Why have Cosmetic Surgery Abroad?

One of the questions which gets raised a lot when considering the topic of surgery-tourism is that of why. Why do people fly half-way around the world in order to undergo stressful surgeries which are readily available here in the U.K?

On the surface it does seem like a no-brainer; undergo surgery close to your home in an environment which you are familiar with and recover with friends and family around you or fly out to a foreign country where you may not speak the language in order to undergo a surgical procedure in a medical system which you will most likely not be familiar with.

When you look at it like that, it does seem rather strange that so many people, and more every year according to statistics, choose to go abroad to get nipped and tucked and sucked. However, there are viable reasons why cosmetic surgery abroad can be a good option and, in order to allay your fears, or perhaps give you some ammo when you’re convincing your friends or your partner that it’s a good idea, we thought it would be good to run down some of these ideas now.

Let’s start off with the most obvious reason; money. Surgery abroad can be up to, or oftentimes more than, 50% cheaper than it would be in the U.K. Or so it seems on the surface; once you factor in the cost of flights and accommodation, you might not be saving as much money as you think. One way around this is to look at the package deals which many companies now offer. 

The incentive of spending less money, particularly in these bleak economic times, is what motivates most people to seek out surgery abroad. The savings can be biggest in the emerging markets such as India and this is tempting people to travel further and further afield for surgery whereas previously these same people might have stayed in the boundaries of Europe or North America.  The notion that you can change your body, change your life and change who you are for vastly reduced amounts of money is something which is clearly very tempting but, remember, if an offer seems too good to be true or you simply don’t feel right about it, stay clear. It’s better to save your health than to save money.

Another reason why so many people are now opting for cosmetic surgery abroad is the chance to combine their surgery with once-in-a-lifetime travel. Many of us now work long hours and get very few holidays; those breaks we do get seem to be full of trying to catch-up on the things we haven’t had time to do whilst trying to earn a living and thus, having a holiday gets pushed further and further down the list of things we want to do.

Clearly, having a major surgery means that you will have to book time off work and thus, trying to utilise this rare spare time as much as possible, some people think that surgery abroad will allow them to have a holiday as well as have their surgery; they will come back to work relaxed, rejuvenated and completely renewed and will be able to jump back into their regular routine. This is all well and good and one can certainly see the appeal, but there are important considerations. The first, and really sorry to be the party-pooper on this one, is that this isn’t a holiday, it’s a hospital visit.

Don’t choose a location based on the weather and, if possible, don’t choose a place which you think you would enjoy exploring. Unless you can afford to stay in your country of choice for several weeks after surgery, you probably aren’t going to feel like donning a rucksack and camera in order to go wandering around like a regular tourist. You would be better off choosing a country which you feel comfortable in and in which you have at least a basic grasp of the language.

The opportunity to go to a beautiful, exotic resort is certainly enticing, but you should really be considering the quality of care you would receive and the reputation of the clinic rather than how many minutes walk it is from the hotel from the beach. British, and indeed American, plastic surgeons have reported a vast increase in the number of corrective surgeries they are having the perform fixing botched operations which were done on the cheap abroad. This is a lesson to us all, if we try to save too much money and go for the cheapest option then we will only end up paying more, both physically and financially, further down the line.

Those who choose surgery-tourism as a way to see more of the world are probably not entering into the process for the right reasons. That being said, as long as you’re sensible, nice weather and beautiful surroundings really can’t hurt your recovery can they?

Unless you’re choosing speciality surgery in the United States, then the chances are that, if you are going abroad for a cosmetic treatment, then you are either doing so for financial reasons, for the location or for a mixture of both.  

Ultimately, it is normally the former, the financial concerns, which lead people to look overseas for surgeries.  Some people believe that the extra stress and worry, the turning away from a plethora of surgical expertise in the U.K and the leaving behind of friends and family during the recuperation process, is worth it if they can save money. Perhaps one of the important things to note is that some people have cosmetic surgery abroad because they don’t fully understand the costs; the price looks cheap on paper but what about plane tickets, or accommodation or simply keeping yourself whilst you are in your foreign destination of choice?

Saving money is certainly a valuable thing to do, and as long as you choose a reputable and safe hospital, you could be quids in!