An eyelid lift privately or through public care?
A fair question, and an uncomfortable one. We answer it openly: the Kuzbari Centre is a private hospital, and cover by the statutory health insurance is not provided for here. Which leaves the real question — what do you get for the difference?
- A licensed hospital
- You choose your surgeon
- Single and twin rooms
- No waiting halls
We are a private centre
The Kuzbari Centre for Aesthetic Medicine is a private hospital with beds, licensed by the Vienna provincial government. Billing through the statutory health insurance is not provided for here. We put that in the first paragraph rather than the small print, and we deliberately raise no hopes we cannot keep.
That does not answer the real question, though. It is not “cheap or expensive” but: what do I get for the difference? That is what this page is about.
And one more thing up front: we have great respect for the medicine practised in the public health system. People there work under enormous pressure, and when things get medically serious that system is the best thing that can happen to us. But an eyelid lift is rarely an emergency. It is usually a decision about one’s own appearance — and different standards apply to that.
What actually differs
Not the quality of the medicine — the conditions under which it happens. And with an aesthetic procedure those decide more than one might think.
| The point at issue | The public health system | Kuzbari Centre |
|---|---|---|
| Who operates | Whoever is on duty on the day is assigned. The person you met in the clinic and the person at the operating table are not necessarily the same. | You choose: Dr Christoph Grill, DDr Jessica Wittmann or Dr Shawqi Arafat. Whoever advises you also operates on you and sees you again at every check-up. |
| Time for planning | Clinic appointments run to a tight schedule. In routine operation there is little room to fine-tune an aesthetic result. | About an hour for the first consultation, with professional photographs, a look at pictures of you as a young adult and a plan that fits your findings — before anything is decided. |
| What is optimised for | For the medical indication. With drooping upper lids that means restoring the field of vision. That is the stated aim — and it is reliably achieved. | For appearance. Field of vision and expression, symmetry, lid crease, the line of the scar. We stop only when the aesthetic side is right too. |
| Who is lying next to you | A hospital cares for sick people. Multi-bed rooms are the norm and the ward day follows the most urgent cases — rightly so. | Here there are only people who have decided on a planned procedure. Single and twin rooms, a quiet atmosphere, no emergencies in the next bed. |
| The appointment | For elective procedures long waiting times are usual, and dates can move if something more urgent comes up. | Your date is set as soon as you want it — and it holds. We plan our capacity so that you can rely on it. |
| Aftercare | Check-ups run through the outpatient clinic, often with different doctors each time. | Every follow-up appointment up to the final result with your own surgeon, and a direct line if you have questions. Suture removal and scar advice are included. |
| Discretion | Shared waiting areas, ward routine, visiting hours. | Our own rooms in the Goldenes Quartier, discreet entrances, no waiting halls. What you have done is nobody else’s business. |
| The cost | Where there is a recognised medical indication, the procedure is a benefit of the health insurance within the public system. The aesthetic ambition is not part of that benefit. | A private service, from €2,600 and all inclusive: every appointment before, during and after the operation. No extra costs are added. |
One millimetre decides the whole face
An eyelid lift is a small procedure. It is a day case under local anaesthesia, and you go home the same day. That is exactly what misleads — because small does not mean simple here.
The eye region is the first place people look. It decides whether someone reads as awake or tired, friendly or stern, open or closed. And the skin there is thinner than anywhere else on the face.
Remove a millimetre too little and nothing changes. Remove a millimetre too much and the lid no longer closes properly, the gaze looks fixed, and in the worst case it cannot be undone. Between a result nobody notices and one everybody notices lie a few millimetres of skin.
That is why the decisive question is not whether someone has technical command of an eyelid lift. It is how often they do it, how much time they take over planning and what they measure the result against.
Natural results through competence
Many people have well-founded reservations about facial surgery, because mask-like results exist. Dr Christoph Grill explains what matters in eyelid surgery and how a natural result comes about.
The person you meet is the person who operates
That sounds obvious, but it is not. In the routine of a large institution, whoever is assigned on the day operates. That makes organisational sense and is medically sound — with an aesthetic procedure it is still a disadvantage.
Because much of what was discussed at the consultation sits in the head of the person who gave it: how strongly the lid crease should be emphasised, where the asymmetry lies that you never noticed yourself, what you meant by “fresh but not changed”.
Here the same person conducts the first consultation, the operation and every check-up. You know beforehand who it is — and you can choose the specialist you prefer.
You know beforehand who operates on you
Three specialists at the centre operate on eyelids. Through the online booking you book directly in the diary of the person you feel most comfortable with.
Focus on facial surgery, several times an award winner of the Austrian Society for Aesthetic Surgery. He operates on both upper and lower lids and measures his work by a result nobody recognises as surgery.
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She works on the face only, combining surgical precision with a fine sense of what a single millimetre at the lid changes.
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He combines international training with a treatment plan drawn up for each patient. Alongside eyelid surgery, facelifting and wrinkle treatment are his focus.
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No multi-bed room, no ward routine
We carry out eyelid surgery as a day case — you go home the same day. If you would rather stay, or the procedure turns out to be more extensive, a single or twin room with its own bathroom, daylight and quiet awaits you.
The difference is not only comfort. Here the only people admitted are those who, like you, have decided on a planned procedure. That makes the day quieter, and it makes it shorter.
And then there is what is hard to put on a list: that somebody asks whether you would like a coffee. That you hear your name rather than your bed number.
You can tell a good result by the fact that nobody asks what you had done — only why you look so rested.
- First consultationAbout an hour
- ProcedureDay case, no overnight stay
- AnaesthesiaLocal or twilight sedation
- Length of the operation1 to 4.5 hours
- Suture removalAfter about a week
- Back at workFrom 3 days (desk work)
- Back among peopleAfter 1 to 3 weeks
- SportAfter 2 to 3 weeks
- Final resultAfter 2 to 3 months
- CostFrom €2,600
Guide figures for eyelid surgery at the Kuzbari Centre. What applies to you depends on the extent of your procedure and is settled after the examination.
- First consultation with photo analysisincluded
- Diagnostics and surgical planningincluded
- Operation in our own theatresincluded
- Local anaesthesiaincluded
- Suture removal and scar adviceincluded
- Every follow-up appointmentincluded
When the public system is the right choice
If drooping upper lids restrict your field of vision so much that they impair your daily life, that is a medical problem, and the public health system has a route for it. If you want to take that route, it is a sensible decision and we will not advise you against it.
The difference lies in the aim. There it is about seeing well again. Here it is additionally about how you look afterwards. If the second matters to you as much as the first, you are in the right place. If not, we will tell you so openly at the consultation — that is part of honest advice too.
Drag the slider to compare before and after.
- Case
- 19502
- Age
- 53 years
- View
- Looking straight ahead
- Anaesthesia
- Local or twilight sedation
Photographs of patients who have consented to publication. Every lid heals differently; a result shown here cannot be transferred to anyone else.
The finest difference: the result
Every case comes from a patient of this centre. The findings and the procedure are given below each pair, so you can judge what was done and what was not.
- Case 13359
before 
after 
Findings: Increasing excess skin and a feeling of heaviness in the lids, which the patient had long taken to be normal. Procedure: Upper eyelid blepharoplasty and temporal brow lift.
- Case 19717
before 
after 
Findings: Pressure on the upper lids and a permanently raised forehead; when relaxed, people told her she looked stern. Procedure: Upper eyelid blepharoplasty.
- Case 17658
before 
after 
Findings: Eye bags for five to six years, swelling each morning and worsening again in the afternoon. Procedure: Transconjunctival lower eyelid blepharoplasty without visible scars, plus fat grafting.
- Case 19430
before 
after 
Findings: Eye bags for several years; people kept telling her she looked tired, and then she felt tired. Procedure: Transconjunctival lower eyelid blepharoplasty without visible scars, with skin pinch and fat grafting.
Photographs of patients who have consented to publication. Every lid heals differently; a result shown here cannot be transferred to anyone else.
An appointment directly with the specialist of your choice
Through the online booking you book in the diary of DDr Jessica Wittmann, Dr Christoph Grill or Dr Shawqi Arafat. Book an eyelid surgery appointment
Frequently asked questions
Does health insurance cover an eyelid lift at the Kuzbari Centre?
No. We are a private hospital; cover by the statutory health insurance is not provided for here. We will of course issue a detailed invoice.
Will private supplementary insurance pay?
That depends entirely on your policy. Purely aesthetic procedures are as a rule excluded. It is best to ask your insurer directly before relying on it.
What does an eyelid lift cost with you?
Upper and lower eyelid lifts each cost from €2,600, a brow lift the same, and the combination of upper and lower lid from €4,400. The price is a total price and covers every appointment before, during and after the operation.
Can I choose my surgeon?
Yes. You choose the specialist you prefer and are advised, operated on and followed up by the same person. We introduce Dr Christoph Grill, DDr Jessica Wittmann and Dr Shawqi Arafat individually on their profile pages.
Do I have to stay overnight?
In most cases no — eyelid surgery is a day case and you go home the same day. If you would rather stay, or the procedure turns out to be more extensive, a single or twin room is available.
How quickly can I get an appointment?
First consultations are available at short notice; the online booking shows the free slots of the three lid specialists. We plan our capacity so that an agreed operation date holds and is not moved.
Is treatment in a public hospital medically worse?
No, and we expressly do not claim that. The difference does not lie in the quality of the medicine but in the setting: who operates, how much time there is for planning and whether the aesthetic result is part of the aim.
What if I have questions after the operation?
You have a direct line to your surgeon. Every follow-up appointment up to the final result is included in the price — you do not have to go through an outpatient clinic and retell your story to anyone.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes. Through Kuzbari Finance the amount can be spread over up to five years at an annual percentage rate of 9.99%. The binding terms are set out in your application.
Am I committed to anything after the consultation?
No. The first consultation is without obligation. You decide at your own pace whether and when you want the procedure.
Your eyelid check-up
About an hour of time, professional photographs, an examination of your lid region, a look at photographs of you as a young adult and a written quotation — without obligation and without pressure.
Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00 · Seitzergasse 2-4, 1010 Vienna
01 358 28 01
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