‘Surgical Tourism’: What are the risks of going abroad for cosmetic surgery?

Cosmetic surgery overseas might be cheaper, but is it safer?

Transcript

00:00When it comes to cosmetic tourism, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons

00:06outlines a few things for us to be aware of. It asks us firstly to consider protection.

00:11In this vein, the BAAPS advises that the reason for higher costs for this type of surgery

00:17at home is often attributed to regulations by the Healthcare Commission and the General

00:22Medical Council. As a result, with higher prices comes increased protection. The association

00:28also suggests that travelling home in an emergency may not be covered by your insurance, so these

00:33risks should be factored into decision making of cosmetic tourism. It also asks us to consider

00:38aftercare. The association says that it's fairly common to have little to no aftercare

00:43when having cosmetic work done overseas, meaning the recovery from larger surgeries can take

00:48a lot longer. Meanwhile, it recommends having work done at an accredited practice in the

00:53UK in order to receive full aftercare as well as follow-up consultations or treatments.

01:00Professor David Strain, a professor of cardiometabolic health, said, quote, surgical tourism has

01:06been a problem for some time and complications can arise late from any procedure, not just

01:11obesity surgery, even something as simple as hair implants that people travel for. Professor

01:16Strain went on to say you can get infections and the problem is people come back and they

01:20are asking the NHS to pick up the pieces of procedures that were done with less standards

01:25than we would normally apply in the UK. It's also the physical side of it. This is not lunchtime

01:30surgery. It may be packaged as a holiday. It may look glossy, but it's actually real surgery and

01:36it needs to be prepared for and looked after afterwards, the same as any other surgery.

01:41Some of these procedures are very long procedures. They can take six hours and if you have any health

01:46concerns, that adds to your risk. No surgery is risk-free. It doesn't matter who's operating

01:52or where. There are complications associated with any surgery.