A friend called me the other day and asked if I had any views on travelling abroad to a non-English-speaking country to have eye surgery because she was getting fed up with wearing glasses.

 

As soon as I heard that, my mind rapidly went back to a few years ago when I, myself, was researching whether to go abroad to have a hair transplant. Our conversation went something like this:

 

“Tell me more about what you have found out.”

 

“It’s cheaper.”

 

“OK, stop there.”

 

We then began to explore how finance had become a priority over possible and dangerous risks that could happen. It’s not a matter of what’s worse having laser eye surgery or a hair transplant in a country you are not familiar with. The fact remains they are both invasive surgery.

 

“Would you feel comfortable going to a country where you do not know the language, allowing someone to make incisions, allowing someone to inject, allowing someone to pack you off back to your home country only 24 hours after surgery? Does this make you feel comfortable?”

 

“You’re being negative.”

 

This response was exactly what I was expecting to hear because I remember when I was researching hair loss solutions, the main thing I was looking at was affordable hair transplants and there was no one on this planet who could tell me it was a bad idea.

 

 

Would You Bargain for Your Health and Safety?

 

My point here is it reminded me of the angst I went through a few years ago with regard to my hair loss. I then began to question myself and this phone call made me realise it was all about the money. Because, if it wasn’t about the money, I would’ve gone to an attractive clinic with great decor and flawless shiny floors in the country I live in. But, it was too expensive so the conflict was that I had a problem but a problem that was going to cost me a lot of money to carry out in my own country. So naturally, I wanted to eradicate this conflict or at least ease the conflict and in order to do so, one would have to look for alternatives, and it so happens that alternatives are available at a fraction of the cost.

 

What are these alternatives? Hair replacement systems!

 

This IS confusing, and part of me feels as though consumers (like myself and my friend) get lost in the battle of marketing. By battle, I mean I was being persuaded to go abroad and have an experience that might satisfy my (hair) loss and would ultimately benefit my bank account.

 

Returning to my discussion with my friend, I wanted her to break down just what it is she wanted.

 

“What is it you want and why?”

 

“I’m fed up with wearing glasses and I want laser eye surgery.”

 

Challenging her further, I asked, “At what cost are you prepared to do this?”

 

My friend’s response was overloaded with her thoughts of what others have been experiencing. I remember this was the very trap that I fell into when I started to research going abroad for hair loss solutions. Now, the two procedures are completely different from one another yet I noticed how familiar the anxiety my friend was experiencing was. She didn’t want to wear glasses as much as how I didn’t want to wear (at the time what I would call) a wig. I would urge readers to look at this closely and ask themselves, at what cost would you do something to rectify a problem? Honestly, I was mortified my friend was thinking about going abroad for someone to tamper with her eyes. Regardless of all the evidence available to us, there is always a risk. Even with hair transplants, risks exist - regardless of the country, you have them in.

 

Is Marketing a Trick or Treat?

 

Do you ever wonder why companies don't advertise the risks of a product or a procedure as well as they do the actual product or service? I took the "risk" of purchasing a hair replacement system for a fraction of the cost of a hair transplant. The only consequences would have been, I wasted my money or possibly the hair replacement system might have not suited me. Fortunately, in my experience neither was true.

 

There are certainly no medical risks to wearing a hair system. Learn about the pros and cons of wearing a hair system here

 

 

What would have been the risk if my friend had had eye surgery in a different country? Blindness? Infection? Would either of them have been worth saving money over? We all know how to make smart decisions, when we cross the road we pay attention, when we pick up our knives and forks to eat we pay attention. As soon as we experience what one might call an 'abnormality' with our body, one might allow companies, marketing, social media, commercials, and all external outlets to think and make the decisions for us. We have to remind ourselves we are way too smart for that.

 

P.S. In the end, my friend didn’t go for surgery and decided to get a nice pair of groovy glasses to wear instead.