The best place to go for plastic surgery is a facility that is properly accredited, staffed by a surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS), and located somewhere you can easily return for follow-up care. Those three factors matter more than any city name or celebrity endorsement. Here’s how to evaluate your options, whether you’re looking locally, across the country, or abroad.
Start With the Surgeon, Not the Location
The single most important decision isn’t which city or country to fly to. It’s which surgeon will operate on you. A board-certified plastic surgeon has completed a minimum of six years of surgical residency training, including at least three years focused specifically on plastic surgery, all at a single institution in the U.S. or Canada. They then pass both written and oral examinations administered by the ABPS. This level of training is non-negotiable for safe outcomes.
The ABPS is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties, the organization that oversees all recognized medical specialty boards in the United States. Other certifying bodies, such as the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery or the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, do not carry that same institutional oversight. That distinction matters because it reflects standardized, regulated training requirements.
If your procedure involves the face specifically, you may also encounter facial plastic surgeons. These doctors typically complete a five-year residency in ear, nose, and throat surgery followed by a one-year fellowship in facial plastic surgery. They can be excellent for rhinoplasty or facelifts, but their training is limited to the face and neck. A general plastic surgeon’s training covers the entire body without anatomic restrictions, which gives more flexibility if your goals involve multiple areas.
Where Most Procedures Happen in the U.S.
The United States performs more plastic surgery procedures than any other country, with over 6.1 million in the most recent global count. Within the U.S., access varies dramatically by state. California has the most board-certified plastic surgeons at 765, while Wyoming has just three. Florida, New York, and Connecticut have the highest concentration of surgeons per capita, at roughly 0.20 to 0.22 per ten thousand people. States like Arkansas, Vermont, and Oklahoma sit at the bottom, with fewer than 0.09 surgeons per ten thousand residents.
If you live in a state with fewer specialists, you may need to travel domestically. Major metro areas in California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Illinois tend to have the widest selection of surgeons with subspecialty expertise. That said, a surgeon two hours from your home who has performed your exact procedure hundreds of times is a better choice than a famous name across the country. Proximity matters because most procedures require at least one or two follow-up visits in the days and weeks after surgery.
What an Accredited Facility Looks Like
Many plastic surgery procedures happen in outpatient surgical centers rather than hospitals. The quality of these facilities varies enormously. Look for accreditation from one of three bodies: the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgical Facilities (AAAASF), the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), or the Joint Commission. Accreditation means the facility has been inspected and meets specific standards for operating room safety, anesthesia delivery, emergency equipment, infection control, and post-operative monitoring.
AAAASF-accredited facilities, for instance, must follow anesthesia guidelines based on standards from the American Society of Anesthesiologists, maintain protocols for blood clot prevention, conduct mandatory surgical time-outs before every procedure, and report any adverse outcomes. Facilities undergo re-inspection every three years, and surveyors must also be retrained on that same cycle. These aren’t suggestions. They’re requirements for maintaining accreditation.
If a surgeon operates out of an unaccredited office-based suite, that’s a significant red flag. There’s no external body verifying that the facility has proper resuscitation equipment, appropriate staffing, or safe anesthesia protocols.
What to Ask During a Consultation
A good consultation should feel like a thorough conversation, not a sales pitch. Before you commit, ask these questions directly:
- Will you personally perform my procedure? Some practices delegate portions of surgery to assistants or trainees. You should know exactly who is doing what.
- Do you use the same surgical team for every procedure? A consistent team typically means smoother operations and better communication during surgery.
- What kind of anesthesia will be used, and who administers it? A board-certified anesthesiologist or certified nurse anesthetist should be handling sedation, not the surgeon or an unqualified staff member.
- How have you handled complications in the past? Every experienced surgeon has dealt with complications. What matters is whether they have a clear protocol for managing them.
- Is the quoted cost all-inclusive? Surgeon fees alone don’t capture the full picture. Anesthesia, facility fees, post-operative garments, and follow-up visits can add thousands to the total.
If the surgeon seems evasive about credentials, rushes through your questions, or pressures you to book immediately, walk away. A qualified surgeon will welcome scrutiny.
Typical Costs in the U.S.
Plastic surgery prices vary by region, surgeon experience, and procedure complexity, but 2024 national averages for surgeon fees give a useful baseline. Breast augmentation runs $4,575 to $8,000. Liposuction ranges from $4,300 to $7,500. Rhinoplasty is among the more expensive procedures at $7,500 to $12,500. These figures cover the surgeon’s fee only, not anesthesia or facility costs, which can add 30 to 50 percent to the total.
Prices that seem dramatically lower than these ranges deserve skepticism. Bargain pricing sometimes reflects less experienced surgeons, unaccredited facilities, or corner-cutting on anesthesia staffing. That doesn’t mean the most expensive surgeon is automatically the best, but cost should never be the primary factor driving your decision.
Going Abroad for Surgery
Medical tourism for plastic surgery is common. The countries that see the highest proportion of foreign patients include Tunisia, the UAE, Colombia, and Turkey. Brazil leads the world in surgical procedure volume with 2.3 million per year and is widely known for body contouring. Globally, the most performed surgical procedure is now eyelid surgery, followed by liposuction, breast augmentation, scar revision, and rhinoplasty.
The potential savings are real, but so are the risks. The CDC has documented infections and deaths among U.S. citizens who traveled abroad for cosmetic surgery. Most reported adverse events involve infections, including difficult-to-treat nontuberculous mycobacterial infections that have been linked to facilities in the Dominican Republic. In response to a CDC investigation documenting deaths between 2009 and 2022, the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Health visited 77 cosmetic surgery facilities and issued new safety guidelines, including limits on performing more than two major procedures in a single operation.
Air travel compounds surgical risk because both flying and surgery independently increase the chance of blood clots. If you’re considering surgery abroad, you need to allow adequate recovery time before flying home, which may mean staying in the country for one to two weeks or longer depending on the procedure. You also face limited legal recourse if something goes wrong. Malpractice laws vary widely by country, and suing a foreign surgeon from the United States is rarely practical.
How to Vet a Foreign Facility
If you do choose to go abroad, look for Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation. More than 1,000 healthcare organizations in over 70 countries hold JCI’s Gold Seal of Approval, and you can search their database online to verify any facility’s status. JCI accreditation signals that the hospital or surgical center meets internationally recognized safety standards comparable to those in the U.S.
Beyond accreditation, confirm that the surgeon holds credentials recognized in their own country’s medical board system and has specific training in plastic surgery, not just general surgery. The U.S. State Department maintains medical tourism advisories for certain countries, including lists of recommended precautions. International travel insurance that covers medical evacuation back to the United States is strongly recommended, because emergency air transport can cost $50,000 or more out of pocket.
Red Flags That Apply Anywhere
Whether you’re looking at a practice in Miami or a clinic in Istanbul, certain warning signs are universal. Be cautious if credentials aren’t clearly listed on the surgeon’s website. A legitimate surgeon will prominently display board certifications, residency training, and professional society memberships. Be wary of the title “cosmetic surgeon” without additional clarification, as this is not a recognized specialty under the American Board of Medical Specialties.
Other red flags include a facility that doesn’t require pre-operative health screening, a surgeon who recommends combining many procedures into one long operation, no clear plan for managing complications, and a staff that can’t tell you who will administer anesthesia. The safest outcomes come from choosing a qualified surgeon in an accredited facility where you can return for follow-up care without significant logistical barriers. Everything else is secondary.