Also try: body fat, cosmetic plastic surgery, Liposuction, Saline breast implants, Silicone breast implants, Tummy tuck
i want to get a tummy tuck and while at it a breast lift or breast implants (silicone ones now that they r safer). also may need a small bit of liposcution.
a plastic surgeon near my home told me the price tag for all this work would be more than 20k. Wowza. So that made me start reseacrhing and looking for alts like going abroad for surgery.
Costa rica sounds most appealing for a recovery. but is costa rica safe for cosmetic surgery? bad infections more likely? hard to communicate with your doctor? etc. thnks v. much
junos
Submitted by junos on March 23, 2008 - 10:10pm. Viewed 1690 times
you should be able to have that surgery by a board certified plastic surgeon for around 15000 or less.
I have operated in Central America and the sterility and safety standards are not adequate.
View answers from Pramit Malhotra, MDI wouldn't do it. If you really want to travel south africa would be the only country if would even go near.
There are a lot of Plastic Surgery Travel sites and Travel centers offering everything and anything for 30-50% less.
In my practice I have seen good and bad results from abroad. However, what if something does not heal well? Are you going to fly back for complications? Most Plastic surgeons will be reluctants to take on someone else complications or it will cost quite a bit more.
If you live in a very expensive area, check with your local airlines for direct flights within US to less costly areas.
I am confident you will be able to find a qualified Plastic surgeon to do it for quite a bit less.
Boris Volshteyn MD MS
View answers from Boris Volshteyn, MD MSSierra Plastic Surgery
Reno NV
Dr. Volshteyn, How much is the cost of a consultation? I'm interested in neck surgery, but need an evaluation. I'm wary of a lot of work, but willing to do what is wise to get a good result. I am light/thin-skinned and late 40s. Thank you.
I wouldn't do it, I have seen news shows showing women that went and had emergency hospital complications after they flew home and had to get reconstruction surgery and even then never looked the same. America has all the board certified rules of conduct and a government to answer to. I wouldn't do it if you paid me to. Do it right, check out three places or more first, check to see if they are part of the plastic surgeon's board certification program. Good luck!
hello,
yes Costa Rica is safe for plastic surgery,but as with anywhere,you must research well.
i had facial surgery in CR ,i looked good for about 3 months....now i look no different than before.!
i thought i had chosen wisely but i dont believe many doctors are good at faces and bodies.?
my doctor seems very good with body precedures.!
it was very very busy while i was there,and to my mind it was a conveyor belt.!
I just got back from Costa Rica. I had Liposuction on my stomach, chin, and waist. Also had upper eyelid surgery for about 3,800 total.
I couldn't be happier with the results!!!
Dr. Rosenstock
p.s. I saved thousands.
Hello Char,
I am considering liposuction with Dr Rosenstock and Cohen and read your post on a forum. I just wanted to ask you if it was true that they are the ones that remove the biggest quantity of fat in Costa Rica? I have read good and bad things about them but it seems they are good as far as lipo is concerned.
You said you were happy with the results; do you remember how many liters of fat they removed?
Thank you so much for your help.
Nina
i am delighted you are happy with your results Char,but its a tad to early to be sure of your results if you have only just returned home.?
good luck anyway.!
Hi
I am married to a plastic surgeon and host a beauty podcast called beauty now.. I did a show on getting surgery done in foreign countries.. it can be very scary.. you dont know if you will get an infection...and complications and be in a foreign country without help.
If money is an issue.. try going to teaching hospitals such as Stanford..the surgeries are overseen by teaching credentialed
certified surgeons..or ask the dr..what is his slow time..
It is usually July.. people dont like to heal in summer..ask if you can get a discount for cash and say this is all you have.. can he work with you..there are many really good board certified.. drs who are slow.. find a good one here..
I had my nose done in costa rica for less than a third of the price that it would normally cost, and they were so nice at the hospital, took care of everything and the results were amazing! Even if money wasn't an issue i would choose costa rica over any other place for surgery, and I recommend this to everyone!
We are all concerned about saving money, of course. However, a point to consider is that if there are complications, the legalities involved could make it impractical. Trying to sue an M.D. in a foreign country would be a nightmare at best, impossible at worst. The expense involved, were it even a possibility, would make it impractical.
I see stories about what a great idea doing this would be because of the opportunity to have a vacation. I would be so nervous about the upcoming surgery that I would want to get it over with as soon as arriving. I felt like living hell after my surgeries. I could not have enjoyed anything for a month or more, and the idea of having to fly afterwards sounds like a true nightmare.
i agree totally Patricia.
one point to consider if going to Costa Rica: its legally impossible to sue a Costarican doctor as they are protected by law.!
i believe CR doctors must be laughing all the way to the bank,because the possibility of us returning for revisions is very low,given that most of us live thousands of miles away.?
travel and accomodation costs ,for most of us,makes it untenable.!
9 months on and scars above my eyes are very visable,(vertical instead of horozontal) and my vision is still quite impaired,when i look sharply,left or right,i get double vision.!
the doctor in question says to go back !
do i want to go back for more of the same.?
I have a face lift in 2003 and a abdominoplasty in 2004 in Costa Rica by {edited}. Very..very good. If i need i will go again. The best Dr. the best operatin facility and wonderfull peoples. Dont worry and enjoy Nadia
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nadia, can you give me the name of the surgeon you used in costa rica? i will be going in sept. but want to have 2 consultations before chosing a dr. where did you recover?
i need face,neck, tummy tuck ,,,
thanks for your help
judkt
Hi Judkt....the Dr name is {edited}. I send you is home page. I have no words to compliment his work...He give me a new life and any time i will go back to Him if i need a touch-up...soon... Hi speack very good english and you can call afther 5 pm. i went to the recovery clinic/B.B Las Cumbras. I am in Atlanta and if you want to talk with me give me a call {contact information edited}. take care Nadia
http://www.a-plastic-surgeon.com/
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thanks nadia
The surgery is probably safe. The recovery may NOT be.
I had a patient come in for me to remove sutures following a facelift she had performed in Costa Rica. Her lesions were severely infected and had horrible tissue necrosis.
It will be a long healing process. She'll probably be fine but will definitely have a very nice scar to show for it.
Her family enjoyed a great vacation, she saved a few bucks (in the short run), but the final results and complications may not be worth it.
View answers from Robert Clinton, MDThe Dr is right.
I am the host of Beauty Now on I tunes.
If you dont understand the word necrosis that means
dead tissue, meaning the tissue dies.. and forms
scabs and deep scars.
I did a show on going to foreign countries
for surgery. I am married to a plastic surgeon and
understand horror stories from patients that go out of town. We all understand that patients can have the best of results and be happy and advise others to go out of the country. Some people are lucky and it works..but for
those of us that dont?
The problem is the follow up care when there are complications. Can you afford to stay there?
Can you afford to go back and redo it?
There are too many bad stories out there to take a chance
on your face.. your face is your face for life and if you save 3 thousand dollars and are disfigured it is not worth it. We are usually very vain about ourselves
and to save money on surgery that causes huge scars
which may or may not have been avoided..
conversely, do your homework on American doctors too.
Dont go to a dentist for a breast aug, or a gyno.
Go to a plastic and reconstructive surgeon for body work and face.. ENTs do not do body work but
do noses. .. Derms are great with lasers, injections
and skin cancer. Check credentials regardless anywhere. Be Safe..
i absolutely agree with nbtt,i went to Costa Rica and had a dreadful eye infection which the doctor did,nt seem at all bothered about,now 11 months on ,i have really bad scarring and my vision is still impaired,and yet i went to one of the better known doctors who supposidly is wonderful.!!! ? not true.?
i,m now looking to find a facial surgeon who can make me look better.! (cry)
I had a breast augmentation July 2, 3008 at {doctor information edited}. BEWARE!!! That SOB used nylon stitches internally. Almost immediately I developed a seroma in my right breast and he said it was from smoking and driving on an unpaved road from Dominical to Uvita. I have continued to hear that excuse as the reason for the seroma and capsular contracture. The two weeks ago, with my breast extremely hard and still oozing, I developed an implant extrusion and constant drainage (last one was 1200cc!!) and had to have a Houston, TX plastic surgeon remove the implant under only a local. (My husband is back in Iraq and I was unable to have anyone drive me to and from my emergency outpatient surgery.)
While removing the implant, the new doctor found 5 nylon stitches that were at the center of the infection. Now, I have a gaping hole in my breast crease and greenish yellow fluid still draining from a seriously infected breast.
This is all because {edited} said since his mother developed a reaction to the dissolvable stitches in a surgery he performed on her, he wasn't using them with his own patients anymore. GREAT!!! So, now to fix his MALPRACTICE and INCOMPETENCY here in the US, its costing me an additional $4000!!!
NEVER AGAIN will I have any surgery outside the USA and by anyone other than a board certified AMERICAN surgeon!
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