By Hamza Jilani/Staff Reporter
The demand for plastic and cosmetic surgery, for men and women, local and expat alike, is booming in Qatar, a leading plastic surgeon has said.
“When I opened the Centre in 2001, I was coming in for three hours a day and seeing around five patients. Now we have 10 doctors and consultants who cater to 100-200 patients daily,” consultant plastic surgeon and Plastic Surgicentre CEO and founder Dr Ahmed Makki told Gulf Times.
“Our clients were 90% women when we started, but now men make up no less than 30% and it is 50-50 between Qataris and expats. What’s great about Doha is that it’s very multi-ethnic, and because a beautiful Asian nose for instance isn’t necessarily beautiful on someone else, we’ve gained a lot of rare experience with the various demands here.”
Makki says that men are very conscious about their physical presentation and regard it nowadays as an edge over competition, adding that his male client body comes in for treatments to look younger and healthier.
“In the past a successful businessman had a stereotype look that included a big belly and sitting on the phone all day at work. Now men are very conscious about their look and presentation: to be successful you need to look young, healthy and fit,” he said. “They come for facial treatments like botox and fillers for wrinkles, liposuction for Gynecomastia (the enlargement of breast tissue in males), and hair removal.”
The most popular surgical treatment for women on the other hand, he says, is breast surgery for augmentation, lifts and reduction. The second most in demand is the tummy tuck, which is mostly due to changes happening after pregnancy – “mommy make-up procedures” – which take care of stretch marks, saggy or reduced breasts with plastic surgery, liposuction and body contouring. “Nose jobs are also very common by everyone”, he adds, along with most popular non-surgical treatments for females is botox and filler injections.
“A large portion of our daily clientele body is made up of regulars coming in for injections or hair removal therapy,” he said.
Makki maintains that the surge of clinical cosmetic treatments in recent years in the country by both locals and expats is in reaction to world exposure and media.
“The media and Internet played a big role to create the great demand that has increased over the last 12 years. People here are well educated and exposed; they like to look good and they have the money to do it,” he said. “We get a lot of people – usually relatives or friends of residing expats – who come here for operations after seeing the successful operations and quality found here. Unfortunately, you see surgeries being made by unlicensed or skilled doctors and dentists, even in the states. Qatar has that under control though because the Supreme Council of Health is very strict in giving licences to anyone to do surgery.”
Dr Ahmed Makki
