Is it safe to travel abroad for breast enhancement?

Having a boob job abroad may well be considerably cheaper than it is to have the same procedure in the UK, but does that make it a wise decision? Of course, cost is always going to be a factor to some degree but there are other factors to consider too. The biggest risk of travelling abroad for breast enhancement is how much you actually know about the surgeon. In the UK you are given the opportunity to meet with your surgeon beforehand as well as learning about their track record. The UK also has a clear way of checking that a surgeon is capable and competent.  They all need to be registered with the General Medical Council and any practice that offers cosmetic procedures must be registered with the Care Quality Commission. Practices abroad will no doubt have their own standards, but do they match UK expectations and can they be easily understood?

Having a boob job abroad also means that there may be issues with aftercare or complications. In the UK, aftercare is generally included in the price that you pay. This may not be the case abroad and you may find it difficult to get the assistance you need if things go wrong.

Is it safe to have a boob job in Turkey?

Turkey marketed itself, and to some extent established itself, as the go-to place for Brits to undergo any form of cosmetic surgery. Newspapers in the UK have often reported on horror stories that make you question if a boob job in Turkey is actually safe. There are women who have been left with breasts in such a way that it has caused them serious psychological distress. While it is true that things can go wrong anywhere, certainly the data indicates that you are far more likely to experience a complication when a boob job in Turkey is involved.

While it would be wrong to make sweeping statements about surgeons in any particular country (there are many excellent Turkish surgeons), it is important that women who are travelling to Turkey are aware of the risks involved. Having a boob job in Turkey leaves women having procedures carried out without the same degree of expertise and without the appropriate aftercare in place. 

Why are prices so cheap for boob job abroad?

While on face value having a boob job abroad may appear to offer value for money, it is important that women travelling know exactly what is included in the fee. Importantly there is a need to know if accommodation is provided after the surgery and what insurances are in place that will cover UK residents. After these considerations, there are still reasons why having a boob job abroad is cheaper. These include:

• Lower labour costs
• Lower regulation
• Lower training and qualification standards
• Cheaper construction costs for clinics
• Differing standards of clinics when compared to the UK
• Lower taxes
• Less bureaucracy

These factors mean that there is not a need to charge the prices that we see in the UK, but there are also reports that refer to some of these clinics working like conveyor belts. In the UK there is time to have a quality consultation with your surgeon. You are also given a 2-week cooling off time before the surgery is carried out. Some overseas clinics will literally churn through patient after patient. More procedures mean more money, but there is nothing close to the care given at UK clinics.

Why do we not recommend travelling abroad for a boob job?

We understand that great augmentation is a big step financially. However, there is much more to this procedure than the financial aspect. UK clinics follow strict guidelines and they ensure a woman is suitable for the procedure before it is carried out. After the surgery itself, there is access to first-class aftercare. Procedures can go wrong no matter where in the world they are carried out, but in the UK it is clear that this is then for the surgeon to rectify.

Having a boob job abroad means that you are missing out on the personal side of the procedure and inviting a degree of risk into your treatment. In the UK, surgeons care about their patients and are passionate about their results. The same can not be said of the conveyor belt like clinics elsewhere. Travelling abroad for your surgery leaves you exposed and vulnerable with little to no comeback should things go wrong.