Hyaluronic acid injections range from about $600 to $2,000 per syringe for cosmetic fillers, and from roughly $650 to $2,750 for medical knee injections, depending on the brand, number of treatments, and where you live. The total you’ll pay depends heavily on whether you’re getting a cosmetic procedure or a medical one, how many syringes or sessions you need, and whether insurance covers any of it.
Cosmetic Filler Costs Per Syringe
The average cost of a single syringe of hyaluronic acid dermal filler is $715, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. That average masks a wide range. In smaller cities with a lower cost of living, you might pay $400 to $600 per syringe. In major metros like New York or Los Angeles, expect $1,000 to $2,000. In high-demand neighborhoods like Beverly Hills or Miami Beach, prices can exceed $2,500 per syringe.
Popular brands include Juvederm (Ultra, Voluma, Volbella, Vollure), Restylane (including Lyft and Silk), and Belotero. Pricing varies between them, but the bigger factor in your final bill is how many syringes you need, not which brand you choose.
Total Cost by Treatment Area
Each syringe holds about 1 ml of filler, roughly one-fifth of a teaspoon. That’s not much, so most areas of the face require more than one syringe to get noticeable results. Here’s what typical treatments look like:
- Lips: 1 syringe, occasionally 2 ($650 to $1,500)
- Smile lines: 1 to 2 syringes ($650 to $1,500)
- Cheeks: 2 to 6 syringes ($1,500 to $5,000)
- Jawline contouring: 2 to 4 syringes ($1,200 to $3,400)
- Chin: 2 to 4 syringes ($1,200 to $3,400)
- Temples: 2 to 4 syringes ($1,200 to $3,400)
- Nose: 1 syringe ($650 to $850)
- Hands: 2 to 3 syringes ($1,200 to $2,500)
- Full-face sculpting: 4 to 8 syringes ($3,200 to $6,800+)
- Liquid facelift: 4 to 10 syringes ($3,200 to $8,500+)
Most lip augmentation patients use a single syringe. Cheek treatments tend to be the most expensive individual area because the volume needed is greater. Older patients who have lost more facial volume generally need more syringes than younger patients looking for subtle enhancement.
How Long Cosmetic Fillers Last
Providers traditionally quote a lifespan of 3 to 12 months for hyaluronic acid fillers, and that’s the timeline you’ll usually hear during a consultation. The reality is more nuanced. A 2024 review of 33 MRI studies found that cross-linked hyaluronic acid filler remained detectable in the mid-face in every single patient studied, even years after injection. Some patients showed filler still present 5, 10, and even 15 years later.
This doesn’t mean your results will look fresh for a decade. The visible cosmetic effect does fade as the filler gradually breaks down and shifts. But the product persists in tissue far longer than previously believed, which means you may not need as frequent touch-ups as you’d expect. Many patients return every 12 to 18 months for maintenance rather than every 6 months, which significantly reduces the annual cost.
Knee Injection Costs for Osteoarthritis
If you’re looking at hyaluronic acid injections for knee pain (called viscosupplementation), the pricing structure is different. These are medical treatments, typically involving one to five injections over several weeks. The median cost for a single hyaluronic acid knee injection is about $1,554, and a course of five or more injections runs around $2,750. Those figures include the product, office visit, and administration fees.
Costs vary by brand. A 2016 cost-effectiveness analysis broke down the six-month treatment cost for several common products (including the doctor’s visit and injection administration fees):
- Hyalgan (3 injections): approximately $660
- Durolane (1 injection): approximately $677
- Supartz (3 injections): approximately $759
- Euflexxa (3 injections): approximately $839
- Synvisc (3 injections): approximately $1,074
Single-injection products like Durolane can be more convenient and sometimes cheaper overall because you’re paying for only one office visit and one administration fee. Multi-injection regimens spread the cost across three to five weekly appointments, each adding a visit and administration charge on top of the product itself.
Insurance and Medicare Coverage
Cosmetic filler injections are never covered by insurance. They’re considered elective, so the full cost is out of pocket.
Knee injections are a different story. Medicare covers hyaluronic acid knee injections when all of the following are met: you have symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee, the pain interferes with daily activities like walking or standing, and you’ve already tried conservative treatments (like physical therapy or anti-inflammatory medications) or have a documented reason you can’t use them. Private insurers generally follow similar criteria, though coverage varies by plan. Even with insurance, you may owe a copay or coinsurance that leaves you responsible for a portion of the cost.
What Drives the Price Up or Down
Geography is one of the biggest factors. For knee injections, providers in the Northeast charge significantly more than those in the Midwest or South. Urban practices charge more than those in small towns or rural areas. The same pattern holds for cosmetic fillers.
Provider type also matters for medical injections. Orthopedic surgeons perform the majority of hyaluronic acid knee injections. Primary care doctors, rheumatologists, and pain specialists also offer them, sometimes at different price points because overhead and practice costs vary. For cosmetic fillers, board-certified plastic surgeons and dermatologists tend to charge more than nurse injectors or med spas, though credentials and experience also affect the quality of results.
The practice’s injection volume plays a role too. High-volume practices that do hundreds of injections per year may have negotiated better product pricing, but they don’t always pass those savings on. Ask for an itemized quote before your appointment so you know what you’re paying for the product versus the provider’s fee versus facility charges.
Financing and Loyalty Programs
For cosmetic fillers, most major brands run loyalty or rewards programs. Allergan (maker of Juvederm) offers the Allē program, and Galderma (maker of Restylane) has the ASPIRE Galderma Rewards program. These typically give you points toward future treatments or occasional discounts on your next syringe.
Third-party financing through services like CareCredit lets you spread the cost over several months, sometimes with promotional interest-free periods. Many cosmetic practices accept these cards, so you can pay in installments rather than all at once. There’s no annual fee on most of these cards, though interest rates after the promotional period can be steep.
Cost of Filler Reversal
One advantage of hyaluronic acid fillers over other types is that they can be dissolved. If you’re unhappy with your results or experience a complication, an enzyme called hyaluronidase breaks down the filler. This costs $345 on average, with a range of $80 to $500 depending on how much product needs to be dissolved and your provider’s pricing. The fee typically covers numbing cream, the injection itself, and post-treatment ice packs. If the reversal is needed because of a complication from the original treatment, some providers will perform it at no additional charge.