The Peril of Medical Tourism

Medical tourism is big business in South East Asia. It allows patients to combine medical treatment with holiday at very affordable rates. Several countries have emerged as major medical tourist destinations such as Thailand and Singapore. Provided the treatments are performed by well-qualified doctors in established hospitals or clinics, patients usually receive good and uncomplicated cares. Occasionally, the language barrier and cultural difference can spring surprises for patients especially when the patients were seeking aesthetic treatments.

Beauty can come in many forms but most people do not

want aesthetic procedures that make them drastically

different from members of their communities.

Even people from East Asia show differences in their

eyelid appearances. The native Thais (left and middle pictures)

tend to have higher skin creases than the Chinese.

This woman went to a neighboring country for upper eyelid surgery. Post-operatively, she was very upset that the skin creases were made too high and the eye appeared sunken. She complained to the surgeon and was told by him her looks were what the women in his country desired. If he were to make the skin creases too low or did not remove the fat his patients would be upset !. It is important to discuss with the surgeon beforehand the looks you desired and do not trust the doctors to make the judgement for you especially if you have the operation done in a different country. Remember that  beauty comes in many forms and different cultures have different ideas of beauty.

The unhappy patient. High skin creases measuring 8mm

and sunken sulcus from fat removal.