There is no single price for eyelid surgery, and any figure you find online is a starting point rather than your quote. What you actually pay depends on which lids are treated, what your anatomy needs, and what the quote includes. That last piece is where most of the confusion lives.

For scale, ASPS put 2024 projected surgeon fees at $3,000 to $5,500 for upper eyelid surgery and $3,709 to $6,500 for the lower lids. Those are national surgeon fees only, not a practice's total. They leave out anesthesia, the surgical setting, and everything that happens after you go home.

At Palm Beach Cosmetic Surgery in West Palm Beach, FL, board-certified cosmetic surgeon* Dr. Michael Sistare publishes a starting price for upper eyelid surgery instead of holding it back until you are sitting in the office. This guide breaks down what upper, lower, and combined eyelid surgery involve, what belongs in a complete quote, and which line items are genuinely extra. It also covers when insurance may step in, and how to compare two quotes without being misled by the headline number.

Key takeaways

• Upper eyelid surgery starts at $3,500 at our West Palm Beach office, with monthly payment options. Lower and combined surgery are priced at consultation, because the plan varies so much.
• A surgeon's fee is not a total. Anesthesia, the setting, and pre-surgical testing sit outside it, so two quotes can look alike and land far apart.
• Garments, recovery essentials, and follow-up visits are included in the surgeon's fee here. The real extras are lab work and medical clearance, both handled by another doctor.
• Insurance may cover upper eyelid surgery when hanging skin measurably blocks your vision. It almost never covers lower-lid work done for under-eye bags.
• Ask any office for one written, itemized total. A quote you can read line by line is the only kind you can honestly compare.

How much does upper and lower blepharoplasty cost?

The honest answer splits three ways, because upper eyelid surgery, lower eyelid surgery, and the two done together are different operations with different demands. Upper lids are usually the simpler of the two. Lower lids sit closer to structures that need more care, which is why their pricing behaves differently.

Upper eyelid surgery

Upper eyelid surgery starts from $3,500 at Palm Beach Cosmetic Surgery, with monthly payment options so it need not be paid all at once. Incisions sit inside the natural crease of the lid, which keeps the healed line hard to spot.

That figure is the practice's own starting price, not a national estimate. Where you land depends on how much skin and fat need to come out, and whether anything else is being addressed at the same time. To spread the cost across manageable monthly payments, we offer flexible financing through Cherry, CareCredit, and Alphaeon Credit.

Lower eyelid surgery

Lower eyelid surgery has no published starting price, and that is deliberate rather than evasive. The plan changes far more from patient to patient. Bags can come from fat that has slipped forward, from loose skin, from a lax outer corner, or from some mix of the three.

Two approaches exist. One places the incision just under the lash line and addresses excess, loose skin rather than bulging fat. The other works from inside the lid and leaves no external incision at all. Which one your anatomy calls for changes the operating time and the anesthesia, so it changes the quote.

Both lids in one procedure

Having both lids treated in one operation is usually more efficient than booking them months apart. You go under anesthesia once, you recover once, and you take time off work once, which quietly saves more than the surgical fees alone suggest.

It is not simply the two prices added together, though. Combined surgery is quoted as a single plan, so the only reliable number is the one written for your face.

Reasons two quotes differ

Two people can be told they need "eyelid surgery" and walk out with quotes thousands apart. Surgeon experience, the operating setting, how much each lid needs, and what the office folds into its price all move the total. None of that is visible from the outside, which is why the itemized version matters more than the headline.

If the range in front of you feels confusing, that is a reasonable reaction and not a sign you are missing something obvious.

What is actually included in an eyelid surgery price quote?

A quote is only as useful as its line items, and this is where the same procedure starts to look like two different purchases. ASPS is direct about the limits of its own published figures, noting they exclude anesthesia, facility charges, and other related expenses. Knowing which pieces sit inside your number, and which sit outside it, is most of the work.

The surgeon's fee

The surgeon's fee is the professional charge for performing the operation itself. It reflects training, the specific procedure, and where the practice is located, and it is the number most often quoted over the phone.

On its own it tells you very little. A low surgeon's fee attached to a long list of separate charges can easily finish higher than a fuller quote from another office.

Anesthesia and the surgical setting

Most blepharoplasty can be done under local anesthesia, meaning the area is numbed while you stay awake and comfortable. Only the inside-the-lid lower approach typically calls for twilight or general anesthesia, and that difference shows up in the price.

The setting matters just as much. Eyelid surgery here is an outpatient procedure done in our own office at Palm Beach Cosmetic Surgery. It generally takes about an hour, with time in the recovery suite before someone drives you home. Surgery booked into a hospital or outside surgical center adds a facility charge that an in-office procedure does not carry.

Inclusions and genuine extras

This is where a lot of cost articles get it wrong. Compression garments, recovery essentials, and every post-operative follow-up visit are included in the surgeon's fee at our practice. They are not costs to budget for separately.

The extras that are real are handled by someone else and billed by that provider:

• Pre-surgical lab work ordered before your procedure
• A medical clearance visit with your primary care doctor or a specialist
• Any prescriptions you fill at your own pharmacy

One thing does move the surgical quote itself. Added steps such as a canthopexy to support a lax outer corner take more time in the operating room. Raise them early rather than discovering them after your examination.

What factors determine how much your eyelid surgery will cost?

Several things move the number, and most of them are decided by your anatomy rather than by a price list. Understanding them makes a quote feel less arbitrary and a lot easier to question.

Your surgeon's training and credentials

Board certification is one of the clearest signals of the training behind a fee. Certification pathways require accredited medical education, years of surgical training after medical school, and both written and oral examinations. That is a meaningful part of what a higher surgeon's fee reflects.

Eyelid-specific experience matters too. The eyelid is unforgiving territory, and a surgeon who works there regularly is reading subtleties that a generalist may not.

Your anatomy and the surgical plan

Skin-only work sits at one end of the range and layered work sits at the other. If fat has slipped forward, if muscle needs adjusting, or if the outer corner needs support, the operation grows and so does the time.

Published teaching guidance puts the threshold for adding a canthopexy at roughly three to six millimeters of lower-lid laxity. Small distinctions like that are why an in-person examination produces a number that no online estimate can.

The setting and the anesthesia

An in-office procedure under local anesthesia carries no separate facility fee and no anesthesia team. A hospital or ambulatory surgical center adds both. Because those services are billed by time, a longer operation costs more in two places at once.

Cole, who had lower eyelid surgery at the West Palm Beach office, described what walking in felt like:

"I recently had the opportunity to visit Dr. Michael Sistare at Palm Beach Cosmetic Surgery for an under eye Blepharoplasty and from the moment I stepped into the clinic, I was welcomed by a warm and attentive staff who made me feel at ease."

Combining procedures

Eyelid surgery is often paired with a brow lift, which repositions the eyebrows, or with a facelift or neck lift. The eye area rarely ages in isolation. Combining raises the total, but it lowers the cost per procedure and folds several recoveries into one.

Revision surgery works the other way. Correcting an earlier result can call for scar release, crease correction, or tissue grafting rather than straightforward removal. It usually prices above a first operation. Seeing what different plans actually look like helps, so browse the eyelid surgery photo gallery when you want a clearer picture of the range.

Will insurance cover any part of your blepharoplasty?

Sometimes, the dividing line is function rather than appearance. If hanging upper-lid skin measurably interferes with your vision, coverage becomes a real conversation. If the goal is a refreshed look, it does not.

Functional upper eyelid surgery

Upper eyelid surgery may qualify when excess skin, a drooping lid, or a heavy brow blocks enough of your upper vision to affect daily life. Insurers look for the practical version of that story. Difficulty reading, seeing your own eyelid skin, looking through your lashes, or a forehead that aches from lifting the brows all day.

Documentation insurers request

Documentation carries these claims, and it is more specific than most people expect. Plans commonly request:

• An ophthalmic examination documenting the degree of obstruction
• Automated visual field testing that measures how much of your upper field is lost
• Pre-operative photographs, which Medicare requires with the medical record to support medical necessity
• Notes describing your symptoms, how long they have lasted, and the tasks they affect

Your surgeon's office typically assembles and submits this package for written prior authorization before anything is scheduled.

Lower lids and coverage

Removing fat or skin from the lower lids changes how the eye area looks without restoring vision. That reads as cosmetic to nearly every plan. Narrow exceptions exist where the lid itself turns inward or outward and causes constant irritation or tearing.  

Your remaining share

Approval is not the same as free. Deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance still apply, along with any portion of the surgery considered cosmetic.

That last point catches people off guard. Adding elective lower-lid work to a covered upper-lid procedure shifts part of the bill back to you. Map that out before you schedule rather than after.

How can you budget for and compare eyelid surgery quotes?

Comparing quotes is easier once you stop comparing headline numbers and start comparing structure. The goal is to get both offices onto the same page, then look at what is left.

Questions that make a quote comparable

Ask for one written, patient-specific total that shows the surgeon's fee, anesthesia, any facility charge, testing, and follow-up care as separate lines. Then confirm exactly what operation is being quoted: upper, lower, or both, skin only or with fat removal, and whether anything else is bundled in.

Ask what a revision would cost if one were ever needed, and get the answer in writing. An office that answers all of this plainly is telling you something useful about how it operates.

Costs beyond the surgery

A realistic budget includes the parts that never appear on a surgical quote. Most patients return to work and daily activities within one to two weeks. Makeup and contact lenses wait about two weeks, so time away is the largest of these.

Add a ride home on surgery day and any prescriptions you fill yourself. Recovery essentials and follow-up visits are included in the surgeon's fee here, so they are not separate costs. None of it is dramatic, but it belongs in the plan.

Financing and payment options

Paying for surgery over time is normal, and it is treated that way here. Our office works with Cherry, CareCredit, and Alphaeon Credit. All three let you prequalify without affecting your credit score, and Cherry includes qualifying zero percent APR plans.

HSA and FSA funds follow a different rule. Under IRS guidance, eligible medical care must treat or affect a bodily function. Cosmetic-only eyelid surgery does not qualify, while a documented functional problem may. Checking with your plan administrator before you count on those dollars saves a difficult conversation later.

What should you expect at your consultation?

A consultation is where an estimate turns into a number written for your face. It is also a two-way evaluation. Dr. Sistare is assessing your eyelid anatomy, skin quality, and health, and you are deciding whether this is the surgeon you want doing the work.

Everything happens in person at our West Palm Beach office. That is the only way to measure lid laxity, check tear film, and see how your brow position affects the upper lids. From there you get a recommended approach, a recovery timeline, and an itemized price.

Bring the photos you have saved and any reading you have already done. There is nothing to apologize for, and it makes the conversation more useful. You do not need to have it figured out before you come in. 

Conclusion

You came here asking what eyelid surgery costs. The truthful answer is that upper lids have a published starting point, while lower and combined work are priced to your own plan. That is the difference between a number you can trust and one that changes once someone finally examines you.

Looking at real eyelid surgery results is a genuinely useful next step, because it shows you what these decisions produce rather than what they cost. From there, a consultation is where the estimate stops being a range and starts being your quote.

Cost transparency is part of how Dr. Sistare practices, and it is why the upper eyelid price is on the page instead of behind a phone call. When you are ready, Palm Beach Cosmetic Surgery is here in West Palm Beach, and you can reach the office at 561-499-9000.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does upper and lower eyelid surgery cost together?

Combined surgery is quoted as one plan, not as two prices added together. It is generally more efficient than scheduling separately, because you have anesthesia once, recover once, and take time off once. Your surgeon prices it after seeing what each lid needs.

Why does lower eyelid surgery often cost more than upper eyelid surgery?

Lower lids sit closer to structures that need careful handling, and the anatomy behind under-eye bags is more variable. The operation may involve removing excess fat conservatively as well as skin, and it can require support at the outer corner. More steps means more time, which raises the cost.

Does combining upper and lower eyelid surgery cost less than two separate procedures?

Usually the combined total is lower than two separate surgeries, though it is quoted as one plan rather than a set reduction. You pay for anesthesia once and take one recovery period instead of two. The indirect savings on time away from work are often the larger part.

Does blepharoplasty cost more under general anesthesia?

It can, because general or twilight anesthesia involves an anesthesia provider and more monitoring time. Most eyelid surgery can be done under local anesthesia, where the area is numbed while you stay awake and comfortable. The inside-the-lid lower approach is the one that typically calls for deeper sedation.

Does insurance cover eyelid surgery?

Only when the surgery is functional rather than cosmetic. If excess upper-lid skin measurably obstructs your field of vision, many plans will consider covering that portion after documentation and prior authorization. Surgery done to look more rested is not covered.

Can eyelid surgery be medically necessary instead of cosmetic?

Yes, and upper eyelid surgery is the version that most often qualifies. Insurers generally want an eye examination, visual field testing, and photographs showing that hanging skin interferes with daily tasks such as reading or driving.

Can I use an HSA or FSA to pay for eyelid surgery?

Only for the portion that treats a genuine functional problem. IRS guidance limits eligible medical care to treatment that affects a bodily function, so purely cosmetic eyelid surgery is excluded. Confirm with your plan administrator before assuming those funds apply.

How do I compare two blepharoplasty quotes safely?

Put both quotes into the same format, with the surgeon's fee, anesthesia, facility charges, testing, and follow-up care listed separately. Then compare total out-of-pocket cost, not the headline surgeon fee. Check what each office includes and what a revision would cost, since those gaps are where quotes quietly diverge.

Is financing available for blepharoplasty?

Yes. Our office works with Cherry, CareCredit, and Alphaeon Credit, and all three let you prequalify without affecting your credit score. Cherry also offers qualifying zero percent APR plans, so a starting price becomes a monthly payment that fits your budget.

*Disclaimer: The specialty recognition identified herein has been received from a private organization not affiliated with or recognized by the Florida Board of Medicine. Financing terms vary by credit approval. This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. A consultation with a qualified board-certified surgeon is required to determine the best treatment plan for your individual needs and any questions you may have about a medical condition or procedure.