical plan
- How much extra skin you have
Plastic surgery costs more in larger cities, and expenses increase with the procedure’s length and complexity due to the required operating room time. The specific components of your surgical plan, such as whether you need a full body lift (removing skin all the way around torso), or just a tummy tuck and outer thigh lift, will also affect the cost. Additionally, patients with significant amounts of extra skin will need longer surgery times, further influencing the overall price.
When selecting a plastic surgeon for your body lift, it’s essential to consider more than just the cost. You need to be comfortable with your doctor’s level of expertise and the approach to your procedure. A consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon is the first step and those can often be done virtually as well as in-office.
Why Choose Dr. Rodriguez for your Body Lift?
Dr. Rodriguez is Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, has served as the President of the Maryland State Society of Plastic Surgeons and Co-Director of the GBMC Wound Care Clinic. He is an active and respected member of the ASPS and has published scores of papers in prestigious medical journals.
Over 100 Body Lift Procedure performed — With over 25 years of experience, he has performed thousands of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, to include over one hundred body lift procedures. With such a depth of knowledge and experience, Dr. Rodriguez brings unparalleled expertise to every surgery.
Fully Accredited Surgery Center — As the medical director, Dr. Rodriguez operates out of his own free-standing, single-specialty surgery center, which is fully accredited and licensed by AAASF and Medicare. His dedication to maintaining the highest standards of patient care and safety ensures exceptional outcomes for all his patients.
Direct Cell phone access to your surgeon post operatively — Following surgery, patients have direct access to Dr. Rodriguez by cell phone in the event they have any immediate post op questions.
IV Sedation instead of General Anesthesia — With IV sedation you do not have a tube through your nose and you are breathing on your own. With IV sedation patients leave the same day, have less nausea and pain post-operatively, and have a lower risk for pulmonary embolism. All anesthesia is administered by Board Certified Anesthesiologists, and not CRNA’s (nurses).
Lockwood Surgical Technique — Dr. Rodriguez believes the Lockwood technique achieves the best surgical results with the least amount of postoperative complications. It preserves the blood supply better than traditional tummy tuck dissection techniques, and results in less complications related to fluid collection.
Speaks Spanish, French, and English — Dr. Rodriguez and members of the office and OR staff are fluent in Spanish. In addition to English and Spanish, Dr. Rodriguez is also fluent in French.
It a Body Lift worth it?
A body lift is a life-changing, transformative procedure designed to remove excess skin that sags around the middle. It also works to tighten the underlying tissue. If you’ve lost a significant amount of weight and are dealing with sagging skin that diet and exercise alone just can’t address, this procedure is worth looking into.
The surgery targets your abdomen, hips, outer thighs, and buttocks, helping you achieve a smoother, more toned appearance. It is one of my favorite procedures to perform because it can make such a dramatic change in your body as well as your lifestyle.
- Enhanced Contours
- Improved Skin Elasticity
- Boosted Confidence
- Comprehensive Transformation
- Post-Weight Loss Solution
- Better Fit in Clothes
- Long-Lasting Results
- Reduction of Skin Irritation
- Enhanced Mobility
Tips for price shopping a body lift procedure
Confirm which components are included in quote: You must compare apples to apples when shopping around. Some offices might only quote the surgeon’s fee, and you may not have a firm idea of what anesthesia cost will be. Similarly some offices do not include compression garments or all post operative after care. Be sure to ask!
Quote should describe the procedures involved: Your quote should detail what the Body Lift Cost includes on the quote itself. A lower Body Lift includes: Tummy Tuck, Outer Thigh Lift, Posterior Buttocks Lift. Do not wait until after the procedure to find out that their definition of Body Lift was different!
Post Op office visits: Total cost should include all post op office appointments with the surgeon for a period of time, which is usually one year.
Anesthesia: Anesthesia price should not fluctuate with this choice of whether it is IV anesthesia or General Anesthesia. The price should be the same.
Revision Costs: The body lift is a huge surgery. When a surgeon is performing such a large and long procedure, there are sometimes small refinements that need to be performed under local anesthesia at the 4 month post operative (or later) mark. These would be small additional tweaks to tighten small areas which have not settled completely evenly. This general range of price for local anesthesia tweaks should be disclosed IN ADVANCE, so you have an idea of what to expect.
Access to your surgeon: One factor largely overlooked when patients are price-shopping is IF they can contact their surgeon directly by cell phone after surgery. It is often the case that very low prices will also imply limited access to your surgeon. We have heard reports of patients who have had highly discounted surgery unable to get in contact with medical personnel following surgery for problems. When surgery is highly discounted, the amount of staff support usually suffers. Be sure to ask the office what the policy is!
Insurance considerations: While body lift procedures are often considered cosmetic and not typically covered by medical insurance, there are instances where insurance may provide coverage. If the excess skin is causing health issues such as skin infections, rashes, or mobility problems, insurance companies might cover part of the costs. However, the only instance of insurance coverage we have ever seen is for excess skin on the abdomen area. Proper documentation detailing medical necessity from Primary Care provider or GYN is a must.
Financing considerations: We offer options from third-party financing companies in the healthcare industry and encourage you to take a look at our page dedicated to financing plastic surgery in Baltimore. I would also encourage you to set up a consultation for a better idea of what your specific costs would be and take advantage of speaking with a financial coordinator who can help you go over all of your cost considerations and explore your options together.
