Can You Get a Personal Loan for Plastic Surgery or Cosmetic Procedure Financing?

Undergoing plastic or cosmetic surgery can have a profound effect on your quality of life, your psyche, and unfortunately, your bank account. Insurance will pay for some forms of plastic surgery, but not cosmetic procedures. That being said, understanding how to pay for plastic surgery is an important step to consider before making that decision.

On this page:

• Financing Plastic Surgery
• Personal Loan Options
• Medical Payment Plans

The related disciplines of plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery both deal with improving your appearance:

• Plastic Surgery: This type of surgery seeks to repair or reconstruct your body and facial defects arising from birth disorders, disease, trauma, burns, and other events. Often, the areas involved don’t look or function properly, and include cleft palates, skin grafts, breast reconstruction, and scar removal.
• Cosmetic Surgery: This form of surgery focuses on enhancing your physical appearance, improving your symmetry and proportions. Typical procedures include breast augmentation/reduction, nose and facial contouring, facelifts, tummy tucks, liposuction, Botox treatments, and laser resurfacing.

Plastic surgeons, accredited through the American Board of Plastic Surgery, can perform plastic and cosmetic surgery, whereas the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery specializes in training cosmetic surgeons.

Financing Plastic or Cosmetic Surgery

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, some typical costs of plastic and cosmetic surgery are about $4,000 for breast implants, $5,600 for a nose job and $7,500 for a facelift. The price of anesthesia, surgical facilities, and other costs can add thousands more. Usually, only reconstructive surgery can be covered by insurance, so for the most part, you will have to pay out of pocket. With several different options, it is entirely possible to cover these costs with a personal loan, a certain medical payment plan, or even both.

Personal Loans

There are quite a few personal loan lenders out there – often making it difficult to choose the best one. There are, however, a few that far exceed the competition. Use the filtering tool below to find a lender that may fit your financial situation. 

A personal loan from a bank, credit union, online, and peer-to-peer lending website, or other source is one of several ways of financing plastic surgery. Unsecured personal loans require only your signature, but you will usually need a good or excellent credit score. If your credit score doesn’t measure up, you still might qualify for a secured personal loan, that is, a personal loan collateralized by property.

Typically, personal loans are offered at a fixed APR and term; however, there are still variable rate options on the market. They work like a standard loan. You borrow the money at the start of the loan and pay back the loan in monthly installments. You are responsible to pay back both the principal balance as well as any accrued interest. Minimum payments each month are going to vary depending on the loan amount and APR. Typically, a personal loan repayment term ranges from two or three years to five or seven years. You can repay the loan sooner if you wish, usually with no prepayment penalty.

The cost of a personal loan is the interest you pay plus any origination fees. With this in mind, the total cost of a surgery loan is going to depend significantly on the APR on the loan. If you have an excellent credit score, you have a much better chance of obtaining a personal loan with a low interest rate; therefore, you are in a better position to limit the cost of a personal loan (and plastic surgery). If your score is less than perfect, your APR might reach into the double digits. Some lenders charge an up-front origination fee, adding to the overall cost, but this fee varies from lender to lender.

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Medical Payment Plans

Most aesthetic surgeons require full payment up front. However, there are two alternatives:

1. Doctor Payment Plans: Some doctors will set up interest-free payment plans customized to a patient’s budget. On the plus side, you save on interest and fees, and a missed or late payment won’t show up on your credit report. However, if you don’t pay your bill, the doctor might use a collection agency or sue you, both of which will appear on your credit report. Also, you could ruin your relationship with your doctor by missing payments.
2. Unsecured Medical Loans: These are loans brokered by third parties, such as doctors themselves. The surgery loan funds are provided via personal loans or credit cards. These might be more expensive than directly obtained personal loans because the broker might exact a fee at his or her discretion. In addition, these surgery loans might have teaser rates that can balloon after the introductory period ends.

Other Options

Here are some more alternatives you might consider when financing plastic/cosmetic surgery:

Medical Credit Card: These cards are meant to pay for medical care only. Some offer zero-percent financing if you repay within a set time period. If you miss the deadline, you will retroactively owe interest for the period. Doctors often broker these credit cards. You must be careful with these cards, as there have been reports of doctors signing up patients to these cards without their knowledge.

Savings: You might be able to save up for the cost of the surgery and pay with cash.

401K Loan: It might be possible to borrow the money you need from your 401K plan. You have to pay yourself interest and repay the loan within five years. Your plan administrator can set a borrowing limit alongside IRS guidelines. There will be no credit check.

*Payment example: Monthly payments for a $10,000 loan at 9.34% APR with a term of 3 years would result in 36 monthly payments of $319.58. LightStream disclosures here.