Poland Plastic Cosmetic Surgery

For local residents however, the treatments these clinics offer aren’t cheap. The cost of breast enlargement, for example, including the patient’s stay in the clinic, on average amounts to Zl 9,000 (€ 2,350/Kč 67,900). In Poland the average monthly salary is just € 470, about a third of the European Union average. “Using more expensive implants could raise the price to well over Zl 10,000,” said Dr. Elzbieta Baranska from NZOZ Chirurgia Plastyczna in the Polish/ German border town of Slubice.

The reconstructive- and plastic surgery specialist Dr. Andrzej Dmytrzak, owner of Aesthetic Med Prywatne Centrum Chirurgii Plastycznej in the Polish/German border city of Szczecin, revealed that such surgery may cost as much as Zl 12,000.

Depending on the clinic, liposuction may cost between Zl 3,000 and Zl 8,000, while one would pay between Zl 6,000 and Zl 12,000 for a facelift and between Zl 6,000 and Zl 8,000 for rhinoplasty (a nose job). Similar savings can be found in other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and some Internet sites offer complete medical tourism packages with flights, surgery, hospital stays and sight-seeing included.

Across the spectrum

Thus, when it comes to Poles, it’s mostly those from the wealthier circles who can afford a nip-and-tuck, but Western clients offer a more diverse mix of economic backgrounds. “We get everybody from doctors to shop clerks,” Baranska said. Germans are traditionally the largest group, but she has noticed an increasing number of British and Dutch coming through her doors. Baranska credits the proximity of Berlin’s airport, a mere 90 kilometers away, for the growing number of Western patients.

However, the trend is even visible further away from the border. “The number of foreign patients is constantly increasing. I would say that around 10 to 15 percent of patients in clinics in Warsaw are foreigners,” Dr. Tadeusz Witwicki from Warsaw's Lecznica Kabaty said. He added that there are agencies and bureaus that specialize in contacting patients from abroad. “I think this segment will continue to grow,” Witwicki said.

“Young women usually go for breast enlargement or nose corrections. Older women opt for surgeries related to aging, like facelifts,” Witwicki said.

Women tend to opt for cosmetic surgery much more often than men; this is especially true for Poles. However, Dmytrzak said that men are increasingly becoming interested in plastic surgery treatments. “Nose and ear corrections are the most common among men, followed by liposuction and facelifts,” he said.

No longer a taboo

“Poles very often hide their decision to undergo such operations; Westeners aren’t ashamed of it, and treat it just like going to a dentist,” she said.

Witwicki said that behavior is changing. “Plastic surgery is no longer taboo; people aren’t ashamed of undergoing such treatments. What’s more, in some circles it’s fairly popular and people often recommend clinics and doctors to each other,” he said.

Contrary to popular belief, cosmetic surgery has a fairly long history in Poland. The first clinic offering “reconstructive” surgery was established in the early ‘50s. Many hospitals offered these services in the ’70s, but it wasn’t until the ’90s that the business took off.

Witwicki sees problems connected with the plastic surgery boom and the growing access to such treatments. “There are many more clinics than a decade ago, and unfortunately some regular surgeons carry out cosmetic operations without having the necessary qualifications,” he said.

That won’t stop the procedures’ increasing popularity though, Witwicki said. “There’ll be more people willing to undergo cosmetic surgeries. We’re becoming a society in which looks are becoming increasingly important in career and everyday perception.” A whole segment of medicine devoted to beauty and appearance is now forming he noted. “Apart from plastic or cosmetic surgeries, segments like aesthetic dermatology are developing rapidly.”

The annotated version of this item was originally published at the Plastic Surgery Notes Blog 

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas for this Plastic Surgery Notes website, please email me at paul@plasticsurgerynotes.com

For links to my plastic surgery blog and cosmetic & plastic surgery articles and review, please see the plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery links on the side and foot of this page.