Nip-tuck saves $70,000

Lisa Heap with 130kg of cheese, equivalent to the weight she lost after a gastric sleeve operation. Photo / Janna Dixon

The number of Kiwis travelling to Southeast Asia for cosmetic surgery has soared in the past year but local plastic surgeons have warned that you get what you pay for.

Business is booming for the companies that organise surgical holidays, and Malaysia has emerged as a hot destination for surgical tourism.

Gorgeous Getaways national manager Paula Vernon said hundreds of New Zealand women and a handful of men - were flocking to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur each year to go under the knife.

But New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons Association president Howard Klein is warning women against undergoing surgery in a country where they would not be prepared to drink the tap water.

"People perceive it to be far less expensive, but when you come home with complications or deformed eyelids, that $5000 saving starts to look a little less fantastic," he said.

Klein said he was also concerned there was not enough opportunity for Malaysian and Thai surgeons to consult with New Zealand patients before they booked and performed the operation.

"I frequently see people who come to me wanting liposuction, but what they actually need is a tummy tuck. But if you go to one of these companies and sign up for liposuction in Malaysia, that's exactly what you're going to get. It works against good surgical care," he said.

Klein added: "I have one piece of advice and that is that you get what you pay for."

But Gorgeous Getaways say that virtually all of their customers are happy with the service they receive.

Auckland schoolteacher Lisa Heap, 38, was able to save over $70,000 by travelling to Malaysia for her "nip-tuck" operation.

She ballooned to 220kg before undergoing a gastric sleeve operation which saw her shed 130kg.

But she was left with 8kg of skin that once accommodated her size 36 figure still hanging from her slimmed-down frame.

"I kept everything tucked up under my clothes, but the skin on my arms would dangle around when I did PE classes. I just wanted to take it away," Heap said.

An Auckland surgeon quoted her $100,000 for the procedure.

Instead, Heap travelled to Malaysia where she had a 360-degree tummy tuck, an extended thigh lift, an arm lift and a breast reduction. The cost came to $30,000 and included flights and four week's luxury accommodation.

"I was worried about what I was signing up for at first," she said. "I got that 'what if it's not what they say' feeling. But it was all very professional and five-star. The hospital was unbelievable - there were more nurses than patients."

Heap didn't see a lot of the country because the tummy tuck meant she couldn't sit in cars for long periods of time. "I got around all the malls though," she said.

By the time Heap boarded the plane home, she was able to walk comfortably and even carry her own suitcase.

"I thought I'd be very ill but it was much better than I was expecting," she said.

"I used to be so big I had to make my own pants; now I have a waist."

Malaysian stay takes weight off shoulders

Beth Robinson, 19, turned to cosmetic-tourism agency Gorgeous Getaways after waiting three years for a taxpayer-subsidised operation to reduce her size 10G breasts.

She was quoted $14,500 at a private clinic in Auckland, but the same procedure cost only $8000 at Columbia Asia Hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

After sparing no expense on travel, accommodation and entertainment for herself and her mother, the total cost of the 14-day trip came to around $13,500 - only slightly cheaper than what the operation would have cost locally. Robinson says she would not change a thing.

"The private surgeon that I saw in New Zealand was really arrogant. It was a quick, quick consultation and he didn't take me seriously," she said. "I ended up spending about the same as I would have in Auckland but I took mum with me and we got the holiday."

Robinson's heavy bust had strained her 55kg frame since she was 16 years old, causing acute back pain. The Malaysian surgeon removed 2kg of breast tissue, reducing her to a 10DD.

"I would have like to have gone down to a C cup but the surgeon felt it was the most he could do without damaging the blood supply," she said.

She was aware of the additional risks of having surgery offshore, but experienced only minor problems.

"One of my bandages came off after it got wet in the shower and I had to wait two days until my scheduled appointment to replace the bandages, because the nurse who was visiting me at my hotel didn't have any on her," she said.

She did get an infection back in New Zealand but antibiotics cleared that up. She said the experience exceeded her expectations. "My surgeon was caring and really nice, his English was great and he had all the latest technology."

Surgery prices:

Breast reduction
Thailand: $6100
Malaysia: $6300-$9000
New Zealand: $13,000-$15,000

Tummy tuck
Thailand: $6100
Malaysia: $5300-$8000
New Zealand: $15,000-$17,000

Bodylift
Thailand: $14,900
Malaysia: $11,300-$14,900
New Zealand: $30,000+

Breast augmentation
Thailand: $4600
Malaysia: $4900-$7500
New Zealand: $12,000-$15,000

Facelift
Thailand: $15,323
Malaysia: $7000-$9200
New Zealand: $15,000-$35,000

- Sources: Gorgeous Getaways and cosmeticsurgery.org.nz

celeste.anstiss@hos.co.nz