Plastic surgery in South Korea

Plastic surgery in South Korea

In response to a survey of 1,000 patients by the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA):

70% of respondents said they had surgery to improve their appearance, and 14.5% said they believed that plastic surgery increased their chances of getting a job or getting a promotion

Plastic surgery turns 'fashionable' in Korea, but generates 'tales of terror' in Justice

It's impossible not to notice the ads. Wherever you go in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, there is one saying that you should change your face or your body with a plastic surgery.

In the well-known district of Gangnam, the impression is that all the walls have some message promoting such a surgery.

On the train and on the street, you are invited to give "new life to your face". "Facial contour" is another common offer, as is surgery to put silicone on the breasts, or a fit to end the "crow's feet" on the face with botox, or surgery to thin the waist.

Other ads offer "square chin reduction" (mostly for men). Or they promise to turn their face "from fallen and flaccid to firm and proportionate," aimed primarily at women.

- The most common surgery was to change the shape of the eyes - 67.8% of respondents said they had undergone this procedure

- 32.3% of those who answered the survey said that the result of the plastic they did was not "satisfactory".

- False doctors use cement, olive oil and supercollate in butt plastic

In Korea, parents tell me that it is common for them to present their teenage daughters as a "double eyelid surgery," which changes the shape of the eyes so they look "less Asian." Why, I wonder, is Korean eyes so beautiful the way they are?

The message echoing from the announcements on the train is that "confidence in appearance brings positive energy that can be the essence of happiness". Happiness, this simple thing that can be won by cutting a knife!

Except for the fact that it is not so. There is now a reaction in the form of lawsuits - in large numbers - moved by patients, or rather victims, by prosecuting doctors who have reshaped their faces, but not in the right way. One of the victims said that when she removed the bandages, "it did not look like a human face ... that her face was more repulsive than that of monsters or aliens."

Part of the problem is that plastic surgery is so lucrative that doctors who are not qualified for it - or even doctors who are from other areas of medicine - are venturing into this specialty. There are reports of aesthetic surgical procedures being performed by so-called "phantom doctors". In one of the cases that went to court, the case says that the doctor in charge left the room when the patient was under anesthesia, and that another doctor replaced him and committed procedural flaws.

In addition, in some cases, "before and after" photos of patients used in ads have also undergone "surgery" – in Photoshop

As a result, the Korean Association of Plastic Surgeons is calling for stricter rules for doctors in the area and also for advertising related to this type of surgery. They fear that the bad publicity generated with such cases will undermine the reputation of an industry that is for the most part well-managed.

But they are paddling against the tide. Plastic surgery is an extremely profitable activity in South Korea, even with lower prices than in the US and Europe. At one of the big companies in Gangnam, here in Seoul, a correction of the eye shape, a procedure that lasts about 30 minutes, costs $ 1,500 (or $ 4,000). Already surgery to take wrinkles can cost about $ 11,000 (or $ 29,540).

It is important to draw attention to this fact, because there is already a large market with the same "sense of vanity" of Korea growing in the neighborhood - China. According to the Daily Joogang newspaper, two-thirds of foreigners who visited South Korea last year for plastic surgery came from China - which means more than 16,000 customers.

Local press reports that some of the Chinese-made plastic surgeries are so radical - and "well done" - that sometimes cause problems for the authorities when they leave the country.

But perhaps the Chinese who dream of an actress / movie actor's beauty, or even South Korean parents who think they can improve the look of their daughters gifting them with a plastic should reflect on the odds of ending up living a tale of terror in court because of a bad procedure.

A former beauty queen of the country underwent a breast augmentation procedure with silicone, but the surgery went terribly wrong. After a series of infections, she ended up with a much larger breast than the othe

r.

She blames the doctors for the disaster, but also for never having told her, "Look, you do not need this." "Plastic surgery is like an addiction," she said. "If you do the eyes, you want the nose."

"And the doctors do not say, 'You're beautiful enough as you are.'"

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