Herniated disc medical tourism is a growing sector of the health travel industry, since herniated disc treatments have never been in greater demand than for today’s epidemic number of back pain sufferers. Medical tourism is defined as travel for the express reason of undergoing healthcare or treatment in a different area of the world than a patient currently resides.
Medical travel is also a separate business niche of the health industry, with many doctors specializing in marketing to and treating foreign patients. There are many potential benefits to medical touring, but the concept is not perfect. There are also a variety of possible negatives involved in medical travel and some of the risks involved can be very serious indeed.
This essay provides valuable advice for any disc pain sufferer who is considering traveling to receive medical care in a different country or medical marketplace.
Domestic Herniated Disc Medical Tourism
Domestic health-related travel is technically still medical tourism, but is not the concept that comes to mind when the topic is up for discussion. Traveling locally or regionally for medical care is common throughout the world and provides patients with a greater range of care options without going too far away.
In large expensive cities, patients sometime travel to smaller medical markets in the suburbs in order to save some cash due to the high cost of urban living and business development. In rural areas, patients may travel to the city in order to diversify their therapy options or enjoy a larger pool of treatment specialists who may focus on the particular condition affecting the traveler. Technically, this is health-related touring, but not in its purest sense.
International Medical Tourism
International health-related travel is true herniated disc medical tourism. In this practice, patients actually cross international boundaries in order to seek healthcare in another county or continent. Once again, there are 2 distinct types of medical tourism on the international level:
Patients in poor and underdeveloped countries may travel to the first world in order to access care which is not available in their own areas. This type of travel is often facilitated by grants or charitable donations, since many of these patients can not afford the financial burden on their own. Occasionally, doctors travel to these same undeveloped nations to treat the indigenous population through charitable organizations like Doctors Without Borders. This is reverse medical tourism where the treatment actually comes to the patient.
Most medical tourists come from developed countries and travel to less developed areas with a far lower cost of living and healthcare. This is the best known version of medical touring. In these cases, patients will travel from rich countries, such as The UK, USA, Japan, Canada, Germany and France to seek out care in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Israel, Turkey, Mexico, India and Central America. Bargains can be found in plenty, but risks are elevated in many cases. Always be careful with this plan of treatment.
Herniated Disc Medical Tourism Advice
The most sought after herniated disc treatments in the medical tourist sector are those which are expensive and in lower supply in some areas of the world. Spinal decompression is one of the therapies which patients often must travel to receive, since care is not available worldwide.
However, the true king of the medical travel sector for herniated disc care is certainly disc-related surgery. Herniated disc surgery is still in the dark ages in some areas of the world and where it has advanced, the cost is often prohibitive. This makes surgical intervention a perfect fit for the health travel industry. Many surgeons offer complete package deals including airfare, accommodation, procedure and follow-up care for a lower cost that the procedure alone in a patient’s own country.
Medical touring can be more work and certainly does have some unique risks and challenges. However, when done correctly, health travel can make treatment possible for those who would otherwise be forced to suffer and can make the financial burden of the care far lower than comparable treatment at home.
Far more detailed information on this interesting topic can be found on the various websites of The Cure Back Pain Network by using the search bar in the right column and querying “medical tourism”.
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