Do you feel that not everything on your body is the way it should be? Do you have a bigger nose than you would like? Are your lips too thin? No problem, everything can be changed. Almost everything, that is. And Czech doctors have the experience to help. 

The trend towards plastic surgery is also becoming popular amongst Czechs and the Czech Republic has gradually emerged as a favorite tourist destination because of this. Is it only because of the price? Actually, there are more reasons for this. MUDr. Tomáš Doležal explains: “Firstly, it really is the price; price is a major decision factor. Followed closely by the quality of services, the high standards available here are at least comparable with the quality normally found abroad. Our clients mostly comprise of those coming from the middle and the less well off classes including many emigrants who are aware that there are high-quality health-care services available in the Czech Republic.“

Just for comparison, let’s take liposuction as an example, i.e. a cosmetic operation to remove excessive body fat. The operation can be performed for between 20 to 30 thousand Czech crowns in the Czech Republic, whereas the prices available in Great Britain are some 60% higher. 

Another practical example is the British lottery, which offered an operation in the Czech Republic as one of its prizes. British low-cost airlines have lowered the costs of transportation for larger groups to travel to the Czech Republic just for this reason.

Health trips

Health travel has been around since the dawn of human civilization. During the ancient Greek period, pilgrims from the Mediterranean area used to journey to the Asclepius’ Monastery to have the local thermal water work on their bodies and regain their lost health. 

Health tourism has over the last few years also started to become popular in the Czech Republic. The only disadvantage is that patients usually have to cover all the treatment costs themselves. On the other hand, high-quality care, a personal approach and above-standard equipment with sufficient privacy at new clinics, have been on the increase over the past few years, providing evidence that the demand for operations has grown significantly. Foreign insurance companies, which pay for their patients’ operations themselves, have slowly begun establishing cooperation.

Increasingly, foreigners come to this country for reasons other than cosmetic surgery. For example, Brits like to travel to the Czech Republic as well as Hungary and other Central and East European countries for dental procedures. This way, they can save up to tens of thousands of crowns. Germans, on the other hand, use the services of Czech opticians.  Czech physicians within reach of the German and Austrian borders have on the contrary realized that they have something valid to offer and that borders are not an obstacle to gaining new patients.  

Frequently sought after are the surgical procedures related to being overweight. “The number of operations in this particular area grows significantly each year; obesity is an epidemic and the number of patients is on the rise. These are expensive operations but they are much more expensive in the West than they are in the Czech Republic. As far as the procedures used, prices are comparable. There is an extreme difference in personnel costs,” explains MUDr. Hrubý   from the Municipal Hospital in Turnov, where British patients are operated on – and not just personal operations, but also for procedures covered by British insurance companies, for whom it is more cost effective to transport a patient to another country.   

The history of Czech plastic surgery

Plastic and aesthetic surgery has a long tradition in the Czech Republic. Its founder was the academic František Burian, who established the first plastic surgery clinic in Prague’s Hradčany district in 1937. Within the first few years, his clinic served mainly for treating difficult health problems incurred during World War I.

As time progressed, the number of opportunities to help patients feel better about their bodies expanded. Plastic surgery, which initially dealt primarily with the treatment of burns, expanded to included treatments for genetic problems affecting the face, genitals, limbs and the body, as well as cancerous diseases, injuries and other cosmetic problems. In 1966, it became an accredited specialization as in the past, it had only been an extended specialization. After accession to the European Union, plastic surgery became a fundamental specialization with a one-degree accreditation. Therefore, Czech physicians ample opportunity for education.   

Aesthetic operations are most popular

The main area of focus remains plastic and aesthetic surgery, which has gained its renown in the Czech Republic and substantially profits from foreign clientele. The reason for this is the smaller financial means of Czechs as well as a generally greater demand abroad to acquire a perfect body. 

Foreign colleagues have been putting up with this situation for several years now. MUDr. Tomáš Doležal  explains this situation thus: “Our colleagues naturally dislike it, because we are taking their clientele away. But on the other hand, there are many people who could not afford this type of operation at home but they can afford to have it done in the Czech Republic and I believe having this choice is good.“ 

Where is aesthetic surgery heading?

Aesthetic or cosmetic surgery is experiencing a rapid development. This specialization became the fastest growth area of medical treatment in the USA during the 1980’s. By the end of that decade, over 2 million Americans (87% of which were women) had undergone aesthetic surgery. Since the beginning of the 21st century that number had increased four fold. The number of operations carried out has also increased in the Czech Republic.  At one of the larger clinics, for example in Prague – Emauzy, there are over 1,200 operations carried out each year. 

Cosmetic handicaps, whether due to birth defects or those incurred later in life, may cause people psychological problems because they stray from society’s generally accepted perception of beauty. And it is this reason that often results in the desire for change.  The majority of handicaps do not cause people as much physical pain as they do psychological harm. However, unrealistic ideas may also cause great disappointment. Therefore, detailed consultations precede each operation, which should reveal these unrealistic desires and absolutely factually indicate the result. “I reject about 50 to 60 percent of clients who come to me with a request for an operation for a cosmetic handicap. The reason is obvious – clearly they do not need it,” expressed the renowned physician and senior specialist, MUDr. Jan Měšťák.

At one end, there are women who say why worry over small breasts for example when I have the opportunity to change this perceived handicap. Then, on the other side, there are many of those who see it as a little cheat. “One has to find self-confidence inside oneself, not on the surface,” a student named Jana stated. “For sure, I also used to agonize over my breasts not being the way I would like them to be, but over the course of time, I have coped with my body and I have realized that I would feel dishonest if I presented myself with strange implants in my body,“ she adds.

Live operation

Let’s admit that social pressure plays a very important role in life for all of us. The desire for perfection is not only just a matter of our own privacy, but it can also become a very public matter. For example, the German television channel Pro7 started to broadcast an originally American reality show called ‘The Swan’, in which women unsatisfied with their looks were beautified using a scalpel, diet, exercise and psychologists. A controversial “live plastic surgery operation” has made another leap forward and has taken the taboo away from aesthetic operations. Another example of this phenomenon is the television program ‘I Want a Famous Face’ on MTV, where the participants could have their faces and bodies modified in the pattern of a famous singer, actress or anybody else. Aesthetic surgery has in this way gained a completely different sense and form. A rather worrying aspect is the connection between commerce and medical care and the change of health perception related to it.

Czech television channels have as yet never requested to broadcast such programs and have further resisted such type of entertainment up until now. “We really do not count on such reality shows in the future,” explained Veronika Šmítková, spokesperson for Czech private television station NOVA. 

The reality in 10 years

It is difficult to estimate the possible future development of cosmetic surgery. More and more Czechs will be able to afford cosmetic surgery in the future. Those who can’t afford the operations may also turn to loans and credit to pay for the procedures. On the other side of the debate, those groups who object to having any surgery for cosmetic reasons is gaining in strength. 

The current trend in cosmetic surgery is represented primarily in procedures for the enlargement of breasts and followed by surgery on the eyelids and liposuction. Men are mostly interested in nose alterations. This may significantly reverse in due course. 

Czech physicians are predicting a greater influx of foreigners in the future as well. “We can expect a further increase in patients from abroad. Currently, a certain amount of cautiousness is still apparent,” adds MUDr. Hrubý. 

In spite of this, Czech specialists do not rest on their laurels and they are aware of the fact further East, prices may become more competitive in the future. A high-quality lifelong education and keeping a high standard of care should help them