What are your thoughts on patients who do cosmetic procedures abroad?

[deleted1183177]

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I have heard of patients going to the Caribbean or Mexico for certain cosmetic procedures. given how little insurance covers. In many cases, it can be a material difference in cost, even factoring in flights.

My understanding is that there are certain risks—particularly risk of bacterial infection in some countries and surgical complications—but that these can be largely mitigated with choice of doctor (i.e., U.S. trained) and facility (i.e., U.S. owned).

Curious of if anybody knows more about "medical tourism" than I do, and if they have any thoughts on the industry / practice.

 

[asmallchild]

I have heard of patients going to the Caribbean or Mexico for certain cosmetic procedures. given how little insurance covers. In many cases, it can be a material difference in cost, even factoring in flights.

My understanding is that there are certain risks—particularly risk of bacterial infection in some countries and surgical complications—but that these can be largely mitigated with choice of doctor (i.e., U.S. trained) and facility (i.e., U.S. owned).

Curious of if anybody knows more about "medical tourism" than I do, and if they have any thoughts on the industry / practice.

From a physician's perspective, my thoughts will correlate with what I've seen

I've seen patients who have had good results at a great price

And I've also seen patients (a big chunk of my fellowship was dedicated to managing this. Managing, not fixing. Because there was no fix...) with absolutely horrific complications (e.g. migrating silicone, concrete used for injection...)

From a patient's perspective, there is no way I would travel out of the country for cosmetic procedures myself having seen what I've seen

 

[carw1801]

Depends on the procedure.

A hair transplant in Turkey is not the same risk as a Brazilian butt lift in DR.

 

[ddcg]

Depends on the procedure.

A hair transplant in Turkey is not the same risk as a Brazilian butt lift in DR.

Says the member who limits their profile.

 

[carw1801]

Says the member who limits their profile.

Why are you being weird?