Do you think Costa Rica is safe for cosmetic surgery?

I had laser resurfacing by Dr. Tabush, but it wasn't in the OR; it was done in his office. In other words, it wasn't the "deepest" resurfacing that he does. He put numbing cream on my face and ordinarily gives a valium to sedate, but since I didn't have anyone with me to help me get home I couldn't have the valium. I had some red marks and was horribly swollen for about 3 days. Amazingly, most of the swelling was gone after that. I could cover up the redness with makeup pretty much at that point. I did remain pink for about 2 more months, but that is pretty normal. It was easily covered up by makeup. You have to keep in mind when getting fraxel resurfacing that the full effect isn't going to be seen until six months after the procedure. It takes that long for the collagen remodeling to kick in to improve firmness, fine lines and texture. Since the change happens over six months, it may not seem like anything is happening from day to day. It's a good idea to take a before picture to compare your six month results to. I did have improvement, especially in texture, and my skin glowed -- but I didn't see those results right away. A friend who saw me before and then about 8 months later told me she really saw a difference. Skin remodeling just takes time.

Also, I want to add that with my laser procedure, there was no real peeling -- and Dr. Tabush told me that I shouldn't expect that. If you research CO2 fraxel resurfacing, you will find that the resurfacing doesn't really occur because of skin peeling -- it works by heating the skin under the surface which causes more collagen to be formed over six months. Also, the dots where the laser goes deeper into the skin removes a tiny column of skin, causing some immediate tightening which gets better over time. It is not a "peel" -- although I don't know that that might not happen if the deeper treatment is done. Dr. Tabush not responding to your emails is certainly not very good form; I am merely responding to what may be unrealistic expectations of your procedure before there has been enough time to see skin remodeling.

DearGaelicprincess, I am so confused as I was told by Dr. Tabush that my face would be a mess for 5 days with lots of open areas (bloody), oozing, then finally skin turning brownish and then peeling. The gal in his office told me the exact same senario when I booked the app't. She told me that I wouldn't want to go home for at least 5 days as my face would be a mess. So, that is why I stayed a week with more expenses for the retreat. What I had was a deep laser resurfacing with sedation, and I've gone on different websites to see actual photos of patients...they do look horrible, but the final results (photos) were wonderful. I have no improvement whatsoever. Valborg

I had the deep laser resurfacing with sedation by an anesthegiologist, so mine was much deeper than yours. This is why I'm so upset as I was told by both Dr. Tabush and the gal in his office who scheduled the resurfacing, that I wouldn't be able to return home for at least 5-7 days. I was told there would be a lot of open areas with blood, oozing, etc. for 5 days, and then the skin would start to heal. I had none of those symptoms and could have returned home in a couple of days. I'm not sure which laser Dr. Tabush used...it was the deepest resurfacing that he performs. As I said the cost was $1,350.00, so I do truly believe that Dr. Tabush gave me a much lighter resurfacing, and I cannot forgive him for not responding to the many e-mails I've sent him. Thumbs DOWN for Dr. Tabush. Thanks for your imput. Valborg

I had red dots all over my face, some of them bled a tiny bit, and some brown areas peeled -- but they were very small areas, not my whole face. As I mentioned, my skin looked noticeably different after six months.

I think that I was mislead right from the beginning when I wrote to Brenda, Dr. Tabush's co-ordinator. She told me to expect my entire face would be extremely red with bleeding and then, after 5 days, the peeling would begin. I had none of this except for some red spots that are still there. As I mentioned before,Gaelicprincess, I was supposed to have the deeper laser resurfacing, the one that cost $1350.00...I think you had the $500.00 laser resurfacing. Is that correct? I cannot forgive Dr. Tabush for not responding to any of my e-mails. Would love it if you would clarify which laser treatment you had. Valborg

I had the $500.00 CO2 laser resurfacing.

So......there you go...as you already know, I had the deeper laser resurfacing which would answer as to why I'm so disappointed. I truly believe that Dr. Tabush did the $500.00 laser, but charged me $!,350.00. I believe this as I didn'thave the 'after' symptoms that would have resulted from the deeper laser. Oh well, live and learn...nothing I can do about it now except to post my dissatisfaction with Tabush. I really appreciate all of your input and answers. Valborg

Thank you. I and 2 friends are considering Puerto Rico for cosmetic surgery. I also need either a peel or laser treatment on my neck which has a lot of brown skin as a result of a peel many years ago. Khogh

You should be ashamed of yourself. Your website comes with a warning of "phishing".

Wow, you must be smarter than anyone else...

Wow PalaPala, you must be an instigating troll. What I AM doing is taking time to share my positive experience and my research process. The original question was if Costa Rica is a safe place to have plastic surgery. I am proof that, obviously, it can be. There is good and bad doctors everywhere. You got nothing better to do and want to read more into it than there is then knock yourself out. No, literally, please knock yourself out.

I gotta say I did A LOT of online research as well . . . and had my family interview the doc I chose. NOW. I DO wish I had Dr. Lev because several of my family members have used him since I had my surgery. I wish I had known then what I know now. The doc I chose had RAVE reviews. Turns out, soon after my surgery, he earned the nickname "the butcher of San Jose!" My only bit of advice would be to BE CAREFUL wherever you are. AND if you have any doubts and can afford to be close to your surgeon for a few months afterward, DO IT!!! I'm happy to give a great review to Dr. Lev as I neither have I ever heard anything negative about him or his work, and the results I saw in members of my family were absolutely awesome!

Yes MauiArtist, You make a very important point. The fact is that even though one does thorough research one can have a bad experience. This fact is well documented on this board and on many other PS boards. This is an old thread and maybe when you were researching there were no negative reports on your surgeon of choice? And maybe, there were many glowing reports of your surgeon of choice, and you talked to prior pts and these things helped you chose your surgeon? and yet you still ended up with bad results. That's what happened to me. Its just condescending, offensive, obnoxious, and insensitive for individuals to come on here that have had positive experiences and insinuate that somehow it is the pts. fault that they got bad results( bad experiences) because they didn't do their "research", and they didn't "google" their Dr. The fact is that the blame belongs to the unscrupulous, unethical, uncaring, unskilled surgeon. They gain your trust and perform surgery and if/when there are problems/complications they are not handled properly. The Dr. also knows that as a foreign tourist you have to leave their country eventually and that if you were harmed or damaged you as a pt.have no recourse. Many of them just don't care once they have your money and you are thousands of miles away. Its only in recent years that more people have been forthcoming with their negative experiences. Even with all the research its still a risk because you don't know who is writing these reviews and what their true motivations are. Beware. It's just wrong to blame the pts because some of us did nothing wrong. Some of us did everything right as far as researching and still ended up with horrible results. Some of us are left with disfiguring results that can't easily be fixed. The bad memories and horrible results will last a lifetime

Maybe you’re a little hyper-sensitive, PalaPala. Who is blaming patients? I appreciate your reply Mauiartist because it wasn’t snipey and baiting and you added something of value. My curiosity is valid and my advice for anyone considering surgery in Costa Rica is sound. My surgery was in 2010. I did my research in late 2009 and let me tell you, my original long list of possibilities was cut down to four in the first 30 minutes. I didn’t look for glowing recommendations at first. No matter how unfair it was to the doctor, I looked for “dirt”. Anyone could plant a glowing recommendation for themselves or their practice but nobody is going to fake a negative review. The four was eventually narrowed down to two after I got slow responses from a couple of offices and no reply beyond the first or second email. If they are going to be half-ass in replying to new patients then I didn’t want to learn the hard way about their after care service. My contribution here is doing nothing to help the people who are suffering from a botched surgery. I can’t do anything for them but pray. My reply is for anyone considering surgery because my advice may help them avoid a nightmare. This list could become a valuable resource to anyone considering surgery in Costa Rica. It would be great if experiences were being posted constructively and a “Butcher List” was being created. Some of you are making it into a battle ground and a place to not nurse your wounds but to keep them festering. Don’t attack me (and others) just because I had a good experience. No matter what your experience bullying other people is NOT OK.

Exactly! There were no negative reports ANYwhere on the internet, and the doc I chose implied (by using CIMA letterhead and having an office in the building that connects to CIMA) that he was a CIMA doctor . . . nice office, dressed professionally etc. Oh and yes he took my money in cash . . . and did not do several things he was SUPPOSED to do (which is probably a blessing) and the ones he did do left me with nasty scars and nerve damage. I spent months researching and then sent my cousin to interview the doctor. I wrote to a patient who claimed to have great results, I feel I did it all exactly right. When I left for home two weeks post op, I just had horrible sutures and will spare you the details. Of course the doc claimed all would "settle." It did not. I had to see several doctors thru the next year. I will say one of the most important things is the aftercare. The PS here gives a YEAR of aftercare with his surgeries. There is no way I could afford to fly back to CR (not that I would want to after what he did) but if your doctor is in your area, you have that option should you need it. I just wish it was more affordable here, so we didn't HAVE to run to a foreign country for these sorts of things. Just be very very very AWARE of ALL the potential issues and CHOOSE WISELY.

I agree with you, and if I could return to CR and stay a few months I would see Dr. Lev and what he could do to repair and improve my result.

This is my experience with a board certified dermatologist in Costa Rica. In early February he performed a deep laser resurfacing with sedation. I was told that I need to stay for one week as my face would be a mess (open sores, oozing, etc.). I had none of that and could have gone home in several days. When I spoke to the doctor, Dr. Tabush, with my post-op, he said the procedure went very well and not all patients are such a mess afterwards. Well...I went home after a week with some very red areas to my face, but was told by Dr. Tabush that these would clear up in a few weeks. They have not, and my face looks worse than before. I spent $1,300.00 for the procedure. I have attempted to contact Dr. Tabush on 4 different occasions since returning home, and he refuses to answer my e-mails. All I wanted was for Dr. Tabush to tell me what medications should I use to get rid of these red areas. So, it doesn't always mean that a board certified doctor can perform excellent results. Valborg

Mariposa! Love ya and don't even know ya! :-) When I read your longer post above, I was immediately impressed by your obvious intellect and wisdom. PalaPala - Ptooey. Grow up. Mariposa wasn't bragging... she took th etime to shae EXTREMELY VALUABLE information.

Amen to that! Hey, I'm coming to CR on the 16th for FL with Dr Lev. But he doesn't do fat tf and I wanted some to cheeks and lips. Does anyone have any ideas? Rosenstock had done it before and did a good job. But I don't know that they would appreciate me having a fl with someone else and then asking them for ft....... Comments appreciated!