As the cost of health care in the United States has been continuously rising for years, the increasing number of people have been looking for medical care abroad, especially, in less developed countries, where the prices of medical treatments are significantly lower, boosting the popularity of medical tourism in general, and plastic surgery tourism in particular.

The term “Medical Tourism” refers to traveling outside of your country of residence to another country for medical care. It does not mean an emergency surgery in a foreign land due to an injury or an unexpected illness, but only an intentional journey for the purpose of having a medical procedure abroad. Originally, among medical tourists were mostly people from less developed countries seeking medical treatments unavailable in their homelands, while nowadays, affordability has become the major factor driving the rising number of Americans to less developed countries for a broad range of medical treatments from dental work to major heart surgery to cosmetic surgical procedures.

As plastic surgery has significantly gained in popularity in the United States over the recent years, people have started shopping around internationally in search of better deals on their desired procedures. An increased demand has given birth to a new market segment called "plastic surgery tourism", represented by numerous plastic surgery service providers around the world. The price for each cosmetic treatment vary quite significantly from country to country and from clinic to clinic. This and some other reasons have attracted Americans to exploring the advantages of plastic surgery vacations.

Besides the prices for plastic surgery procedures in less developed countries, which in many cases are several times lower than the price for the same treatments in the US, the difference in quality of service is another strong factor that pushes Americans out of their homes. In fact, some foreign hospital facilities provide luxury hospital rooms that resemble hotel suites more than hospital rooms that we are used to knowing, as well as one on one private nursing care. Besides, doctors in major foreign hospitals for tourists have much easier work schedules than American doctors do, so they have an ability to spend more time with each patient. Plus, those hospitals can afford to hire the best plastic surgeons available in the country.

Additionally, the medical part of the plastic surgery tourism is often sweetened by the actual tourism. For example, for a person recovering after a serious cosmetic surgery, as well as for the family members accompanying the person, it is hard to find a better place to recover and relieve post-surgery stress than accommodations near a beach, shopping centers, or cultural and historic attractions.

So, plastic surgery tourism seems to be a wonderful thing. But is there a catch? There are definitely a few things that should be seriously considered before making a decision to pursue a cosmetic surgical treatment abroad. Otherwise, the downsides may significantly outweigh the benefits.

First of all, plastic surgery tourists have very few legal options in case there are major problems or complications occur after a surgery. Patients are often made to sign forms waiving their right to file a lawsuit, not only against the medical facility or a plastic surgeon, but also against the medical tourism agency that booked the plastic surgery vacations for the patients. Also, even though some of the plastic surgeons abroad are great, there are some surgeons that are not as gifted as their colleagues or are not properly trained. So, patients should do a thorough research about each plastic surgeon they are considering, which can be not that easy because obtaining the necessary information about the foreign doctors is often challenging. There are other areas that can potentially cause problems and should be carefully considered, such as quality of the plastic surgery clinic and follow-up care, as well as language and cultural barriers.

Medical tourism, and particularly plastic surgery tourism, has been a booming industry in the United States for quite a few years, attracting millions of Americans with an exciting opportunity to have a desired surgical procedure for a fraction of its cost in the US and to enjoy world travel experience along the way. But along with excitement may come some serious risks, which require serious consideration, whether it is worth it to book a flight, or it is better to seek plastic surgery in the United States, where it will be performed by a highly rated, board certified plastic surgeon.