Do you have a lump inside your lower or upper eyelid that just doesn’t go away? Do you feel uncomfortable with your swollen-looking eye despite not experiencing excruciating discomforts? If you answered yes to both questions, then you may have a chalazion.
All About Vision defines chalazia as benign, painless lumps that appear within your eyelids. They come out after internal stys have healed and are no longer dangerous. They usually form around the meibomian or oil gland, which is somewhere in your eyelids. It is the reason why you would look like having swollen eyelids.
Chalazia can be treated with a warm compress, antibiotic ointment, or a steroid injection. But just like stys, chalazia go away on their own even if you don’t apply any kind of treatment. But don’t try to squeeze the lump. The pus, which comes out from it, may infect the surrounding tissues of your eyelid, worsening the condition.
However, there are cases when chalazia don’t go away even after applying medications. They sometimes grow bigger to the point when you can’t see properly. For this reason, patients resort to the last option, which is undergoing a surgery to remove the chalazion.
Cost of Chalazion Surgery
A chalazion surgery is also referred to as an eyelid bump removal, eyelid lump removal, and meibomian cyst removal. However you want to call it, the cost to remove a chalazion usually ranges from $100 to as much as $1,000. But it significantly varies, depending on many factors such as the state where the surgery is performed, the skills of your doctor, the medical facility, and whether you pay with insurance or not. Of course, the chalazion surgery cost is more affordable if you have an insurance coverage.
So, what exactly are you paying for? According to ChalazionTreatment.com, an eyelid lump removal is a one-day procedure that is completed within 15 minutes. It uses an incision-and-curettage procedure wherein the patient is initially administered with a local anesthesia. Once the anesthesia is taking effect, the surgeon makes a small incision, then drains out the pus from the nodule.
When all the thick yellowish liquid has been taken out, the doctor places an eye pad on the affected eye, covering it for six to eight hours. In most cases, the recovery period takes seven to 14 days, but it can be longer if there are complications. Otherwise, you’ll enjoy having normal eyes.
Additional Cost to Consider
In addition to the typical costs, you also need to budget for the initial consultation with a dermatology specialist or an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) before getting the operation. The average consultation cost without insurance can range from $65 to $110 per visit.
Assuming that the surgical operation has been completed, you will be given an eye drop prescription as a post-surgical medication to speed up the healing process. This additional cost is around $25 or lower if you have an insurance plan.
Chalazion Surgery Costs in Other Countries
If you feel like the chalazion surgery costs in the U.S. are too high, you can have the treatment in other countries where the prices are relatively lower than in the states. In the United Kingdom, for example, the eyelid lump removal costs £250 (approximately $310), which comprises the consultation fee of £75 and the procedure fee of £175.
But according to the research of Medigo, the most affordable chalazion removal cost is at KCM Clinic in Poland where you can pay around $105. The next on the list is Turkey, having an average price of $582, while the third spot goes to India where the average cost is $620. Here are other costs of the removal operation in other nations:
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
– Cedars Jebel Ali International Hospital: $626
– Medeor 24×7 Hospital: $1,380
- Spain
– Policlinica Ntra. Sra. Del Rosario: $1,006
- Russian Federation
– European Medical Center (EMC): $1,012
- Israel
– Herzliya Medical Center: $2,679
Tips to Lower Chalazion Surgery Prices
Although you can pay lower costs in other countries, it would still be useless if you can’t afford to travel to other nations.
And the worst part is that, aside from unable to travel, you can’t cover the costs in the U.S. either. It’s difficult to be in such situation, especially when you really need to have the chalazion surgery, and you have no insurance plan to help you cover the cost. But it’s not the end. There are other ways in which you can pay lower costs for the surgery. Here are some tips you can consider.
Before undergoing a chalazion removal procedure, you should find out how much you can spend for the whole surgery first. Be sure to have a discussion with your doctor prior to the operation.
If you don’t have any insurance policy, try to ask your doctor if you can pay in staggered like every month or every two months. By doing this, you escape from paying a one-time payment, which can burn a hole in your wallet.
In cases when staggered payments don’t work, ask your doctor if you can get discounts in the event when you pay in full cash. Most of the time, you get discounts from five to 15 percent of the total costs if you pay everything after the surgery, but that always depends on your doctor.
For those who have a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) insurance, you may have lower costs for your chalazion surgery. However, you need to review your policy and see if a chalazion surgery is covered by the HMO. Try to find out also if you are required to pay a deductible for this particular surgical operation.
This is still related to your HMO insurance. Check whether your surgeon is part of your policy’s network of service providers or if you need to have another doctor under the network of HMO. In most cases, getting the services of HMO-accredited doctors allow you to save money in the event when you have to make copayments for a chalazion operation.