By Contributing Author
The medical tourism industry is worth billions of dollars today. Many countries are eager to further grow their economy by attracting more and more foreigners into their countries for medical treatment. Over a million Americans alone seek medical care outside of the United States every year. Similarly, several people from Europe, including the UK, travel to countries outside of their home country in search of affordable care.
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The medical tourism industry is not without its pitfalls and certainly there have been some unfortunate cases where people have been injured or killed by unscrupulous doctors and less than optimal care. Provided people are careful in selecting a clinic and specialists, there is no need to be too worried about the dangers. How risky it is also depends on what type of procedure you are looking to have done, and certainly the best advice is to be cautious of having major medical procedures such as organ transplants done in a foreign country.
Popular procedures for medical tourists
Dental work and hair transplant procedures are some of the most commonly performed work that people will travel to other countries to have done. In general, these are quite safe and not major procedures but you still should take care in finding an accredited clinic.
Hair transplant methods such as the FUE is very popular in countries such as Turkey as are cosmetic procedures such as VASER liposuction. Liposuction is the procedure in which fat is removed from parts of the body in order to provide a more toned and attractive appearance and shape. Other cosmetic work that medical tourists can have done include eyebrow lifts or cheek implants, facelifts, and neck lifts.
Breast surgery is also popular and includes procedures such as breast lifts and augmentation. The augmentation is when surgeons place implants under a woman’s natural breasts in order to make them larger in size.
Men with breast enlargement often need surgery if conventional treatments fail in which case they may elect to have breast reduction surgery done.
Tummy tucks and even arm lift surgeries have become commonplace and attractive for foreign medical tourists. These methods can all be done relatively easily and can provide good results for individuals looking to tone up their body and make themselves look younger again.
Dental work offered to medical tourists covers a range of procedures from dental crowns and bridges to dental implants. Dentistry is particularly expensive in countries such as the United States where the cost of even a single implant can be too high for most people and most insurance plans for dental work are very limited in what they cover each year. This places a limit on what and how much dental work a person can have done and so often in these cases it is much more affordable to fly to another country to have the dental work done.
In general, the problem with cosmetic work is that insurance often does not cover the costs, which are one of many reasons that such procedures have become increasingly popular for medical tourists.
