Medical tourism is a booming industry across the developed world. Europeans are traveling to the US in droves to take advantage of the weak dollar and the ailing US economy, giving them access to the superior knowledge and abilities of American plastic at bargain prices. Europeans aren't the only ones going abroad to get cosmetic surgery on the cheap, but when it becomes time to see the results, they may be more lucky than their American counterparts who have traveled to more exotic destination in search of body beauty at minuscule prices.
Americans have been traveling to remote destinations for cosmetic procedures for decades. Many of these destination are to more impoverished areas of the developing world - Central and South America, is a popular destination (Mexico, Argentina and Brazil are at the top of that list) as is South East Asia. Of course, despite a struggling economy over all, most of these destinations do offer quality surgeons and state-of-the-art facilities. Though the real issues begin in aftercare (there is often little to none provided) and in the possibility that the surgeon might have botched the job.
The Washington Post has just run a story on a woman named Betty Meisel. Mrs. Meisel, who is in her mid-sixties, decided to travel to Thailand for a full cosmetic overhaul. What would have easily cost her over $100,000 in the states, cost her a mere $16,000 (including the cost of travel). Betty thought this was a deal, until she returned home to coalesce and removed the bandages... Betty had been butchered.
She tried to find a surgeon to fix the litany of mistakes the Thai doctor had imposed on her, but when she tried to see them, they turned her down flat. She isn't the first patient scolded for traveling over seas for medical procedures - US doctors often refuse to intervene to fix botched operations performed abroad as the liability for them is too great. You have little to no legal recourse against the offending foreign doctor if you travel abroad for a surgery, but you have the full force of the law behind you if an American doctor is unable to solve your international surgery nightmare.
Aside from making a snap decision to rush headlong into risky cosmetic surgery abroad, Ms. Meisel made one other monumental error in judgment: she let the international hospital in Thailand choose her doctor for her! That's not just an error that occurs abroad, either. Remember, when you make the difficult decision to have cosmetic surgery, you must also choose your doctor wisely. The largest part of the expense for cosmetic surgery is paid for the skill and talent of the surgeon. Plastic surgery involves no small amount of artistry - if you don't request a Rembrandt or a Di Vinci, you may end-up looking like a Picasso.
As always, SFP encourages you to consider your options thoroughly before making any decision. First, there is the decision whether to have surgery at all. Once you have made up your mind in that respect, only then is it time to consider a procedure and a surgeon. Choose wisely, your face has to last you a lifetime.
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