The good, the bad and the ugly of cosmetic tourism

Each year, thousands of Brits return from holiday with souvenirs slightly more costly than a comedy bottle opener or a fridge magnet.

Thanks to the popularity of cut-price package deals offering sun, sea and surgery, cosmetic tourism has seen an increasing number of men and women jetting off to sunnier climes such as thailand and Turkey for boob jobs, gastric bands or facelifts.

Even the term ‘Turkey Teeth’ has become part of entered our vocabulary,thanks to celebrities like Katie Price.

With the most recent data available from the Office for National Statistics citing that 248,000 UK residents traveled abroad for medical treatment in 2019, it’s a figure that has more than doubled since 2015.

And as surgery seekers flock to grab flights, there are plenty of plastic surgeons ready to entice customers with all-inclusive holidays and the promise of heavily discounted rates. 

For many, it’s a happy holiday, but for others, as the popularity of cosmetic tourism soars, the results can be far from pretty.

In fact, the number of people needing hospital treatment in the UK after getting cosmetic surgery abroad increased by 94% in just three years, according to 2023 research by The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).

Their findings also revealed that procedures carried out in Turkey accounted for more than three quarters of those in six months alone.

In January this year, after travelling to Turkey for £2,500 gastric sleeve surgery, Morgan Riberio went into septic shock on the flight home. It emerged her small intestine had been cut during her operation, leading to a deadly infection that ultimately killed the 20-year-old.

A year earlier, Brazilian influencer Luana Andrade tragically lost her life after complications during her liposuction procedure. Dr Eduardo Teixeira from the Brazilian College of Plastic Surgery, had later said: ‘There is no risk-free surgery, nor any medical procedure that does not involve some type of risk, especially when it is a surgical procedure.’

Meanwhile Laura Donald, who underwent breast augmentation surgery and thigh liposuction in Wroclaw, Poland, nearly died from sepsis after her procedure in 2022.

‘Overseas surgery landed me in hospital’

Pinky Jolley, from Wirral in Merseyside, is still coming to terms with her hellish experience abroad. The wheelchair user had been told she needed bariatric surgery to help lose weight after she was diagnosed with pancreatitis, polycystic ovary syndrome and diabetes.

With NHS waiting times for the surgery standing at four years, Pinky set about to raise £2,100 through GoFundMe for her procedure. She flew to Istanbul in November 2022 for gastric sleeve surgery which lasted two hours.

‘The next thing I remember is waking up and the pain hit me hard’, Pinky, 46, tells Metro. ‘I told my nurses how much it hurt, but they said it was normal and the feelings would go soon. My IV of fluids had tissued [the fluid popped out of the vein] and the pain was getting worse and worse. The next day I was in sheer agony.’

Pinky’s stomach felt like it was ‘full of concrete’.  But, despite the pain, she was discharged and told to return to the UK.

She recalls: ‘Once we landed back home in Liverpool I contacted my GP for blood tests. I got an urgent call the day the results were back, my GP told me to get to hospital right away, as I had sepsis. They [the doctors in Turkey] had taken too much of my stomach and cut it so poorly it was twisting on itself.’

Pinky has spent 18 months being fed via a tube, such was the damage to her body. While in hospital, her husband, Paul, made round-trips of 3.5 hours on public transport to visit his wife in hospital and keep her company. 

Pinkey adds: ‘I already have mental health problems and everything was going through has taken its toll mentally on me and my family. I sadly have experienced a few breakdowns whilst in hospital.’

Pinky is just one of thousands of Brits who have fallen victim to botched surgery abroad. She feels lucky to have survived her ordeal, compared to others.

Bodywork on a budget

‘Even if they know about the risks of procedures abroad, some people assume the psychology of “oh it won’t happen to me”,’ explains Marc Pacifico, president of BAAPS, who is speaking to Metro after a shift at his clinic in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

He adds: ‘There is the argument, well the people impacted are adults, they have capacity, no-one has made them travel to do this. 

‘But the fact of the matter is that the majority of people who choose to do it is for financial reasons – because it is so much cheaper. Therefore, they’re put in an incredibly vulnerable position if surgery doesn’t work out and likely don’t have the finances to quickly fix the situation. That stress is coupled with feelings of guilt or humiliation on top of the mental anguish the surgery has left them with.’

Marc, who worked for the NHS for 20 years before opening his own private clinic seven years ago, has met women who were told to WhatsApp intimate body parts to random numbers overseas.

Meanwhile others explained they were held ‘hostage’ and told to write a five-star-review before in order to leave surgery. As the cost of living crisis continues, it’s likely more and more Brits will choose to go abroad rather than join NHS waiting lists.

A popular destination

Turkey, a country now intertwined with the cosmetic surgery industry, has steadily made a name for itself over several decades, says Marc. Low running costs, investment in private hospitals and a wave of surgeons settling in Turkey has made the nation a ‘hub’ for cosmetic procedures. People stumble on potential deals on social media, at in-person road shows or through word of mouth recommendations. 

‘We also understand there’s been Turkish Government sponsored support for this movement to try and “control” the cosmetic tourism market’, Marc adds. ‘All of this has come to a head and brought an explosion of cosmetic tourism and, sadly, an increase in the number of people having problems and complications. We have multiple stories of patients having woefully inadequate care before, during and after surgery.’

According to the Foreign Office, at least 24 people from the UK are known to have died following medical procedures in Turkey since 2019. And in 2022 alone, it was estimated that the NHS had spent around £1.7 million to rectify complications from patients’ cosmetic surgery horrors abroad.

A clamp-down on social media advertising could spur change, as shown in 2023 when three Turkish plastic surgery clinics were blasted by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA.)

One advert from ClinicHaus Health, which appeared on Facebook, promised ‘one of the most successful doctors in the world’ and ‘VIP transfer 5 star package Holiday’. Another from AsproMed challenged people to ‘unleash their inner beauty’ and promised ‘permanent beauty’.

In respnse, an ASA spokesman said: ‘We know that consumers are increasingly looking at going abroad for cosmetic surgery due to cost or ease of access and, while many people may be happy with the results, there are still inherent risks.

‘That’s why it’s so important that ads for these services aren’t misleading or irresponsible.’

Think before you book

There are several steps you can take to improve safety when opting for cosmetic surgery abroad. The NHS urges people to have a consultation with a surgeon, to never pay for a hospital you haven’t seen and – similarly – never offer money before meeting your surgeon.

Marc adds: ‘We’re seeing people return from surgery abroad and immediately go into intensive care in the UK. They can often be at death’s door.

‘Every surgeon who operates – whether it’s Turkey or the UK – will see complications at some point, that is a reality. But the change comes in how you look after those patients. ‘How do you miminise the risks in the first place? In the UK we have to make sure the surgery is the right decision. 

‘At my clinic, it’s never lost on me that everyone who comes to see me is there about something deeply personal that affects their confidence, they’re vulnerable so we talk a lot.

‘I think it’s important for plastic surgeons to build up a rapport and relationship with their patients. I always say “I will never discharge you, you’re always my patient and you know where I am.’”

You can donate to Pinky Jolley’s GoFundMe here

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