Photo: @tashakostyuk, Unsplash, Unsplash License. People shown are models.
Treatments abroad
What each treatment involves, the recovery, the risks and the questions to ask before you book, from health services and surgeons' societies. Not medical advice.
Hair transplant
Hair is moved from the back of the head to thinning areas. It is surgery under local anaesthetic, and the hair restoration surgeons' society says a doctor must make every incision: the main risk abroad is a clinic where technicians do the surgery.
Medium risk One tripRead the guide
Dental implants and veneers
Implants, crowns and veneers are the most common treatment people travel for. Implants usually need two trips, months apart, and the hardest part is what happens when something fails after you are home.
Medium risk One or two trips, by procedureRead the guide
Weight-loss surgery
Gastric sleeve, bypass and band make the stomach smaller (a gastric balloon does too, without surgery). It is major surgery with follow-up for life: UK surgeons' societies urge caution with surgery abroad, mainly because the follow-up at home is often missing.
Major surgery One trip · at least 10 days before flyingRead the guide
Cosmetic surgery
Tummy tuck, breast surgery, liposuction, nose and face surgery, buttock lifts. No surgery is risk-free, clinics abroad may not provide the follow-up, and the UK aesthetic surgeons' association (BAAPS) says the Brazilian butt lift has the highest death rate of all cosmetic procedures.
Major surgery One trip · at least 7 to 10 days (by procedure) before flyingRead the guide
Laser eye and lens surgery
Laser surgery reshapes the front of the eye; lens surgery puts an artificial lens inside it. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes, but the eye needs checking within 24 to 48 hours and regularly for at least six months, which is the hard part abroad.
Medium risk One trip · up to 7 days (by procedure) before flyingRead the guideWe add a treatment only once its risks and recovery are sourced from health services.