These ladies met on our website, Plasticsurgeryjourneys.com
They were all plastic surgery patients in Costa Rica.
Watch the youtube video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn9BfKSB19g

I just want to take a moment to commend Bob, a fellow PSJer for a very informative personal website on his experience with plastic surgery in Costa Rica. His website is @
http://www.bobsplace.uptweb.us .

My fav section is the photo diary. Here he shows the stages of facelift recovery by posting a pic by week.

Also included, is lots of detailed info on the recovery retreat he used, called Martha Quiroz Retreat.

I love that this was created by a man… he he. And it is great info from a patient - to a patient.

Quote from BOB:

Plastic Surgery in the United States is extremely expensive. Instead of demand lowering prices, we are being offered longer financing terms. This is why thousands are now seeking plastic surgery out of the United States. In many countries we find state of the art medical facilities, american and foreign trained plastic surgeons with sterling reputations and aftercare facilities that bring plastic surgery procedures within the reach of the middle class. Costs in foreign countries can be anywhere from 50% to 70% less than in the U.S.

One of the reasons patients enjoy going to Costa Rica for plastic surgery is the Recovery Retreat. This is a hotel-like facility that caters to patients of plastic surgeons in Costa Rica. Recovery Retreats offer the privacy and oppertunity to meet other out-of-town plastic surgery guests. In addition, most retreats offer a full-time nursing staff to change dressings, monitor meds, and tend to your recovery needs. Some have laundry and tour guide services. It’s common to see plastic surgeons roaming the halls of these facilities to check on thier patients, too.

It looks like this is catching on the US, too.
A recent article in the New York Times talks about this growing trend in plastic surgery.

“Sometimes patients aren’t comfortable going home, or those at home aren’t comfortable taking care of the patient,” said Dr. Julio Gallo, medical director of the Miami Institute. Gallo said his staff “takes care of everything” for the recovering patient, from making the hotel reservation and setting up the room beforehand with special pillows, to ordering low-fat diets and ice chips from room service.

Hmmmm….. sounds like a Costa Rica Recovery Retreat without the Costa Rica price.

A recent article on the ABC news website highlighted the growing popularity of the concierge service in The US.

As most of us who have researched plastic surgery abroad know, this is a very popular business among the “medical tourism” communities. Companies such as Plenitas in Argentina, Plastic Surgery Travel in Costa Rica , and Mexican Cosmetic Surgery in Mexico all charge for their referral services.

On one side, I think a consultant is a good idea if you don’t have the time to research and have the extra money to fork out the cash.

On the other side, one must really examine who the consultant is and who they are really working for. Sadly, most consultants work for plastic surgeons first, and consumers second. One should take a concierge’s advice as such and weigh it against someone’s real experience with a particular plastic surgeon abroad.

Just like everything else, you have to be concerned about conflict of interest and multiple agendas going on at the same time,” said Cunningham, responding to reports that some consultants may really just be working for a handful of doctors. “There are no regulations that guide them. They really can do whatever they want.”

I think the best referrals will always come from patients. Even a patient’s bad experience can speak volumes about a particular plastic surgeon’s bedside manner or how he /she handles unhappy customers. The best decision will be YOUR decision after you have weighed all your options and done your homework.

When I first started looking into plastic surgery in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic I was a little leery about telling just anyone. The public has been conditioned to believe that this is like playing Russian Rolette. It seems like everyone wants to get into the act of dissuading the public from having plastic surgery anywhere but the good ole US of A.

A US plastic surgeon based in Orange County runs a site called Cosmetic Surgery Disasters designed to be “a learning experience to help those looking into cosmetic surgery. ” While he claims that this site was not made to discourage people from going abroad for plastic surgery, since there are only 2 stories and one is a horror story from Costa Rica one might think otherwise.

A quote from his site:

The Bottom Line: With the decreased cost of surgery outside the United States comes a degree of risk. Be careful with surgery in a third world country. I review cases for the California Medical Board and have repaired poor outcomes of other surgeons in my local area. This is the single worst tummy tuck story I have ever seen.

I agree that this story is very tragic and my heart goes out to the woman involved. I believe we should all be aware of these tragic experiences and learn something from them. I thank the woman involved for sharing it and I hope it has helped her healing.

This is a single story and not the majority. It is interesting that on the same page you will find a link to “Safe Cosmetic Surgery” that will take you to a commercial for this Southern Cali plastic surgeon’s services. Hmmmmmm……..

One thing I do want to make clear is that Costa Rica is NOT a third world country.

The United Nations uses the phrases ‘developing countries’ and ‘least developed countries’ rather than ‘Third World’. While it does have an official list of ‘least developed countries’ it does not have an official list of ‘developing countries’ because its members have not agreed on the criteria.

Here is the link to the United Nations: http://www.worldbank.org/data/countryclass/classgroups.htm

The US is considered a “first world country” because it is on the list of “High Income Economies.”
The next level down is “Upper Middle Income Economies” and that is what most people refer to as “second world countries”. Costa Rica and Mexico are on this list.

Costa Rica is NOT a third world country.