Filipinos are very adept at haggling over price tags.  Some of us have the reputation of always bargaining for the lowest possible figure but, at the same time are very choosy!  I can vividly recall walking into a specialty store abroad and, finding the article that I wanted, I asked the well-dressed saleslady for the cheaper version.  The poor woman stared at me wide-eyed and exclaimed, "You mean, less expensive!"

 

In developing countries like ours labor undoubtedly comes at a modest price.  Consequently, we have become a haven for manufacturers from the western world.  They have put up their factories on our shores.  Well, not until China grabbed world domination in this field, with their cut-rate labor costs!  Now the issue with low-priced services is that inevitably the quality of work becomes compromised.  The more "less expensive" it becomes, the cheaper it gets, literally speaking.  Thus, there is so much wisdom in the Western belief that less expensive may necessarily mean cheaper. 

The same trend follows in the realm of cosmetic surgery.  Europeans and Americans go for their nips and tucks in South America and Asia.  Thailand especially is a very popular destination.  It has the advantage of having a flourishing tourism industry compared to that of the Philippines; nevertheless, their surgeons are not necessarily more competent than ours.  Just think about it: in this country a nose job would cost about less than half with what one would pay in the United States!  And the fee may even go lower!  Filipinos from abroad and foreign visitors alike avail of our surgical services rendered at very reasonable terms.  But would something at steal-price rate not also mean mediocre quality product or outcome?  Only recently, a documentary film on cable TV featured an American woman quite distraught after having undergone cosmetic surgery in Mexico.  Her breast augmentation had resulted in unsightly anatomic distortions and skin loss.  She had to submit herself to another plastic-reconstructive procedure on her return to the States.  Of course, she was not the same person again.  She felt mangled and deformed after her unfortunate experience.  The scars would not only be physical but also emotional.  (Sometimes you wonder which one is worse).  This woman's case is an example of a cosmetic surgery that was inexpensive and which, subsequently, gave shoddy results.  On what happened at the operating table, we can only speculate.  Suffice to say that any form of surgery has its inherent risks and possible complications.  On top of that, if the cosmetic surgery comes at a bargain price, the doctor tends to take shortcuts to save on cost often compromising safety protocols.  When it is necessary to do the operation in the hospital and not just in the physician's office, the added expense on hospital fees is actually an investment on safety.  The same is true when you have to pay extra for an anesthesiologist.  While it is a fact that some cosmetic procedures are done under local anesthesia administered by the surgeon himself, other operations require the expertise of an anesthesiologist.  Otherwise, insisting on cosmetic surgery that costs next to nothing would be synonymous to a trade-off for the honest-to-goodness procedure.  A nose job, for instance, would simply become standard insertion of the implant without the preparatory tailored carving and without proper attention to the tip of the patient's nose which often requires cartilage remodeling.  Or instead of using a good quality silicon gel implant for breast augmentation, they resort to the use of the cheaper low grade breast implants often without the knowledge of the patient.  

 

Inexpensive surgery may not necessarily mean an unsafe and sub-standard operation.  When deciding on a cosmetic procedure, hunt for a competent Plastic Surgeon.  And before you haggle on the total cost, think again!  If you were going skydiving, you would not want to equip yourself with some bargained parachute, would you?