Rehab is rehab, right? Not necessarily. As with other things in life, it pays to research rehab centers and programs before you or a loved one attends one.

This is especially true if you’re traveling to receive treatment for drug or alcohol abuse. We hear more and more about medical tourism and how some people travel thousands of miles to attain medical treatment or other procedures because they believe that they are better (and are certainly cheaper). If your drug or alcohol treatment works or your face lift turns out well, that’s great. If they don’t….

What happens if you become severely sick while you detox from drugs? Licensed rehabs in the United States offer medications and therapy to help people during the intense side effects of detox and drug withdrawal. Do inexpensive foreign rehabs do the same? In fact, some foreign rehabs pride themselves on their inexpensive and often extreme approaches. They and their patients might consider it a badge of honor if the patients suffer.

But withdrawing from drugs and alcohol can be very dangerous. So dangerous, in fact, that withdrawal can kill. People’s bodies sometimes can’t withstand such an abrupt change so quickly. Properly managed drug detox takes steps to make this withdrawal gradual. It allows people’s bodies time to gradually adjust to smaller, more incremental changes without abruptly jolting them from one extreme to another (drug-filled to drug-free).

This is not saying that all foreign rehabs handle drug and alcohol detox and withdrawal the same way. Even in the United States, different rehabs have different approaches. And care that works for one person might not have the same effect on another person. This is just to say that rehab is a complex process that takes a lot of time, effort, and money. Some research could save all those assets in the long run.