Cheiloplasty in Istanbul: Best Clinics and Costs 2025

I liked my doctor and translator. The doctor had a kind and reassuring energy to him. There were two things that bothered me about the experience.One was having to wait several hours past my scheduled consultation with him after a 16 hr travel period after being brought directly to the hospital. The second was being told they may have to harvest cartilage from my ear or rib minutes before my surgery after being told they would not have to do that during the consultation. That really stressed me out. They wound up not having to do that but it made me feel like they had not prepared properly. That being said, the surgery went well and I’m happy with the results so far. I’m posting this only a week and a half from my surgery date but so far, so good.

Before reading this review I want to make is completely clear that Dr. Ozenlap did a fantastic job. He was always present for anything that happened before and after the surgery. His team are amazing and kind. They take the time to help you. After leaving I have contacted him a few times and he responds right away with voice messages. Returning to Canada my post op nurse said my tummy tuck was one of the best she has seen done in Turkey. I would recommend contacting his clinic directly to arrange a consult and/or surgery as I will when I come for additional services. I highly recommend him. I had dealt with Zeneyp through the entire process and she was really helpful but as the date of my arrival approached it was just a bit more difficult. I did land in Istanbul on April 21st to do some traveling beforehand. A few days before I was to leave I followed up with her about my transportation from the airport. She told me it was too early (4 days) to set up the group chat. I then checked in with her the night before I flew out where I got the information. During our messages I confirmed with Zeneyp what my check in and out days would be since I was there a few days before hand. She confirmed I would check out April 24th and return on April 27th to the hotel (as outlined in my iteintery) I messaged the group chat on the 23rd asking when I would be picked up and was told I was not being picked up until the day of surgery of April 25th. I was ultimately charged for this date. When being admitted to the hospital on the 25th I was informed that the anesthesiologist would not go ahead because of the Lithium I take without it being in my system. One of my first messages with Zeneyp was the medications that I take. I was even asked to clarify my use of another medication so I know thought these would be recorded during the intake. While Canada will operate I understand that Turkey does not. If I had been made aware of this I would have received guidance from my doctor if I needed to stop the medication before I left for Turkey. Brining this up to Zeneyp she said that the anesthesiologist doesn’t know beforehand and this is how it works. I am certain that a surgeon and anesthesiologist would look at a file before preforming a surgery, like when it gets approved by the surgeon. Not when they’re walking into the hospital. Notifying the surgeon, etc of meds would have been her job and I Would be pretty confident that she erred in this. I would make sure that all your medications are checked before you leave for the long travel to Turkey so you are not delayed or worse yet, turned away. I was originally scheduled for a tummy tuck with Dr. Emre Ozanlap on April 25th, which was then delayed to April 28th because information about medication I take was not given to him prior to my arrival in Turkey. I was not provided with any reason on why there is no discussion between medical professionals prior to a decent size surgery. No matter how I tried to get a better explanation she would not give me one. This ended up with me having to pay an extra 3 days for the hotel (6 if we include both of the hospital arrival dates that were outlined) and a new flight home. **surgery happens** A couple days after my operation I go for my check up and your medical coordinator, Hisham, asked me about if I was getting lymphatic massages and was surprised I hadn’t been offered any. I was then contacted by Zenyep afterwards and set one up. During my initial massage the nurse was getting my incision tape contaminated (proper health measures were taken by her). I asked if this was ok and she said yes. I scheduled one for the next day and when the nurse saw the dirty tape she got on the phone with Zenyep. They spoke in Turkish so I don’t know what was said. The nurse fully took off my tape and told me Zeneyp would come by sometime with tape and I agreed I could re tape it once I got it. I waited a while and touched base with her with no response so I went and found a pharmacy for the tape because I flew out in a couple hours and did not want my incision just open. I later received a message that it was Sunday and the pharmacy’s were closed. Upon me telling her I just left a pharmacy she told me it was her day off. She was prepared to have me leave with an open incision while traveling over 18 hours. That was my last interaction with her. During the whole entire time she was never was accountable, apologetic or even empathetic. Always dodging any questions for clarification but basically saying “this is the way” The lack of due diligence by her or Doctor K Clinic as a whole could have left me in a worse situation physically than the inconvenience of the financial situation I find myself in. I do not recommend using their service for booking your surgeries. PLEASE MAKE NOTE OF THE ABOVE REVIEW OF DR. OZENLAP.

Everything went well, met on a bus from the airport and made a transfer across the city (clinic on the other side). They were also taken to the airport. In general, everything was organized quite well. The clinic has several Russian translators. If one is busy then the other helps you. If there are any problems, the translator takes you by the hand and goes with you and helps to solve them. There were no problems with this at all. The doctor and all the staff are very open and friendly. All questions are answered. If something is not clear, they repeat it again. People in the city are also open to foreigners and ready to help. Their English is very basic, but in which case they open the translator in their smartphone and write to you and translate on the go.

I asked for help in getting massages and they helped with that which is where the additional cost came from. I also had a massage for general pain from a nurse, which was a little out of their scope but they were happy to oblige.

The patience and professionalism of the medical staff, the attentive support from the translator, the welcoming environment of the clinic, everything was truly exceptional! I wholeheartedly recommend VMH hospitals for their outstanding services."

My procedure was liposuction to 3 areas - upper belly, lower belly and waist. My initial contact was with Dr Anna Petrikova through Bookimed. I sent my photos to her and spoke with her about possible hospitals in Turkey. She contacted some hospitals for me and came back with the recommended procedure and costs from the hospitals. Firstly mini tummy tuck with liposuction was suggested. I did not want a tummy tuck so asked Anna if she would contact the hospitals again for liposuction only and told her that I was not expecting to have the tummy of a 20 year old (I am 48), just an improvement would be acceptable. Anna came back to me with some choices for liposuction only and some prices. Don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you want and to take your time with your decision. Anna answered all my questions as quickly as possible and did not pressurise me in any way. She was professional and very helpful at all times. Barbara from the care department at Bookimed suggested some hotels as I wanted to book my own. She came up with an apartment which was only about 10 mins from the hospital that I had decided on which was LIV hospital. I was then allocated a hospital coordinator - Nomonzaya Purevsuren. She was excellent and sorted everything to do with the hospital - taxi transfers to/from airport, accommodation and hospital, all translations with admission staff at the hospital, nurses, anethetist etc and she was in contact with me constantly. She went down to the operating theatre with me and was back at my room after my procedure to answer any questions and make sure everything was ok. I stayed at the hospital overnight and had regular contact with Nomonzaya - it was a bit like having a Personal assistant in a private hospital! I would have been lost without her and she was a great help. My surgeon at LIV hospital was Dr Zeynep Sevim. She was fluent in English and very professional. She answered any questions I had and I felt very comfortable with her - it was actually quite nice to have a female Dr. I was admitted to the hospital in the morning and after blood tests etc were carried out, my procedure was done the same afternoon. Everything went as expected and I was discharged the following afternoon. I went back to Dr Zeyneps clinic the next morning for a check up. The hospital and nursing staff were excellent and looked after me very well and although the nurses did not speak much English, Nomonzaya was always on hand. My husband was with me at the hospital most of the time and there was a pull out sofa bed in my room that he could have slept on if wanted. He was always made to feel welcome and was given food if he was there at meal times. All of this happened only 11 days ago so I am of course feeling a bit sore and bruised. I sent my updated photos to the Dr. this morning and she said that everything was looking good and I should send some more in around 2 weeks. It’s quite a scary thing to have any kind of surgery in a different country to your own but I feel as though I was taken care of very well by everyone at LIV hospital and I can already see the beginnings of my new shape after Dr Zeyneps excellent work!