Witnessing persistent hair fall and finding no cheap solutions to cover those bald spots is undoubtedly intimidating. However, compromising your health in exchange for inexpensive hair treatment is never a sound option.
So, before packing your bags, make sure to check the health standards of the clinic. Read reviews of hair transplant clinics in London, Istanbul, Delhi, or any other destination around the world. Inquire about the facility’s certifications and staff. Otherwise, your negligence can yield the following possible outcomes:
5 Disadvantages of Receiving Hair Transplant Abroad
1. No Security of Health Standards
Unlike the UK or the USA, where a strict check is kept on the medical facilities, clinics in developing nations might lack the same protocols. As economical packages are the magnet for attracting customers, the clinics resort to compromising on the hygiene standards or quality for making the surgery affordable.
And how does that affect your health? Since hair transplants are invasive surgical procedures, getting treated from equipment lacking proper sterilization or disinfection can lead to serious outcomes. Whereas installation of outdated technology cuts the chances of successful hair transplant and makes the surgery painful.
Therefore, before booking an appointment, verify the quality of services provided by the facility. One way of doing this is by checking the certifications of JCI and other international organizations.
2. Qualification of Surgeons is Doubtful
Hair transplant is a complex procedure. Selecting donor area, extracting hair grafts, harvesting, and implantation; each and every step requires insightful planning and skillful hands. Hence, the outcomes of a hair transplant are directly proportional to the qualification and experience of your surgeon.
This signifies another con of receiving treatment in a foreign country. You cannot directly go and inquire about the history of the surgeon. The online reviews or images can also be fake. To avoid this, do some extra work and ensure your surgeon is accredited by the ABHRS or other worldwide organizations.
3. Transplant Tourism Has Adverse Side Effects
Though getting new hair at a cheap cost is an exciting offer, neglecting the side effects of hair transplants isn’t a good idea. Just like medical tourism has given rise to organ trafficking, black-market transplantations have also escalated.
In such unchecked clinics, hygiene and quality standards are at the bare minimum. In addition to a failed surgery, some adverse side effects of poorly monitored hair transplants are scarring, blindness, or even death.
But despite all that, with 45.8% of patients willing to travel abroad for hair transplants and 16% yet to decide, there’s no doubt that medical tourism is a considerable option among the masses.
4. Pre-Surgery Consultation and Post-Surgery Observation are Compromised
Questions like which type of surgery do I need? How many grafts are required to cover my baldness? Or what would be the ideal donor area in my case? Can be aptly answered after a thorough physical evaluation before surgery. In the case of hair transplant abroad and a limited time frame, the surgeon might not pay attention to this step.
On the other hand, any complications during surgery will increase the recovery period. Even if the surgery goes well, special care is required for a few days. Consequently, staying longer in a foreign country will increase expenditures and you may end up spending equal money as in your home country.
5. You Will Miss the Comfort of Home
This might sound trivial, but the comfort of home and the care of family is much required during surgery. While abroad, there are a lot of challenging factors including the change of atmosphere, language barriers, living a different lifestyle, and trying new foods.
This all plays a role in stressing you out. To prevent that, ask a family member to accompany you on the trip and make sure that the facility’s staff is good at speaking English.
But all in all, we believe that the pros of hair transplants outweigh the cons. As long as you’re careful and check the ratings of the clinics before getting surgery, you shouldn’t face any issues.
