Go for a spa trip... come back with a new hip!
Forget the fruit juice and detox image: top spas now offer major operations
FANCY a hip replacement on the Swiss Riviera, a hair transplant by the Med or a slipped disc repair in Sardinia? You no longer have to dream, as some of the world’s most beautifully situated wellness centres are going seriously surgical, offering Britons the chance to skip waiting lists, have procedures just when they want and recover in luxury.
Here are a few of the world’s topdrawer resorts where both medical staff and therapists are on hand to ease the trauma of everything from a facelift to a colonoscopy.
Stomach problems solved in Germany
THE PROCEDURE: The ‘PillCam’ – a tiny, pill-sized camera that is swallowed and can then help doctors diagnose digestive diseases.
THE SPA: Lanserhof Tegernsee, by lake Tegern, near Munich – one of the most beautiful nature regions in Europe. Celebrity spa visitors have included shoe designer Christian Louboutin and supermodel Karlie Kloss.
WHY GO HERE? Lanserhof combines alternative approaches (leech therapy, anyone?) with genetic testing, and ‘patients’ can even undergo a colonoscopy while staying. The PillCam, available privately in the UK, allows the entire digestive tract to be viewed, offering a highly accurate way to diagnose gut problems.
THE COST: £1,100 for the PillCam procedure, including diagnostic analysis, and £3,300 for a seven-night residential programme with full-board, relaxation training and further diagnostics such as urine analysis. There is also a heated saltwater pool.
FOR FURTHER INFO: lanserhof.com
Spinal surgery in the luxury of Sardinia
THE PROCEDURE: Slipped-disc surgery. Gel-filled discs sit between the vertebrae in the spine allowing movement, but sometimes small bulges can appear, causing pain. This operation ‘shaves away’ protrusions, alleviating discomfort.
THE SPA: The Forte Village resort, Santa Margherita di Pula, Sardinia. Described as ‘the perfect luxury beach family resort’, it occupies 60 acres on the southern coast. Famous clients include Strictly champion Abbey Clancy and Sky Sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher.
WHY GO HERE? Professor Pier Francesco Parra, renowned as a European authority on back pain, performs procedures at monthly clinics. He uses a specially designed laser that he claims can cut recovery time by half.
THE COST: £3,700 for two three-day courses of treatment carried out one month apart. Accommodation costs from £220 per night half-board. FOR FURTHER INFO: fortevillageresort.com
A hair transplant in Alicante
THE PROCEDURE: Hair transplant surgery – individual hairs are taken from one part of the head and inserted into a balding area.
THE SPA: SHA, Sierra Helada Natural Park, Alicante. The premises overlook the Mediterranean and offer gourmet macrobiotic food, mountain air and a holistic medical approach. Celebrity fans include singer Barbra Streisand and supermodel Naomi Campbell.
WHY GO HERE? SHA won Conde Nast Traveller’s Best Medical Spa award and offers a bespoke ‘hair regrowth’ programme including dietary advice, supplements and medication to maximise chances of surgery – an eight-hour process – being a success. Prior to surgery, the head is shaved, so the resort offers privacy for those wishing to be discreet. The spa also offers weight loss, ‘detox’, and insomnia treatment packages.
COST: £3,000 to £10,000, depending how many follicles are replaced. FOR FURTHER INFO: shawellnessclinic.com
Facelift surgery in West Virginia
THE PROCEDURE: Facelift surgery – a complicated, yet common rejuvenating operation.
THE SPA: The Greebrier, West Virginia. This resort has been a spa destination since 1778 when guests first came to bathe in the sulphur-rich springs. The 11,000-acre resort has 19 restaurants, five golf courses, a casino and a spa which has practised diagnostic medicine since 1948. It has attracted celebrities such as actor Ben Affleck and exiled Royals the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
WHY GO HERE? The Greenbrier opened its cosmetic surgery clinic in 2014, and its boss, Dr Michael Kluska, has been named Best Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon by the publication Plastic Surgery Practice two years running. During their three- to five-day recovery period, patients can swim, play golf or have massages, hydrotherapy, meditation and spiritual healing.
THE COST: About £7,500 for the facelift, from £135 per night while recovering. FOR FURTHER INFO: greenbrier.com
A new hip and a view of Lake Geneva
THE PROCEDURE: Hip-replacement surgery – a prosthetic joint implanted to alleviate the pain of chronic arthritis.
THE SPA: Clinique La Prairie, Montreux, on the shores of Lake Geneva. Surgeons and physicians share premises with a world-class spa, whose original speciality, a revitalising injection of sheep embryo extract, is said to have been tried by celebrities from Charlie Chaplin to Winston Churchill (and it’s still on offer). Modern-day fans of the spa include Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and Motown queen Diana Ross.
WHY GO HERE? Dr Salvatore Rindone offers ‘anterior mini-invasive surgery’, or AMIS, which involves total hip replacement via a relatively small 8cm incision, thus minimising scarring (normally ops can involve a 20cm incision). Post-surgical pain is also reduced.
THE COST: £15,670 for a single hip, plus about £13,000 for a bespoke one-week rehabilitation programme.
FOR FURTHER INFO: laprairie.ch/en