Dramatic horror stories of surgery gone wrong abroad are a firm favourite of the tabloid papers. They also like to report the eye-boggling price tags of celebrity surgery, from footballer’s hair transplants that cost more than a new car, and of course the millionaire Kardashian family’s latest procedures.
Is it any wonder then, that the public assume that cosmetic surgery can either safe and expensive, or cheap and dangerous?
As most savvy surgery-fans will tell you, it’s not that simple. Cosmetic procedures are more expensive in the UK and the USA for a variety of reasons.
It’s often not the experience of the surgical team, the expertise of the surgeon, or the cleanliness of the clinic that drastically changes the price – it’s the cost of living in the country.
The hair transplant Turkey market for example, sees many thousands of clients a year, far more than the UK. This means that clinics are competing for clients both on the global market, and with each other. The cost of living is lower in Turkey, and these two factors combined, mean prices are lower than in the UK. You can always find reviews of hair transplantation doctors in Turkey to check their level of skill which you will find it actually at par with that of the UK.
Accommodation and food prices are lower too, and hair transplant patients often take a week’s holiday in Turkey as a holiday, after or during their surgery.
The price point of hair transplant surgery however, is only one aspect that needs to be considered, when weighing up whether surgery abroad is appropriate.
The skill of the surgical team, the experience of the surgeon and the cleanliness and safety of the clinic are all important considerations. While it’s possible to talk to clinics yourself and use the Internet to discover which clinics and surgeons are recommended by patients, many people considering a hair transplant will use a third-party company that specialises in “medical tourism” such as London-based MedAway.
This enables them to easily book the entire trip, and have peace of mind that they will be visiting reputable clinics, that work to the same standards of cleanliness and care that UK and USA clinics do.
If you do opt for the DIY route, it helps to compare prices and results on a cosmetic surgery site like Realself, in order to see the results and read the experiences of real surgery patients.
You can also use social media to read the comments and recommendations patients have made about individual clinics. This can however be time-consuming, and some less reputable clinics fake or delete comments and reviews on social media.
