The growing trend to undergo cosmetic surgery in places such as Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia is based on cost saving mainly but also the “promise” of a holiday.
The truth is that people who go overseas are subjecting themselves to various risks. The risk of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) is increased for 6 weeks after any surgical procedure and so the flight back to Australia carries a real risk of DVT or worse, pulmonary embolus – lung clots, which can be life threatening. Yet another reason not to go to Thailand! Martial Law was declared in Thailand on 20th May 2014. Do you want to have surgery in a country with such political instability and riots. Think again.
There is minimal or no consent process; women undergoing a breast augmentation may undergo a breast lift at the same time, with the resultant scarring, without this having been discussed properly. There is no follow up unless clients go back overseas; Australian Specialists are reluctant to take on clients who have had their surgery overseas.
Especially related to breast augmentations, Asian surgeons tend to undersize western women mainly for cultural reasons but the more important aspects are that women are rarely involved in the choice of implant including size,shape and style. Finally, the surgeons almost universally place implants in the subpectoral plane or behind the pectoral major muscle. This is not natural as the implant is placed into the incorrect body plane. Further, it is destructive as far as the pecs are concerned.
The end result of under the muscle breast augmentations is that the breast droops off the implant as it cannot move with the breast (held in a fixed position by the overlying muscle).
As a high number of women will require corrective surgery, there obviously will be significant costs over and above the costs of the initial surgery: If you cannot afford to undergo the surgery in Australia, how are you going to afford the revision ( corrective ) operation that will often be necessary. If you needed a heart bypass or a cancer operation,would you choose to go to one of these overseas venues because it is a cheaper option?
Dr Goldman will be setting up an alternative destination (Australian) to the overseas “ medical tourist “ destinations and industry. We are not offering a discount service, rather a high quality Australian Specialist Surgical Service with all the appropriate assessment, licensing, consent, surgery and follow-up processes that one would expect from an Australasian College of Surgeons specialist.
There are going to be women as well as men who are very happy with the outcome of their surgery overseas. However, as a specialist in Australia, I see a very significant number of unhappy clients.
