Although on some earlier posts I mentioned a lot about benefits you get from travelling abroad for cosmetic surgery, in this post I would like to outline some of the risks you may face too.
Not all is what you see on screen, correct research must be done in order to choose the right destination as well as the right surgeon, if this isn’t done with care many issues can arise. Some people are so enthusiastic about getting surgery done that the price of the procedure may make them forget to read the small print within their contracts. Speaking from experience I have found that many small prints may have hidden charges, such as charges for blood transfusions (if needed), x rays and also hospital garments, if not read correctly the procedures could end up costing more than they would have done in home countries.
Along side the risks of hidden fees, there is also the possibility that not all may go to plan. Many problems can arise when having surgery anywhere such as infection, the three main types of infections are called mycobacterium abscesses, mycobacterium chelonae and mycobacterium fortuitum, these tend occur due to sterilization being inadequate (Cusumano, Tran, Tlamsa, Chung, Grossberg, Weston & Sarwar, 2017). When infections do arise nine times out of ten the patient will already be back home in their own country, these types of things can cause a major strain on their countries health care systems, (Miyagi, Auberson, Patel & Malata, 2012) state that in 2012 the cost to the UK through the NHS was roughly £9392 per person to correct these surgeries that had incurred problems abroad, if many people do face problems I am sure you can see the pressure our NHS would be under.
I would like to end this post by making you all aware that choosing to have surgery is not something to be rushed into, when choosing you surgeon and destination you need to ask the questions, check the credentials but also not go for the first one that looks good on screen. Surgery is a major choice and choosing to do this in a foreign country is even larger. I have included a link below I believe to be helpful when making that choice.
https://www.self.com/story/how-to-find-a-plastic-surgeon
Thank you for reading:)
References
Cusumano, L. R., Tran, V., Tlamsa, A., Chung, P., Grossberg, R., Weston, G., & Sarwar, U. N. (2017). Rapidly growing mycobacterium infections after cosmetic surgery in medical tourists: The bronx experience and a review of the literature. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 63(C), 1-6. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2017.07.022
Miyagi, K., Auberson, D., Patel, A. J., & Malata, C. M. (2012). The unwritten price of cosmetic tourism: An observational study and cost analysis. Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery, 65(1), 22-28. doi:10.1016/j.bjps.2011.07.027
Sinrich, J. (2017). 9 Inside Tip for Finding a Plastic Surgeon you can trust. Retrieved from https://www.self.com/story/how-to-find-a-plastic-surgeon
Cosmetic Tourism 