Ear Surgery Costs

Ears that stick out too far, flop down, or look slightly odd can tarnish your appearance. For children it's even worse because kids will tease them and ridicule them, leaving permanent mental scarring. Cosmetic ear surgery is an attractive option for anyone who has concerns about the look of their ears.

But before you launch into anything, you're probably wondering what it's going to cost. Though the price varies from surgeon to surgeon and state to state, there are some general estimates that you can go by. At the very least you should have some idea of whether an ear plastic surgery is within your grasp.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were 26,612 cosmetic ear surgeries done in 2003. Most of these surgeries were done on an outpatient basis in a surgeon's office. These operations are done with local anesthetic only and take a mere 2 to 3 hours to complete. The average cost of ear operations was $2,535, with a total expenditure of a whopping $67 million dollars.

Of course, this average price is only an average, and reflects a tradition ear pinning procedure. For an earlobe reconstruction, the average price range was actually below a thousand dollars. For complex and difficult full ear reconstructions the price was significantly higher.

The average physician's fee of $2,500 for an ear surgery does not include any facilities fees that you may incur. These fees are for use of the surgeon's facility, operating room time, administrative fees, blood tests, lab tests, the dressings you'll need afterwards, and prescription medication. In total, facility fees tend not to exceed a thousand dollars.

Some cosmetic surgery financing is available out there but it's hard to find. Often, a surgeon's office may have connections for financing. Since these are all optional procedures, even in the event of full reconstructive surgery, most insurance policies will not cover plastic surgery for the ear.

You should talk to a surgeon to get more details on the expected surgical fees and facility fees. Most ear plastic surgery is easy to complete but still among the most costly of procedures ranking behind the various body lifts that people can do. Analyze your wants and expectations with your surgeon today to see if ear plastic surgery is the right choice for you.