The changing perception of beauty and pressure to look youngeternally has pushed up the number of people opting for cosmeticsurgery, writes Nidhi Chandran
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With globalisation and growing influence of media today more people are obsessed with beauty and perfection. Around the world, millions of men and women improve their appearance and enhance the quality of their lives through cosmetic surgery.
There are many reasons that motivate people to go under the knife. For some, surgeries become medically necessary and for others they boost self-esteem and make them look younger. Another contributing factor to the popularity of cosmetic surgery is the mass media’s portrayal of the ideal body (especially women) and concept of beauty.
Media and peer-group pressure are said to be the major influence in teenagers to go for plastic surgery. Reports also say that reality shows on plastic surgery such as ABC’s Extreme Makeover and MTV’s I Want a Famous Face along with a celebrity obsession had prompted some teenagers in the US to opt for cosmetic procedures in the past few years.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that in 2010, nearly 219,000 cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed on people aged 13-19. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) 2010 Statistics, the demand for plastic surgery procedures increased almost 9% compared to the previous year. Almost 9.5mn cosmetic surgeries were performed in the US in 2010.
In resonance with the global boom, the popularity of cosmetic surgery has also gone up in the Arabian Gulf. According to a 2011 Survey of the UAE healthcare sector, the number of patients travelling to Dubai to consult qualified aesthetic surgeons has increased.
It also says the male plastic surgery market has a high demand for rhinoplasty (‘nose jobs’), hair transplantation and liposuction. With regard to Qatar, until a few years ago people used to go to countries like the US and UK for most of their cosmetic surgeries.
But the last few years have seen the opening of private clinics and hospitals with advanced facilities and services that are less expensive compared to the US and UK average costs.
Technological advancements such as laser skin resurfacing, endoscopic techniques and sophisticated anaesthesia have enabled surgeries to be safely undertaken these days. Endoscopic techniques allow for smaller incisions during surgery and helps in quicker recovery. Though depending on the patient and procedure full recovery may take days to some weeks, in most of the cases patients can leave the hospital the same day after the surgery. They can resume work within a few weeks’ time. All these factors have made more people to opt cosmetic surgery inside the country.
“Plastic surgery is one of the fast growing specialty medicines. Nowadays people give more importance to their looks than before. They want to look good, young and healthy and also have become more aware of the existence of plastic surgery which was earlier affordable to only the rich but now are available to all,” said Dr Makki, senior consultant in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Managing Director and Founder of Plastic Surgicentre.
Each surgery is done after a long consultation with the patient about his/her health and what can be done to best suit their requirement. “We do not rush before any cosmetic surgery. Experts sit with patients and discuss with them all the details before any surgery. Further, we check a patient’s medical condition by examining their body and try to know about their lifestyle and recommend what is to be done. If a patient is fit he would be referred to a local or general anaesthesiologist,” said Dr Makki
A doctor through computer imaging shows the patient potential results before surgery. This allows both of them to jointly redesign the features of the patient according to the desired appearance being sought.
It also allows a surgeon to demonstrate what is surgically possible to the patient prior to surgery.
Plastic surgery usually comes under two categories, reconstructive and cosmetic or aesthetic. The former is performed to correct functional impairments caused by burns; soft tissue trauma such as facial scars; bone fractures and breaks; congenital abnormalities and treatment of cancer or tumours. Both involve surgical and non-surgical procedures.
“Reconstructive surgeries are done for patients with burns and scars, newly born babies with congenital malformations like cleft lips, elderly people suffering from bed soar and for women who have their breasts removed after cancer surgeries where some of them go for breasts implantation,” added Dr Makki.
Cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is done to correct any defects or make alterations which concern a person, causing psychological problems. For example, correction of facial or eyelid wrinkling, nasal remodelling, breast augmentation or reduction and removal of fat accumulated in certain areas of the body.
There are mainly three types of cosmetic treatments: facial, breast and body contouring. Facial procedures include ‘face lifting’ that is supposed to make a person younger and fresher. It can be done successfully on people in their 70s or 80s as well. It includes correction of excess facial skin, forehead and eye brow lift, augmentation for lip, chin and cheek.
Most facelifts are performed under local anaesthesia, combined with a sedative. Some surgeons prefer a general anaesthesia where the patient will sleep through the operation and in such cases patients may be hospitalised for a day.
Rhinoplasty or nose surgery is done for correction of nasal deformities and breathing problems. Recent reports say that there has been an increase in the number youth going for nose jobs in Qatar. Otoplasty means correcting the deformities and defects of the external ear, and for reconstructing a defective or absent external ear, consequent to congenital conditions. Some of the deformities are seen among children at the time of birth.
“In children it is always better to do otoplasty before school age in order to avoid psychological problems they may face at the schools like bullying by peers,” Dr Makki added.
Botox (Botulinum toxin) is a non-surgical treatment used to remove facial wrinkles, frown lines and also for treating underarm sweating and migraine headache. Botox injections are normally given to expression muscles to paralyse them. The treatment takes about 10 minutes and the effect is said to last between four and six months. It can be repeated as required.
Botox is also used in the treatment of chronic migraine where it is injected into the head and neck. “Botox is seen very effective in the treatment of migraine headache. People come here in every six months for migraine botox injections,” he said.
Fillers are used primarily to fill wrinkles, lines and scars on the face and sometimes the neck, back and chest.
Breast procedures normally include reduction, enlargement, lift, correction and reconstruction or implantation. Dr Makki said most of the women come for tummy tuck and breast procedures at his centre. “After delivery most of their tummy tucks get increased. In such cases, liposuction is done to reduce tummy tuck. In cases where breasts become saggy, a breast surgery is done to lift the breasts up and to improve shape.”
Body contouring is a term used for a wide range of surgeries and procedures intended to reshape, redefine, tighten, tone or improve the overall appearance of the physique. It includes liposuction, (sucking fat from the body); abdominoplasty or tummy tuck involving surgery to make tummy more firm; and laser treatments for removing hair, scars, wrinkles, brown spots, pigmented lesions and stretch marks.
While doing liposuction sometimes fat from one part of body is taken and placed in other parts where it is needed.
There has also been an increase in number of men opting for cosmetic treatments in Qatar, especially liposuction. “The number of men coming for cosmetic surgery has increased,” said Dr Makki adding that of his patients, 30-35% are males.
“Most of them come for reducing breasts through liposuction. The consultation starts with advising them on proper diet by avoiding junk food and modifying lifestyle and eating healthy food. We also recommend exercise. If the body does not lose weight even after this then only we go for liposuction,” added Dr Makki.
“A person should continue with a healthy diet and exercise even after liposuction to maintain the weight otherwise the whole process becomes useless,” he added. In some cases where surgery is the only solution to get rid of tummy fat or to remove excess skin under abdomen which come as a result of weight reduction, a tummy tuck surgery or surgical body contouring is done. His patients constitute locals, Europeans and other nationalities.
Asked about the risks involved in various surgeries Dr Makki said, “If it is a right patient, right procedure and right doctor the side effects will be minimal or none.”
When contacted, few clinics in Qatar were willing to give price information on their treatments before consultation. The prices are said to vary depending on the patient, procedure and the hospital where the operation will be carried out.
As with any other surgery, there are some risks associated with cosmetic procedures too. This may include anaesthesia risks, infections, delayed healing, excessive bleeding, blood clots, tissue death, loss or change of sensation, less severe nerve damage and need for secondary surgeries and dissatisfaction with results among others.
Breast augmentation procedures had received significant bad publicity with the silicone implant scare last year. Poly Implant Prosthèse (PIP) made by a French company caused global concern after they were found to contain industrial silicone rather than medical-grade fillers which may be more prone to rupture and leakage than other implants.
Medical problems arise when breast implants rupture and cause inflammation and irritation. Symptoms can include lumps around the implant or in the underarm, inflammation in the breast tissue and a hardening of the breast.
However, the final report from an expert review group published recently concluded that rigorous chemical and toxicological analyses of a wide variety of PIP implants have not shown any evidence of significant risk to human health.
In 2009, women in the US had almost 8.6mn cosmetic procedures where the top five surgical procedures included breast augmentation, liposuction, breast reduction, abdominoplasty and eyelid surgery. And men had over 750,000 cosmetic procedures, the top five being liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, breast reduction and cosmetic ear surgery. In the same year, nearly $10.7bn was spent by Americans on cosmetic procedures. This shows that despite all the risks, women are the largest consumers of cosmetic surgery around the world with the number of takers expected to grow further in coming years.
For those considering cosmetic surgery, the risks can be alleviated if you educate yourself and know all the pros and cons associated with the procedure before it is done. Find out the best surgeon available and make him know your expectations and communicate well with him to remove doubts from your mind.
Ultimately, however, you may have to face the reality that cosmetic surgery can neither change your life, solve personal problems and nor can it make you look like your favourite celebrity.