Bargain prices for tummy tucks and facelifts are driving more Canadians to seek cosmetic surgery offshore, a decision Canadian doctors are warning could be life-threatening.

Dr. Gordon Wilkes, vice-president of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons, says many people are travelling to places like Costa Rica, Mexico and Poland for inexpensive surgeries.

"When they go to other countries, it's difficult to know the level of training and expertise of the person," he said.

Wilkes also noted that without a local physician to complete followup checkups, people are putting themselves at a higher risk of developing complications, including excessive scarring.

"What you are risking is your own well-being," he said. "It isn't like buying a new dress."

But Christine Hurley, of Calgary, says she was confident in the care she received at a clinic in Costa Rica. Hurley, 56, says she had four surgeries in San José over 22 days.
 
"The day I got there, I had to go down to the hospital to get the blood tests and get the cardiologist to make sure I was all right," she said. "They want to make sure they're not going to have somebody that's going to die on their table."

Hurley, who paid a total of $17,000 Cdn for the trip, said she expects she would have had to pay about two-thirds more for the same surgery in Canada. She also noted that the healing process was much easier because of the sunny locale.
 
"It was the best experience that anybody could have because while you are healing, you are in the sunshine," she said. "It is absolutely incredible and all you have to do is get better."
 
Most cosmetic surgeries are not covered under public health-care plans in Canada.

Consumers considering having surgery, even within Canada, should check their doctors' credentials as there are no regulations governing who can perform cosmetic surgery.