“I’ve wanted a nose job since I was 13. I heard that Turkish doctors were good at it. Some of my girlfriends had similar surgeries; they were very satisfied.” Benita Paloza, a 28-year-old American woman, decided to do like her friends and flew to Turkey to get cosmetic surgery on her nose. She says she only paid $5,000 (€4,600) and got to go home a week later. Was able to. (Also read | What’s the Atlantic Diet, the Mediterranean Diet’s Cousin, That Might Help You Live Longer?,
Paloza, who works in the finance industry and works as a part-time model, is happy she had the surgery. She says she feels more confident today and has been hired for more modeling gigs.
She also fondly recalls the comprehensive care she received at the clinic. He says that he is still in touch with the medical team. “I could have had the same surgery in the US for $30,000 (€27,800), although I certainly wouldn’t have got the same attention and care that I got in Turkey,” says Paloza.
Turkey has seen a surge in medical tourism since the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 670,000 foreigners visited Turkey to receive medical treatment in 2021, according to the country’s state-owned International Health Services (USHAS) agency. A year later, that number had increased by 88% to more than 1.25 million. In the first six months of 2023, the figures remained similarly high.
Turkish health care facilities are generating considerable revenue from this international business, totaling more than $2 billion (€1.85 billion) in 2022. Revenue fell slightly in the first half of 2023, although experts believe this was mainly due to Turkey’s devastating February earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people.
Germans top this list
According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), in 2022, the majority of foreigners seeking medical treatment in Turkey were from Germany, followed by Britain and Switzerland. Botox and hyaluronic acid treatments to combat wrinkles were the most popular non-surgical procedures among foreigners in Turkey. The top three surgical procedures were liposuction, rhinoplasty and breast augmentation.
Turkey has also become more attractive for leg lengthening procedures. It is especially popular among men in the West who want to grow taller.
One of those who has undergone the procedure is 31-year-old Ash (not her real name) from America, who until recently was dissatisfied with the proportions of her body. After the surgery, his height increased by 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) and he is now 184 centimeters (a little over 6 feet) tall.
Ash says he is feeling much better now, although he admits that “it was a very painful process and the recovery phase took an incredibly long time.” Still, he says it was worth it. Ash says that his chances of flirting have improved and he now gets more respect from others.
suffer for beauty
Yunus Oak, an experienced orthopedic surgeon based in Istanbul, says he has performed more than 200 leg lengthening procedures in the past two years alone.
“I used to have this procedure done mainly for medical reasons after accidents or because of developmental disorders or short stature,” he says. However, in recent years, more and more people have sought them out for cosmetic reasons rather than medical ones, Osei says.
He believes the number of these surgeries will continue to increase over the next three to five years. But he warns that, unlike nose or breast surgery, leg lengthening procedures can have very serious consequences if the desired results are not achieved.
There is an increasing number of reports regarding complications arising from cosmetic surgeries performed in Turkey. A year earlier, Germany’s public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute, reported that about 27 people had suffered toxicity after Botox stomach treatments. This procedure involves injecting Botox into the stomach lining to create a feeling of fullness for a longer period of time. The treatment caused serious side effects in some patients, including muscle weakness, blurred vision, difficulty breathing, and sometimes paralysis.
In mid-January, a Brazilian butt lift had fatal consequences for a British woman. According to British media, the mother of three went to Istanbul for cosmetic surgery and four days later she suffered a fatal heart attack, caused by a fat embolism. This procedure involves removing fat from the patient’s body and using it to plump and enlarge the buttocks.
Experts urge caution
Do such incidents show that Turkish doctors or clinics are not professional enough?
Dr. Susanne Punsmann, an expert at the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Center in Germany, advises against generalizing, saying, “There are good and bad [health care] Like everywhere else, facilities in Türkiye too.”
Punsman explains that the title of “cosmetic surgeon” is not protected by law, which is why she recommends that anyone interested in having treatment in Turkey should thoroughly check the doctors’ qualifications or find out. Consider how many times they have already completed the planned process.
Punsman also says that doctors with the relevant qualifications are known as “specialists in plastic and aesthetic surgery”. However, she adds that “other doctors – usually surgeons, dermatologists or gynecologists – are also allowed to perform cosmetic surgery.”
She says it’s also important to check whether the doctor or clinic is certified according to European standards, such as ISO standards, indicating that the clinic is regularly inspected, among other things. According to Punsman, patients should also find out about the materials or laboratory used.
Ali Ihsan Oktan of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) says one should be wary of non-certified clinics. He warned that the boom in health tourism is leading to increasing commercialization of the industry.
The market is highly competitive. Clinics are using aggressive advertising tactics to attract customers around the world, sending text and WhatsApp messages and promoting their low prices.
“The main criteria for getting treatment in Turkey is often low cost,” says Punsman. “Savings of up to 70% are possible.”
She says that while a breast augmentation procedure in Germany would cost at least €4,500 ($4,800), such a procedure in Turkey could cost as little as €2,500 ($2,700). In Düsseldorf, Germany, it costs about €12,500 ($13,400) to have a surgical procedure to reduce the size of one’s stomach, while in Turkey it costs only a third of that price.
This means you can save a lot of money in Turkey, especially on expensive procedures. But these savings may increase some people’s willingness to take more risks.
