Thousands of Singaporean women holiday around the region each year – and get cheaper cosmetic procedures done while they’re at it. But are the savings worth the risks? SASHA GONZALES finds out.
Thousands of Singaporean women holiday around the region each year – and get cheaper cosmetic procedures done while they’re at it. But are the savings worth the risks? SASHA GONZALES finds out.
When blogger Dawn Lee, 34, arrived home from a twoweek holiday in South Korea in 2014, her family and friends noticed something diff erent about her face. Gone were the tired-looking eyes and thin laugh lines. Her nose also looked sharper, with a well-defined bridge, and her chin and jawline, more contoured. Her secret? Going abroad for cosmetic surgery. In between shopping and sightseeing, she sneaked in a few procedures: fillers, alarplasty (nostril narrowing), a nose job, a chin implant and surgery for her droopy eyelids.
New face aside, she was happy with the great deal she scored. All in all, Dawn, who blogged about her experience on www.ilovedawn00.blogspot.com, paid about $8,000 for her airfare, accommodation, surgeries and aftercare. According to doctors here, the procedures she underwent would have set her back approximately $18,500 had she done them in Singapore.
A HOLIDAY WITH A DIFFERENCE
Dawn is part of a community of Singaporean women who are flocking overseas for nip and tucks. Anecdotally, South Korea, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok are the most popular destinations for Singaporean patients, says Dr Tan Ying Chien, consultant plastic surgeon at The Sloane Clinic Plastic Surgery Centre. Dr Darren Ng, a specialist in plastic surgery and consultant at Raffles Surgery Centre, adds that Singaporeans most commonly travel for eyelid surgery, augmentation rhinoplasty (nasal implants) and facial lipofilling, a procedure that involves the transfer of fat from one part of the body to the face.
But surely, there are perfectly good clinics here? Well, it’s a double deal for the women: They get a holiday and a new face (or body) to boot. Increasingly, the services offered at overseas clinics are cheaper than those offered locally, and the clinics are perceived to be just as good as those here. Sales manager Jill* travels to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok at least twice yearly for botox, face peels and laser therapy for pigmentation.
In the last three years, she has saved more than $2,500 in surgical expenses, thanks to the lower cost of cosmetic procedures in these two cities, which are on average 20 to 50 per cent less than those in Singapore. A skin peel in Kuala Lumpur, for instance, costs RM300 (roughly S$101), while a brightening treatment in Bangkok costs 8,500 baht (about S$328).
Dr Tan estimates that such treatments cost roughly $200 and $500 respectively here. In Bangkok, Jill’s botox bill comes up to just 2,000 baht per area; the same treatment costs between $500 and $600 per area here. “I’m already holidaying in these cities; why not spend a bit more and go for a couple of aesthetic procedures while there?” she reasons.
FUSS-FREE SERVICE
Perhaps realising the allure for out-of-town patients, overseas clinics have taken pains to be foreignerfriendly, making communication easy and providing comprehensive logistical support. Indeed, Jill – who notes that the clinics she goes to in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok are frequented by nonlocals – shares that she has never had problems communicating with the English-speaking staff . South Korea, in particular, has seen great success in marketing its medical tourism industry to the world.
Between 2012 and 2014 alone, the number of foreigners travelling to the country for cosmetic and plastic surgery more than doubled, from 15,898 to 36,224.** No doubt giving the country a leg-up is the fact that some of its clinics and hospitals have multilingual coordinators who can speak English, Mandarin and other languages, though their language proficiency varies. Dawn shares that before she flew off to Seoul, she liaised with the marketing rep of the clinic she was going to primarily over e-mail and in English.
The rep was helpful, answered her questions thoroughly, and didn’t push her to sign up for procedures she didn’t want. Alexis Cheong, 30, also had a smooth experience when she travelled to Seoul in 2014 to get work done. All four of her treatments – a nose job, cheek implants, a double eyelid surgery and a laser treatment for a more contoured jawline – were arranged by medical tourism agency Docfinderkorea.
One of several such agencies in the country, Docfinderkorea links up cosmetic surgery-seeking foreigners with doctors and clinics in the country, and negotiates surgery costs on the patients’ behalf. Alexis shares: “I liaised with a consultant named Shin, who recommended a couple of the city’s top clinics; I settled for the one with the best reviews.” Docfinderkorea even offered to share the cost of the surgeries – totalling roughly $15,000 – with her in exchange for a write-up about her experience on her blog, www.alexischeong.com. Consequently, Alexis paid only $6,000 for the surgeries, and spent approximately $2,000 on airfare and accommodation for the two-week trip.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
Both Dawn and Alexis are lucky that their procedures went smoothly. However, there’s always the risk of things going wrong. It’s not always easy to tell if an overseas plastic surgeon is qualified and experienced. In Singapore, only accredited doctors are allowed to perform certain cosmetic surgical procedures, and the Singapore Medical Council has guidelines that govern the practice of such procedures. While similar regulations are also in place in other countries, it may be hard for a foreigner to know if a clinic is complying with the rules, or to get an accurate gauge of its reputation.
Foreigners may, for instance, be entirely dependent on the clinic’s marketing team for English-language “testimonials”. Dr Tan recounts instances where patients who went abroad didn’t get the expected or promised results. Some even underwent procedures they had not agreed to. “Many of them needed revision surgeries and ended up paying more than if they’d had the original surgery done in Singapore,” he says. “One of the worst botched jobs I’ve ever had to fix was a nose implant that had broken through the skin. I had to remove the implant and let the skin settle before performing another nose job on her.”
“I’m already holidaying in these cities; why not spend a bit more and go for a couple of aesthetic procedures while there?” – Jill
Alexis Cheong before (above) and after her cosmetic surgery procedures.
THE HOME ADVANTAGE
Easy access to aftercare is a big reason why one might consider having cosmetic surgery done locally. All surgeries carry the risk of infection and other complications, and “things can get tricky if your original surgeon is in another country,” says Dr Tan. “Many overseas clinics, especially those in South Korea, employ translators, but I know of cases where the patients’ questions and requests were misinterpreted, and they didn’t receive the help they asked for.”
“It is the responsibility of the surgeon who carried out the procedure to provide aftercare and deal with any complications,” Dr Ng adds. “When the procedure is done abroad and complications arise back at home, it is not as straightforward trying to undo someone else’s work.” Post-surgery air travel can also increase the risk of developing deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, says Dr Ng.
As a rule of thumb, consider doing major, time-consuming operations at home, where aftercare is more easily accessible, he says. Also, consult a doctor here to find out which surgeries carry a higher risk of complications. Though her overseas experience was good, Alexis says she’d go local should she decide to do another procedure. “If anything goes wrong, at least you can go straight back to the doctor and get it fixed,” she says.
“Consider doing major, timeconsuming operations at home, where aftercare is more easily accessible.” – Dr Darren Ng, specialist in plastic surgery and consultant at Raffles Surgery Centre.
THE NIPAND- TUCK CHECKLIST
Make sure you cover these bases before getting cosmetic surgery done abroad.
❶ Do Your Homework Don’t base your decision on ads, blogger testimonials or reports from third-party agencies that clinics employ to secure overseas patients, says Dr Tan. Before and after photos can be faked. Check the credentials of the doctors, read objective articles about the clinic, and ask someone who has been there and done that for recommendations.
❷ Research Medical Guidelines Read up on how overseas doctors and clinics are regulated, and how standards are enforced. Dr Ng suggests visiting www.healthregulation.org/ for information on worldwide health professional bodies and regulators.
❸ Find A Trustworthy Medical Tourism Agency The agency rep should be able to answer any questions you have, and be fluent in a language you are most comfortable in, says Alexis.
❹ Understand The Procedure Know the risks associated with your procedure. Your doctor should also give you a detailed, translated medical report with information about the operation, such as the sutures and type of implants used.
❺ Have A Cooling-off Period After a consult with the doctor, have a cooling-off period before deciding, says Dr Ng. “Many decide on cosmetic surgery [impulsively] while on holiday or while with a friend who’s getting a procedure done... [and they] regret it.”
❻ Get A Translator Don’t assume that the clinic’s Englishspeaking staff will be present when you’re there. Ask if the doctor speaks a language you’re comfortable with, or bring a translator with you, says Dr Ng.
❼ Ask About Aftercare Find out how follow-up or postsurgery reviews will be carried out, how complications will be dealt with, what will happen if revision surgery is required and if the costs will be covered, suggests Dr Ng. See if the clinic’s insurance arrangements will cover you, and know what your own insurance will cover.
*Name has been changed.
**Source: South Korea’s Ministry of Health & Welfare.
