By Noimot Olayiwola
Many young Doha residents, both males and females, are increasingly opting for plastic surgery to enhance their body contour, a consultant plastic surgeon has said.
Plastic surgery includes two main fields - plastic and reconstructive surgery.
Speaking to Gulf Times, Dr Abdullilah al-Hilli, of Al Shefa Poly Clinic, said the most popular surgery among residents - both nationals and Europeans - was liposuction being done to remove fat from different sites on the body.
“Areas affected can range from the abdomen, thighs, buttocks or the neck, backs of the arms and elsewhere,” he said, adding that “liposuction is not an alternative to exercise or diet and not a weight loss method, but a form of body contouring.”
However, Dr al-Hilli stressed that liposuction was not recommended as a treatment for obesity.
“In significantly overweight individuals who have stabilised their weight prior to surgery for an extended period of time, this procedure has been proven successful to improve body contour in stubborn or problematic areas and not as a weight loss method,” he said.
He said that liposuction was being used to manage big breast also called gyneocomsty in males.
“Some 65% of breast enlargement in males can start at an early age, especially between 14 – 15 years and it can aggravate up to 75% when they reach adulthood,” he pointed out.
Other types of surgery in demand are abdominoplasty, rhinoplasty, mammoplasty and pendulus breast correction.
“Abdominoplasty or tummy tuck is a cosmetic surgery procedure used to make the abdomen more firm. The surgery involves the removal of excess skin and fat from the middle and lower abdomen in order to tighten the muscle of the abdominal wall,” Dr al-Hilli explained.
He disclosed that abdominoplasty was usually sought by patients with loose tissues after pregnancy or individuals with sagging after major weight loss.
“Women are craving for this type of surgery, especially those who have had multiple child births. Many are also asking for cheek implant as well as breast implant,” he said.
Dr al-Hilli said that another surgical procedure in high demands was rhinoplasty also called a ‘nose reshaping or ‘nose job’.
“Rhinoplasty can be performed to meet aesthetic goals or for reconstructive purposes to correct trauma, birth defects or breathing problems. It can be combined with other surgical procedures such as chin augmentation to enhance the aesthetic results,” he pointed out.
Dr al-Hilli, who had operated close to 100 patients for various types of surgeries between 2003 and 2006 while working as a specialised plastic surgeon at the Doha Clinic, said the cost of getting any of these body enhancement procedures in Qatar had drastically increased and much higher than in Europe.
“In the past, it costs about QR12,000 to do a liposuction here, but it has gone up to QR20,000 nowadays, which is dearer than in Europe,” he added.