Go back beautiful
Over the past three years so-called cosmetic tourism has grown into a multi-million złoty industry, drawing travelers from Western Europe, Russia and Scandinavia.
While many of those flying in for anything from facelifts to dental fillings are drawn to Poland through family ties, more and more are simply making the journey to combine a knockdown nip-and-tuck with a holiday.
Costs for procedures such as breast enlargement can be a third of the price in Britain, nose jobs up to 75 percent cheaper, and some dental services are reportedly a tenth of the price in Poland than in Germany.
Plastic demand
The six month-old Swissmed Hospital in Gdansk is Poland's largest private hospital, boasting state-of-the-art facilities. The center's head of plastic surgery and oncology Professor Janusz Jaśkiewicz says he frequently receives enquiries about procedures from abroad. "We have no overall figures for the number of visitors who participate in this, but in my experience I can see that the number of people I treat is roughly doubling every year," he says.
"Not only are we seeing more people from the West but we are also seeing many from the East, from Lithuania and Russia.
"I frequently receive telephone calls from Sweden, Germany and Denmark enquiring about breast reconstruction or about abdominal corrections. This has risen as the information on the Internet has become more available," Jaśkiewicz concludes.
Dr Kazimierz Cieslik, who heads the plastic surgery unit at the L. Rydygier Hospital in Kraków, tells a similar story. "Polish emigrants make up the largest group but we see people who are visiting Poland from Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Britain, the United States and Japan."
Exact figures are difficult to determine because private concerns are not required to supply patient data. But in the last few years the number of clinics registered to carry out corrective and plastic surgery has mushroomed from a few dozen to nearly 200. While these clinics can be found across the country, there is a concentration of them along the German border where demand has fuelled growth. At some of the centers in Slubice, Gubin and Szczecin, figures indicate that foreigners make up more than 80 percent of patients and estimates suggest that popular clinics can earn up to half a million złoty a month.
Under the knife, under the sun
Aware of the tremendous potential for growth in medical tourism, Dr Janusz Sirek has so far invested zł.3 million in his business in Bielsko-Biała, increasing the number of beds and equipping two operating theaters with modern laser treatments. He is now considering opening a similar clinic in Hamburg as well as offering his services in the UK.
Dr Sirek says: "It was rare in the 1990s for the foreigners to visit Poland for 'cosmetic reasons,' now it is standard. About 80 percent of our foreign customers are Germans. They feel at home here, visiting their families and friends. The rest are from Belgium, Holland, the USA."
A growing army of clinics offer holiday itineraries that can be tied in with his most popular treatments-breast augmentation, liposuction and facelifts.
Numerous websites now illustrate attractions such as the famous Chopin museum, tickets to the opera, sightseeing in Kraków or Gdansk and trips to the mountains alongside price lists for going under the knife.
Tooth be told...
Foreigners are making similar demands on Poland's dentists. Just last week Łódź Medical University signed a deal with Danish tourism company Arhus that will see visiting Danes spending a few hours in the dentist's chair during a week-long stay in the historic town.
And other medical fields are now bracing themselves in light of EU accession for floods of foreign patients eager for their expertise.
Opthalmologist and chairman of the Wielkopolski region of the Association of Private Outpatient Clinics, Dr Andrzej Grzybowski, says Poland offers great opportunities for those suffering treatable eye problems. "I think we will see a big rise in other forms of treatment such as cataract operations.
"Of course people can get these operations in Britain or Germany where they do not have to pay for them. But the big difference is the waiting time for treatment. In Britain or Germany you might have to wait a year for treatment. Now that flights are so cheap you can get a cut-rate ticket from Glasgow or London, come here and be cured in a week.
"To a person who cannot see properly this waiting time will make a huge difference to the patient's comfort of life," says Grzybowski.
"Medical tourism is a growing business and you can see the reason for it-highly-skilled, life-changing surgery, a holiday and low costs. We have European standards and foreigners are now becoming aware of these possibilities."
Good for Poland
The surgeons involved in this blossoming service are keen to emphasize that there are benefits for domestic patients. Sirek says: "Since Polish customers are not as well off as those from abroad, it is the foreigners' money that helps us to invest in equipment, do research and generally contribute to the development of this domain in Poland.
"Medical tourism also provides work for many excellent specialists and prevents them from leaving Poland to seek jobs abroad."
Dr Cieslik, however, believes he and his colleagues are helping the country at a more fundamental level: "This promotes Poland abroad by providing a motive to come here. It also promotes Poland as a place that can positively influence one's well-being."
While many of those flying in for anything from facelifts to dental fillings are drawn to Poland through family ties, more and more are simply making the journey to combine a knockdown nip-and-tuck with a holiday.
Costs for procedures such as breast enlargement can be a third of the price in Britain, nose jobs up to 75 percent cheaper, and some dental services are reportedly a tenth of the price in Poland than in Germany.
Plastic demand
The six month-old Swissmed Hospital in Gdansk is Poland's largest private hospital, boasting state-of-the-art facilities. The center's head of plastic surgery and oncology Professor Janusz Jaśkiewicz says he frequently receives enquiries about procedures from abroad. "We have no overall figures for the number of visitors who participate in this, but in my experience I can see that the number of people I treat is roughly doubling every year," he says.
"Not only are we seeing more people from the West but we are also seeing many from the East, from Lithuania and Russia.
"I frequently receive telephone calls from Sweden, Germany and Denmark enquiring about breast reconstruction or about abdominal corrections. This has risen as the information on the Internet has become more available," Jaśkiewicz concludes.
Dr Kazimierz Cieslik, who heads the plastic surgery unit at the L. Rydygier Hospital in Kraków, tells a similar story. "Polish emigrants make up the largest group but we see people who are visiting Poland from Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Britain, the United States and Japan."
Exact figures are difficult to determine because private concerns are not required to supply patient data. But in the last few years the number of clinics registered to carry out corrective and plastic surgery has mushroomed from a few dozen to nearly 200. While these clinics can be found across the country, there is a concentration of them along the German border where demand has fuelled growth. At some of the centers in Slubice, Gubin and Szczecin, figures indicate that foreigners make up more than 80 percent of patients and estimates suggest that popular clinics can earn up to half a million złoty a month.
Under the knife, under the sun
Aware of the tremendous potential for growth in medical tourism, Dr Janusz Sirek has so far invested zł.3 million in his business in Bielsko-Biała, increasing the number of beds and equipping two operating theaters with modern laser treatments. He is now considering opening a similar clinic in Hamburg as well as offering his services in the UK.
Dr Sirek says: "It was rare in the 1990s for the foreigners to visit Poland for 'cosmetic reasons,' now it is standard. About 80 percent of our foreign customers are Germans. They feel at home here, visiting their families and friends. The rest are from Belgium, Holland, the USA."
A growing army of clinics offer holiday itineraries that can be tied in with his most popular treatments-breast augmentation, liposuction and facelifts.
Numerous websites now illustrate attractions such as the famous Chopin museum, tickets to the opera, sightseeing in Kraków or Gdansk and trips to the mountains alongside price lists for going under the knife.
Tooth be told...
Foreigners are making similar demands on Poland's dentists. Just last week Łódź Medical University signed a deal with Danish tourism company Arhus that will see visiting Danes spending a few hours in the dentist's chair during a week-long stay in the historic town.
And other medical fields are now bracing themselves in light of EU accession for floods of foreign patients eager for their expertise.
Opthalmologist and chairman of the Wielkopolski region of the Association of Private Outpatient Clinics, Dr Andrzej Grzybowski, says Poland offers great opportunities for those suffering treatable eye problems. "I think we will see a big rise in other forms of treatment such as cataract operations.
"Of course people can get these operations in Britain or Germany where they do not have to pay for them. But the big difference is the waiting time for treatment. In Britain or Germany you might have to wait a year for treatment. Now that flights are so cheap you can get a cut-rate ticket from Glasgow or London, come here and be cured in a week.
"To a person who cannot see properly this waiting time will make a huge difference to the patient's comfort of life," says Grzybowski.
"Medical tourism is a growing business and you can see the reason for it-highly-skilled, life-changing surgery, a holiday and low costs. We have European standards and foreigners are now becoming aware of these possibilities."
Good for Poland
The surgeons involved in this blossoming service are keen to emphasize that there are benefits for domestic patients. Sirek says: "Since Polish customers are not as well off as those from abroad, it is the foreigners' money that helps us to invest in equipment, do research and generally contribute to the development of this domain in Poland.
"Medical tourism also provides work for many excellent specialists and prevents them from leaving Poland to seek jobs abroad."
Dr Cieslik, however, believes he and his colleagues are helping the country at a more fundamental level: "This promotes Poland abroad by providing a motive to come here. It also promotes Poland as a place that can positively influence one's well-being."
