Many men and women today are going abroad to find cheaper forms of liposuction. While the popularity of liposuction in developed countries is no surprise, the growth in the number of people combining a luxury vacation with cosmetic surgery is a relatively new phenomenon on medical circles.

Recently, the Tourism Authority of Thailand gave support to a  team of senior doctors from the Bangkok Hospital, Phuket, to market their services in Britain, underlying the potential for patients to combine a vacation in an attractive location with the opportunity to have a cosmetic surgery procedure carried out.

Medical tourism remains a niche market in the UK, but is steadily growing as British citizens discover significant cost-savings for treatments taken overseas. Bangkok Hospital, Phuket, plans an initial focus on the most popular of these – facelifts, liposuction and nose augmentation to extensive dental work, with a view to expanding procedures according to demand.

Within Europe, there has been an increase in the number of patients, particularly women, who have taken advantage of the lower costs in Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary, to take a 2 week vacation for liposuction or a facelift. If the cosmetic surgery operation is performed shortly after their arrival at their destination, they can then spend the rest of their holiday recuperating, allowing time for the telltale signs of cosmetic surgery to diminish before returning home.

The combination of tourism and cosmetic surgery is a valuable market for countries such as India and Thailand, which market their hospitals and services to foreign customers in the US and Europe. In general cosmetic surgery procedures conducted abroad, cost between 50% and 80% less than in the US, Canada and Europe.

While these cosmetic vacations can cheaper than having the surgery done in the United States, Canada or Europe, there can be hidden costs.

There are some important factors that need to be considered before you venture to another country to have a cosmetic surgery done. First of all you should definitely consider getting some travel medical insurance to bring with you before you leave the country because you never know what can happen when you are in a foreign country.  This insurance can be very beneficial if anything goes wrong or you have a complication or reaction to any part of the procedure.

When you choose your doctor and the surgical facility, ensure that you choose one with an established track record in liposuction and is 100% board registered, preferably with operating experience in an international setitng.

Liposuction may seem like a simple procedure in your home country but for patients traveling overseas, there is a greater risk if liposuction is just new there. Patients are advised to be careful on these liposuction vacations because without specific medical insurance, they could pay thousands in hospital bills in the event that something goes wrong. One last tip on cosmetic vacations would be to consider what else you have planned as it can lead to heightened health risks.  According to the American Society for Aesthetic Surgery there are some antibiotics that do not mix well with the sunlight, and a hot climate may not be the most comfortable location to be recovering with stitches.  These liposuction vacations can be extremely enjoyable trips for women with long lasting benefits but can be risky if you do not complete the proper research before you leave the country.