Peak Medical Holiday Season

Leading Sydney Plastic Surgeon issues warning before peak 'Medical Holiday' Season

Many people use the Summer Holidays for discreet nip and tucks

During the Winter months, many people prepare for Summer by working on their bodies. Whether this means hitting the gym or watching what they eat, as the weather warms up and beaches become habitable again, we are reminded of our bodies, of our shape and our size.

Internationally renowned and Triple board certified, leading Sydney Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Ross Farhadieh, textbook states: The temptation to take cheaper options overseas, combined with a scenic holiday has to be tempered against the recognition that YOUR BODY IS YOUR ONLY PERMANENT ASSET IN LIFE and that THE SAFEST HANDS ARE THE BEST TRAINED HANDS"

Both Sydney and Canberra practices are busy during the cooler months as people choose to sculpt their bodies prior to Summer and the Festive Season.

Dr. Ross says: "Those considering body sculpting surgery, be it mummy makeovers (tummy tuck, liposculpting, breast lift with or without implants), tummy tuck alone, breast augmentation or in the case of the lads "man boob surgery" have their surgery during the winter months to be summer ready."

During the Summer holiday season, he also sees many clients who use their leave for discreet procedures.

He adds: "Conversely, the holidays are the perfect time for facial aesthetic surgery, facelift surgery, neck lift surgery, eyelids surgery or that nose job that folks have been thinking about for some time are discreetly done over the break and by the time they return to work the only tell-tale is comments of work colleagues and friends about looking "refreshed and rested".

Dr. Farhadieh would like to warn Australians looking at booking a scenic medical holiday.

"We have just seen yet another tragic news of a young woman dying during cosmetic medical tourism brought out the real and ever-present dangers of these so called "medical holidays". "A young British mother met her demise following a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) Surgery. This is a procedure where unwanted fat is harvested from other parts of the body and after processing, is reinjected into the buttocks to give definition and re-inflate, a deflated and sagging posterior."

"In some cases, it's actually used to over-inflate the backend to achieve an exaggerated prominence. Recently, the American Society of Plastic Surgery, International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, as well as, the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery have all issued warnings about this procedure."

Cosmetic surgery is elective and usually safe surgery with mortality rates being recorded as low as 1:55000, this is in contrast to BBL surgery which has now been documented to have unacceptably high rates of mortality approaching 1:3000. In all cases that were investigated it became clear that fat had entered the blood stream and resulted in what is called a "Fat embolus". This is something usually seen in major orthopaedic surgery of the long bones, where bone marrow fat is forced into the circulation ending in the lungs. The resulting cascade of inflammatory reactions culminates in the ultimate death of patients.

The reason overseas options are cheaper is due to a myriad of factors, lower medical standards, less safety nets, lower labor costs, lower senior and support staff qualifications, no medical insurance and the list goes on. These are many layers of safety built into our medical system over the years to ensure the safest and most optimal outcome for patients. These layers upon layers of safety also do translate into an increased cost, but more importantly continued and outstanding after care and dafety net should there be any problems.

Well-equipped Australian hospitals and appropriately qualified Plastic Surgeons provide the safest options for any aesthetic surgery procedure.

Dr. Farhadieh concludes: "As a plastic surgeon I have seen too many patients who have returned home with their own nightmares of botched surgery. Belly buttons a few centimeters off center, lopsided breasts with double bubble deformities, poor breast implant placement, poorly and inappropriately placed scars. Surgical journey nightmares that seem unending, with expensive revision surgeries at home that will never achieve the optimal outcome, had the primary surgery been successfully and appropriately carried out. "

"All too often the postoperative support for medical tourism is nonexistent at home and cursory overseas. What happens if there is a problem when you arrive back home? Who is to take care of the potential complications? These are serious and pertinent questions that have to be answered when considering medical tourism."