There’s been a shift of late in the flow of medical tourism. For the last few years, uninsured Americans have traveled abroad, mainly to Asia, for procedures such as hip replacements and bypass surgery because of the considerably lower costs offered there. The same holds true for plastic surgery. Women and an increasing number of men have made their way to places like Thailand and Brazil for facelifts and liposuction.
But now, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, a weak dollar has led to an uptick in the number of foreign patients for plastic surgeons in the US. The past few years have seen a precipitous fall by the dollar against the Euro and the British pound. As a result, patients from Spain, France, Germany and the UK have been increasingly availing themselves of the expertise of doctors based in the US.
The US is considered to have the best quality plastic surgery and European patients are realizing that they can now be treated by an internationally reknown American specialist for the same price as a surgeon at home, including the cost of travel and accommodations. Understandably then, American hospitals and surgeons are capitalizing on this trend, taking out advertisements in in-flight magazines and regional publications. The New York Eye and Year Infirmary is even launching an ad campaign in London. What next? Does this mean the end of bad English teeth? Will Englishmen begin sporting gleaming white chiclet smiles too? We shall see…
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