Hair restoration in Turkey. Skin treatments in Korea. Lean lipo in Mexico. Industry-leading advancements in aesthetic medicine can come from anywhere in the world, which is why keen watchers of aesthetic trends have long clocked international hot spots for plastic surgery.
Even casual scrolling on social media reveals procedures that put international destinations on the global aesthetics map, as providers rebrand long-available treatments with buzzy, hashtag-friendly names like Brazilian Butt Lift or Guadalajara Facelift. It’s a savvy move that can cement doctors in certain regions as authorities. Pair this with the promise of lower prices and it’s easy to see why Americans travel to Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and India for procedures like liposuction, tummy tucks, breast surgery, eyelifts and butt augmentation.
The risks of medical tourism are well documented and hedge the promise of getting more for less, even in some places teeming with top-line professionals and pioneering science. Chief among them: providers who have not gone through the rigorous medical training and resident education standard among board-certified surgeons in America; facilities that have not been accredited; language barrier issues that muddy optimal care and the ability to manage expectations; a lack of legal basis or medical support with medical complications and longer-term care—and that’s just the start. While excellent doctors exist worldwide, many of the most sought-after procedures can be performed at home with best-in-class care and strong safety nets in place.
With the United States’ history of pioneering breakthroughs in plastic surgery and modern-day reputation for offering a wealth of surgeons—more than any other country, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery’s (ISAPS) 2024 International Survey—along with robust training and oversight, next-gen tech and refined techniques, the case for working with a skilled surgeon at home is hard to beat.
Individualized Buttock Augmentation That, Sometimes, Doesn’t Touch the Butt
The Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) may be one of the country’s greatest exports, but here at home, leading surgeons who specialize in buttock augmentation shine by providing individualized care to best suit the anatomy of the patient while considering techniques that give the booty a boost without touching the buttocks at all.
Miami plastic surgeon Sean Simon, MD, who has performed thousands of buttock augmentation procedures, says the best surgeons, no matter where they are located, will make key decisions in consultation that are based on the individual’s needs, taking into account patient goals, whether those goals are realistic and fit for their anatomy, and whether additional procedures may improve outcomes. In some cases, the buttocks may not be altered at all.
“Part of the reason these procedures are very powerful is that you’re not just impacting one part of the body, but rather many areas, including the thighs, lower back, abdomen and waist,” Dr. Simon says, noting that he can change the appearance of the buttocks just by addressing the surrounding structures.
Much like with other specialties, Dr. Simon says a comprehensive approach to care is key to obtaining the best results. He suggests patients follow a treatment plan after initial healing, something that often doesn’t occur with in-and-out procedures completed abroad. “Because buttock augmentation always involves harvesting fat through liposuction and contouring other parts of the body, I recommend lymphatic massage, ultrasound-assisted massage and radio-frequency treatment twice a week for five weeks to support healing, reduce swelling and ensure smooth texture,” he explains. Following this protocol, some patients may benefit from additional radio-frequency treatments to address tissue tone.
K-Beauty Aesthetic Treatments Without the 10+ Hour Flight
There’s a reason board-certified dermatologists seek out aesthetic treatments for themselves in Korea. New York dermatologist Elaine Kung, MD says the country “invests heavily in medical research, innovative delivery systems and technological development.” This helps to produce providers with elite training. “My experience was excellent, precisely because I sought out high-quality providers who were graduates of Seoul National University College of Medicine, which is often referred to as the ‘Harvard of Korea,’” she adds.
Fortunately, similar care is now available here. “My colleagues and I in the United States are highly skilled in layering aesthetic techniques and energy-based devices to achieve optimal results,” says Dr. Kung. “We regularly integrate the philosophy behind popular K-beauty treatments into our protocols.”
The dermatologist points to two treatment types at the forefront of Korean aesthetics that are becoming more mainstream in United States cosmetic dermatology, and says U.S. providers are performing them at a world-class level. The first: skin-boosting injectables developed in Korea, such as Rejuran (aka PN, polynucleotide, or PDRN, polydeoxyribonucleotide). Though not yet FDA-approved as an injectable, Dr. Kung says it’s widely used off-label in the U.S. by experienced providers. “Polynucleotides, derived from salmon DNA, are injected to stimulate skin regeneration, elasticity and hydration—a concept long popular in Korea for achieving that ‘glass skin’ glow,” she explains. “Biostimulatory injectables, like Sculptra, are used as an FDA-approved alternative or substitute for treatments like Rejuran and Juvelook. They help produce collagen over time, mirroring the Korean focus on improving overall skin quality.”
The second: energy-based devices (EBDs) like radio-frequency microneedling (Cutera Secret RF, Lumenis TriFX, Potenza and VirtueRF), which are popular both here and in Korea for tightening skin and improving texture and the appearance of pores. “These technologies, which target deeper tissue, are core components of nonsurgical rejuvenation and highly utilized by aesthetic doctors in the United States for facial contouring,” Dr. Kung says.
Europe’s Natural-Looking Breast Implants, Obtained Here
If breast implants in Europe seem to hit a little differently—more teardropped, less water-balloon like—it’s likely because Motiva’s SmoothSilk Ergonomix or SmoothSilk Round implants were used. The implants, available in Europe for the past 15 years, feature a four-micron, velvety surface, stretchy shell and underfill of soft gel that gravitates to the base of the implant for a more natural-looking result. Unlike with amply-filled implants, the use of the Motiva implant minimizes the effect of wrinkling and rippling and moves with the body as the patient sits and stands. It became available in the U.S. just last year and marks a significant leap forward in American-made boob jobs.
“The Motiva implant is the only innovative product in breast augmentation and breast reconstruction in at least 20 years,” says Grand Rapids, MI plastic surgeon Bradley Bengtson, MD. After the implant rose to popularity in Europe and Asia, its makers, Establishment Labs, pumped an estimated tens of millions of dollars into an FDA investigational device study for approval in the United States (something Sea Girt, NJ plastic surgeon Caroline A. Glicksman, MD called, “the most rigorous breast implant clinical trial ever performed under FDA guidelines” in an Establishment Labs release). Winning FDA approval for use of the implants in the United States meant those seeking undetectable outcomes could get them without a flight to Asia or Europe. “Given the data that has been published by surgeons outside the United States and with that data being reduplicated here, it’s the real deal. It’s overwhelmingly taken over the market,” Dr. Bengtson says.
The device is changing the way Dr. Bengtson approaches breast augmentation, with the option to implant above the muscle rather than beneath or partially beneath the muscle, “like the vast majority of breast augmentations I did before,” he says. “There’s much less pain post-op, and it’s very natural and proportional in matching the breast to the body.”
Beyond aesthetics, the implant is designed for improved durability and safety. “The four-micron surface reduces scar tissue formation, which makes above-the-muscle placement possible. This was difficult in the past due to capsular contracture,” he explains. The result is less inflammation and capsule formation overall.
A Refined Approach to Facelifts
Surgeons with viral cache known for performing facial plastic surgery procedures linked to particular locales (like the Guadalajara Facelift) or trending terms (ponytail lift) may make for a fun swipe, but La Jolla, CA plastic surgeon Robert Singer, MD says finding the most advanced and skilled surgeons in the world can be done closer to home. “I know good plastic surgeons from around the world, but there’s nothing being done better than what’s offered in the U.S.,” says Dr. Singer. “Most advances in facelift surgery have historically come from surgeons in the States.” This depth of expertise means you don’t need a passport to find refined work.
While it may be tempting to seek a surgeon based on a facelift technique for which they’re known, Dr. Singer—who has performed several thousand facelifts—says hyperspecialization doesn’t always signal the highest level of expertise or customization. “There is no single facelift procedure that works for every patient. The procedure must be individualized based on anatomy and desired outcome,” he explains. “A deep-plane facelift may work well for a younger patient, but in someone with skin laxity, the skin needs to be elevated more than the underlying tissue.”
The ability to tailor the operation separates experienced surgeons from those who follow trends. “The most skilled surgeons vary their procedures to achieve natural results,” says Dr. Singer. That evolution is ongoing. “There is no procedure that I do today exactly how I did it five years ago,” he adds.
Embracing Longtail Treatment With Body Contouring
One-time surgical procedures may allow a patient to get by on consultations, surgery and post-op care alone, but top-tier body contouring requires something that’s hard to sustain on a visitor’s visa: a combination of therapies obtained over time. In addition to the use of liposuction to reshape, doctors may use some combination of lipofiller (such as alloClae), electromagnetic treatment with radio frequency (such as Emsculpt NEO), microneedling, fat freezers (like CoolSculpting) and/or biostimulatory fillers (like Sculptra and hyperdiluted Radiesse) as a means of adding or reducing curves. Such multipronged treatment often means a longer-term game plan.
“With anything nonsurgical, I think a combination of therapies works better than a single procedure,” says Houston plastic surgeon Olga Bachilo, MD. “For example, when addressing a tummy, I always tell patients that just like with a tummy tuck, we’ve got to address the skin, the fat and the muscle. With nonsurgical techniques, we’re using high-intensity electromagnetic treatments for muscle; radio frequency for skin stimulation and tightening; microneedling; topical radio frequency; and often combining these with CoolSculpting for fat debulking, so we’re targeting different layers of the abdomen to get the best results possible. When addressing skin laxity, we may inject biostimulators while performing radio-frequency microneedling,” she explains.
With so many tools available, a best plan of action not only takes expert precision on the doctor’s part, but also time and dedication from the patient. “A nonsurgical [approach] requires a much longer time commitment and more frequent treatments at weekly or monthly intervals,” Dr. Bachilo says. If going abroad for these types of treatments, sticking to a best-in-class plan becomes financially difficult for most patients, unless they can stay months at a time, the surgeon notes.
Hair Restoration’s Next-Gen Tech
Turkey takes the crown for hair restoration, with some 200,000 people traveling to the country from the U.S. in 2022 for hair transplant procedures, according to data from the Turkish Health Tourism Association of North America. Still, plenty of American doctors are using cutting-edge technology that has not only been developed in the U.S., but helps produce the most natural-looking hair transplant surgeries, says Bryn Mawr, PA facial plastic surgeon Jason Bloom, MD.
One option is the semi-automated NeoGraft technology, which performs no-scar Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) by removing individual follicular units with 1-millimeter punches rather than harvesting a strip of hair. Another option is the AI-driven hair-restoration robot ARTAS, which analyzes each follicle and calculates optimal extraction angles for more natural-looking transplants. The robot’s high-speed camera reads the scalp about 100 times per second, cutting eight-to-10 hour treatment times in half. Though used in the U.S. for several years, newer software has expanded its capabilities. “The robot can harvest about 2,600 grafts in an hour and a half, which reduces human error,” says Dr. Bloom.
But top-line tech isn’t the only driver of a successful treatment. Dr. Bloom explains that leading surgeons conduct in-person consultations to determine the best method for each individual. “Not every patient needs the robotic technique,” he says. “Factors like tolerance, downtime, anatomy, donor hair quality and how much hair a patient wants shaved help determine whether using NeoGraft, the robot or another approach is best. It’s hard to do that well in a virtual consult.”
No matter the modality used, surgeons will devise a staggered hairline design that looks realistic, not “done,” and pace harvesting to prevent donor-site scarring. “In the U.S., the maximum number of grafts typically done in a sitting is about 3,000, whereas some clinics abroad will do 4,000 to 6,000. This overharvesting can lead to hair loss in the donor area,” says Dr. Bloom.
Finally, leading surgeons support long-term results by providing adjunctive treatments such as exosomes or platelet-rich plasma (PRP), along with oral supplements and topicals to improve graft longevity. Dr. Bloom says he often includes these services in the overall treatment plan for the most optimal outcomes.
