Aesthetic treatment prices in Singapore:
the factors behind the figure

Why are aesthetic prices not advertised in Singapore?

Aesthetic prices are not advertised because Singapore's healthcare advertising rules do not permit licensed clinics to publish prices for licensable healthcare services, including as ranges or ‘from’ figures. Those rules sit alongside the Singapore Medical Council's ethical guidelines, which bar doctors from offering financial inducements such as free or discounted treatments, time-limited special offers or gifts, and which expect fees to be fair, reasonable and made known to patients before treatment.

There is also a clinical reason a printed figure would mislead. Two people asking for the same named treatment rarely need the same thing: one cheek hollow and a whole face of volume loss, one sun spot and melasma across both cheeks, a few shallow scars and a mixed pattern of tethered and ice-pick scars are different pieces of work. A figure only becomes meaningful once the plan exists.

A very low offer, a bundle or a trial price is therefore worth reading as a prompt for questions rather than as a saving. The recurring red flags are the same across categories: an injector or laser operator who is not a doctor, an unnamed or unregistered product, medical treatment in a home, hotel room or salon, a fixed course sold before any examination, and pressure to decide on the day. Each of these shifts risk onto you, which is the opposite of affordability.

At consultation it is reasonable to ask for the cost in plain terms once the plan has been set out: what is being treated, with which product or platform, how much, by whom, how the plan is staged, what review is included and what correction would involve if it were needed. At Dr Sin Yong's practice, fees are set out at consultation, after assessment and before anything is agreed.

What drives the cost of dermal fillers?

Filler cost is driven mainly by how many areas are treated and how much product the anatomy calls for. A filler occupies space, so the examination first establishes whether volume is actually missing, in which zones and at which depth; a retruded chin, a hollow temple and a deflated midface each call for different products and quantities.

The material matters too. Hyaluronic acid gels differ in firmness and are matched to the zone, and HA is the usual first choice because it can be dissolved with hyaluronidase, whereas calcium hydroxylapatite and polycaprolactone cannot. Whether filler is combined with botulinum toxin or a collagen biostimulator, and whether the plan is staged over more than one visit, also shapes the total. Correction of previous filler is costed separately from new treatment.

The red flag here is the product itself. Injectable fillers must be registered with the Health Sciences Authority before they can be supplied in Singapore, and the Ministry of Health requires filler and botulinum toxin injections to be performed by SMC-registered doctors within licensed healthcare providers. A low price attached to an unnamed product, a home or hotel-room setting, or a non-doctor injector is not a saving; ask for the product name and confirm who will inject.

“A treatment name is a category, not a protocol. Two clinics listing the same name may be working at different depths, on different tissue, toward different ends.”

Dr Sin YongOn comparing treatments by name

What drives the cost of pico and pigment lasers?

Pigment laser cost follows the diagnosis more than the device. A picosecond laser fragments pigment mainly by a pressure effect rather than by heat, but sun spots, freckles, post-inflammatory marks and melasma are different conditions at different depths, and they need different wavelengths, energies and approaches.

The factors are the area treated, what the assessment finds the pigment to be, whether one wavelength or a combination is indicated, whether a fractional mode is used for texture alongside pigment clearance, and how the plan is staged. A single lentigo and diffuse melasma across both cheeks are not comparable pieces of work, and melasma in particular is managed over time with photoprotection and topical therapy, with laser used conservatively, if at all.

The red flag is a fixed bundle sold before anyone has examined the pigment. In Fitzpatrick III to V skin, settings that are too aggressive, or laser aimed at undiagnosed melasma, can leave skin darker than it started, and the cost of managing that is paid in time as well as money. Ask what the pigment is, which wavelength will be used and why.

What drives the cost of RF microneedling?

RF microneedling cost depends on the area, what the needles and energy are being asked to treat, and whether it stands alone. The needles are only the delivery route; radiofrequency energy released at the needle tips heats the dermis at a depth set zone by zone, so rolling scars, shallow boxcar scars, enlarged pores and early laxity each call for different depths and energy.

Coverage changes the work: a single zone such as the cheeks differs from full-face or neck treatment. Some scars need subcision or TCA CROSS before RF microneedling is useful, and some plans combine it with laser resurfacing. Remodelling is gradual, so the plan is reviewed and adjusted rather than fixed in advance.

The word microneedling also covers needle-only facials with a pen or roller, which are a different, surface-led treatment. Comparing prices across the two is comparing different procedures under a shared word, so ask whether radiofrequency is delivered, whether the needles are insulated, and who performs the treatment.

What drives the cost of fractional CO2 and S3 resurfacing?

Fractional CO2 cost is shaped by the scar pattern, the area and the combination of techniques the pattern needs. An ablative 10,600 nm laser vaporises microscopic columns of skin and leaves bridges of untreated skin between them; how dense and how deep those columns are set depends on what is being treated.

In Dr Sin Yong's S3 Resurfacing Lift on the DEKA Tetra Pro, point shots are placed into individual scar pits before fractional passes across the surrounding skin, and the laser is combined with subcision for tethered rolling scars and TCA CROSS for narrow ice-pick scars where the pattern calls for them. Most people have more than one scar type, so the plan, and the cost, follow the mix rather than a single setting.

Recovery is part of the calculation. Ablative resurfacing involves a healing phase with redness, swelling and scabbing, and in Asian skin newly resurfaced areas are prone to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, so sun protection and review are part of the treatment. An offer that does not mention recovery, pigment risk or how settings are adapted for darker skin is leaving out the parts that matter.

What drives the cost of a thread lift?

Thread lift cost depends on how many threads the face needs, and that is only known once the vectors are mapped on the face in person. A cog thread repositions descended tissue mechanically; the number of zones treated, whether jowl, midface, brow or neck, and the number of threads each vector needs decide the total.

Material and type matter as well. PDO, PCL and PLLA are absorbable polymers that resorb at different rates, cog threads lift while smooth mono threads do not, and some plans add an energy-based treatment or filler where laxity or volume loss is part of the picture. Whether everything is done in one visit or staged also shapes the cost.

The red flag is a price per thread quoted from a photograph, or a thread lift offered for heavy skin excess it cannot address. A thread does not remove skin or add volume, and the wrong face for threads is not made right by a lower price.

What drives the cost of peels and laser facials?

Peels and laser facials vary widely in cost because the names cover very different procedures. A chemical peel uses an acid to loosen and shed surface layers to a depth set by the agent and its strength; a laser facial can mean anything from a superficial carbon treatment to a multi-pass, non-ablative laser protocol.

The factors are the depth and type of treatment, what the assessment finds the skin needs, and whether it is combined with other work. At this practice, R2 Glow is a non-ablative long-pulsed 755 nm and 1064 nm protocol directed at the inflammation behind dull, uneven tone; FSX Laser combines 1540 nm and 1927 nm wavelengths for texture, pores and pigment; and Hydrafacial is an epidermal cleansing, peel and infusion treatment used for maintenance. Each is planned individually, and none substitutes for the others.

Depth carries risk in darker skin. Deeper peels and aggressive laser settings are more likely to leave post-inflammatory darkening in Fitzpatrick III to VI skin, so a low price for a strong peel or laser with no preparation, no skin-type assessment and no sun-protection advice is a false economy. Ask which agent or wavelength will be used, at what depth, and why it suits your skin.