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🇮🇳  Cosmetic surgery in India

How to check the clinic and the surgeon in India's own registers, the risks, and the days before you can fly home. We do not list or rank clinics.

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Not medical advice. Talk to your own doctor or dentist before you book. Tummy tuck, breast surgery, liposuction, nose and face surgery, buttock lifts. No surgery is risk-free, clinics abroad may not provide the follow-up, and the Brazilian butt lift has the highest death rate of all cosmetic procedures.

Check the clinic and the surgeon

Doctors

National Medical Commission: Indian Medical Register

Search by name, registration number, year or state medical council. The page says its data is being updated, so a recent registration may be missing.

Clinics

NABH: find an accredited hospital or clinic

The national accreditation board's search of accredited healthcare organisations. Accreditation does not guarantee a good outcome.

The surgeon: Search the surgeon in the Indian Medical Register by name or registration number. For a dentist, ask for the registration number and the council that issued it.

The rules in India

  • The UK Foreign Office notes that hospitals often require a guardian or attendant to stay with the patient: plan for one before you go.
  • Facilities vary, especially outside the major cities, and specialised treatment may be limited (UK Foreign Office).

The trip

  • One trip, but plan how you would go back if you need more surgery, and how much that would cost.
  • The NHS advises not flying for 5 to 7 days after breast surgery or liposuction and for 7 to 10 days after facial procedures or a tummy tuck. The planner uses 7 days: ask your surgeon for your own operation.
  • Rest, no holiday: No alcohol, sun, sightseeing or swimming while you recover (NHS).
  • Earliest flight after breast surgery or liposuction: The NHS advises not flying for 5 to 7 days after these procedures.
  • Earliest flight after a tummy tuck or facial surgery: The NHS advises not flying for 7 to 10 days after these procedures: air travel and major surgery both raise the risk of a blood clot, which can be life threatening.

Your dates in the recovery planner · The full cost of the trip

Red flags

  • A 'consultation' only with salespeople or a coordinator.
  • Discounts, all-inclusive packages with hotel and flights, or finance deals pushed through social media (NHS England warns about 'bargain-basement' BBL deals).
  • Several procedures combined in one sitting to lower the price.
  • A package that flies you home before the days health services advise.

Ask the clinic

  1. Who is the surgeon, what training and qualifications do they have, which organisations do they belong to, and how many of these operations have they done?
  2. Does the surgeon speak a language I understand well enough to explain the procedure and my risks?
  3. When are my two consultations, and how long between them and the operation?
  4. What happens if there are complications, where is the follow-up, and who pays if I need more surgery?
  5. What insurance does the clinic or the surgeon have, and does it cover me?

Back home

🇬🇧  If you live in United Kingdom

The NHS does not pay for private treatment you choose abroad, and your EHIC or GHIC does not cover planned treatment. Standard travel insurance does not normally cover you if you travelled for elective surgery: you may need specialist cover.

The NHS is not liable for negligence or failure of treatment abroad, and the Foreign Office cannot usually help: planned treatment is treated as a commercial arrangement. Plan your aftercare and how records will be shared before you go.

🇮🇪  If you live in Ireland

The HSE Cross Border Directive scheme only refunds planned care in another EU or EEA country that is publicly funded in Ireland, with a referral, up to what it would cost in the Irish public system; travel and accommodation are not refunded. So cosmetic treatments and hair transplants, which are not publicly funded in Ireland, are outside it.

Ask your GP before you go how follow-up would work once you are home, and check whether your travel insurance covers planned treatment and its complications: many policies exclude it.

🇫🇷  If you live in France

Purely aesthetic procedures are not reimbursed by the Assurance Maladie, in France or abroad, and neither is the follow-up care of such an operation. Planned care abroad is only reimbursed when it is reimbursable in France, sometimes with prior authorisation.

If a complication occurs, the care it needs is medical and is covered normally. A result you are unhappy with is not a complication: corrective work is at your cost.

🇺🇸  If you live in United States

Check whether your health plan covers anything abroad: most do not cover planned treatment, and Original Medicare generally does not pay for care outside the United States, with limited exceptions. Consider supplemental cover, including medical evacuation.

Seek care promptly if a complication develops, during travel or after you return, and bring your overseas records in English. Legal recourse abroad may be more limited than in the United States.

🇦🇺  If you live in Australia

Medicare doesn't cover you when you're overseas, reciprocal health care agreements only cover some situations, and basic travel insurance rarely covers medical tourism: get a specialised policy for your procedure, its complications and medical evacuation, and tell your insurers everything.

You, your family or your insurer pay for further care or an evacuation. Consular staff can contact your family and give lists of English-speaking hospitals and lawyers, but cannot pay bills or recommend surgeons. Smartraveller advises taking someone with you.

🇳🇿  If you live in New Zealand

Make sure your travel insurance covers complications and medical evacuation, and talk to your health practitioner in New Zealand about the procedure and its risks before you go.

Get copies of your surgical details before you leave: problems can appear once you are home, and your practitioner in New Zealand will need them. Check with a health practitioner before flying after surgery.

🇸🇦  If you live in Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of Health sends patients abroad at its expense only by royal order or by a decision of the High Medical Committee approved by the minister. Planned treatment you choose yourself, such as cosmetic surgery, is private and at your own cost.

For patients the ministry refers abroad, the Saudi health attaché in the country of treatment arranges the appointment and follows the patient; private patients are on their own. Talk to your doctor in Saudi Arabia before you go and bring your records home.

Official travel advice

Sources

More on cosmetic surgery abroad and on treatment in India.