Hip dips are the inward curve between the hip bone and the upper thigh, produced by the width of the pelvis and by fibrous attachments holding the skin down over the bone. Surgery does not remove them, because there is nothing to take away. It fills them, usually by transferring the patient's own fat into the depression. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons publishes no average for the procedure, and the nearest published reference is its average for fat grafting to the buttock, $7,264.
Ask providers for a written price
Filling rather than removing, and why that matters
A patient who expects removal is expecting a straight edge from hip to thigh. What the operation delivers is a softened transition, achieved by adding volume on either side of the indentation. The distinction is not pedantry: it sets what a good result looks like and therefore whether you will be satisfied by one. Ask the surgeon to mark on you where volume is going and to show photographs of their own patients at a year.
What the money is actually buying
Two things happen in one operation. Fat is taken by liposuction from the abdomen, flank or thigh, for which the ASPS published average is $4,711, and it is then injected into the hip. Both halves carry theatre time, and both sit under the same anesthetic. Published averages are surgeon fees excluding anesthesia, operating room facilities and other related expenses, so a practice's all-in number will sit above them without that meaning it is expensive.
The cases where the answer is no
A patient with very little body fat may not have a donor site sufficient to fill the depression, and a patient whose dips are largely a matter of pelvic width will see a smaller change than the photographs online suggest. Implants are an alternative in some hands but carry infection and displacement risks that fat does not. A surgeon who says the change available to you is modest is giving you information, not a sales objection.
Questions people ask about surgery to get rid of hip dips
Can surgery remove hip dips completely?
No. The operation fills the depression with transferred fat; it cannot remove a contour created by the shape of the pelvis.
What does it cost in the US?
There is no published average. ASPS gives $7,264 for fat grafting to the buttock and $4,711 for liposuction, both surgeon fees only.
Am I too slim for it?
Possibly. The operation needs a donor site with enough fat to harvest, which a very lean patient may not have.
How long does it last?
The fat that survives the first months is generally lasting, but not all of it survives, and a second session is common.