subject: Storm In A D-cup - A Study On Cosmetic Surgery [print this page] A recent landmark study has highlighted the fact that many women undergoing cosmetic surgery have very little idea about what to expect from their procedure nor the associated risks. Unlike plastic surgery, which is performed to repair damage, cosmetic surgery is not necessary, rather it is a voluntary choice by the patient the majority of which are women. In Australia, anyone with a medical degree can perform cosmetic surgery from injections such as Botox to quite invasive procedures and currently there is no requirement to be a for the doctor performing the procedure to be a qualified surgeon.
The Australian study by health sociologist Rhian Parker from The Australian National University, has written "Women, Doctors and Cosmetic Surgery: Negotiating the 'normal' body". Dr Parker interviewed 32 Australian women that had undergone a cosmetic procedure and 19 medical practitioners performing the procedures. During the study, women were asked the reasons they undergo cosmetic surgery and 3 key reasons emerged:
1. A body feature they have been bothered about for a long time e.g. small breast size or a large nose
2. Changes that are the result of physical changes over time or due to a particular event e.g. a stretched stomach after childbirth
3. Aging - women perceiving they look older than they feel
When approaching Doctors about cosmetic surgery, the study revealed that women generally don't know what the surgery entails and therefore they don't know what questions to ask. Many women keep quiet about having surgery due to feeling embarrassed and as a result they don't receive the emotional and practical support they need. Ironically, the research has also shown that Doctors are not understanding why women are there. What was interesting is that men and women have different ideas about the ideal breast size. In previous studies, men have shown a preference for larger breasts than women. In Australia we have a situation where most of the Doctors performing cosmetic procedures are men and most of the patients are women and so unfortunately the end result is that there are now lots of women with larger implants than they originally wanted, for example, a women goes in asking for a C-cup and comes out with a D-cup. And so now in their perception instead of standing out because they have small breasts, they stand out because their breast are large. In most cases, women don't want to look like movie stars or like another person, they want to look like better versions of themselves.
The author Dr Parker says the study has wide ranging implications. The first issue is that we need to actually find out how many women are undergoing cosmetic procedures annually as currently there is no way of tracking this information. The second key point Dr Parker identified is the need for quality control measures throughout the industry. In addition, it is essential that women undergoing cosmetic surgery have access to unbiased information about their procedures. This gives them the knowledge to ask the right questions and make better individual choices. Finally a comprehensive list of complaints needs to be gathered Australia-wide so that the magnitude of the issues associated with these kinds of procedures can be identified.
Rumors have it that one of the key reasons for sky-high insurance premiums is the large number of dissatisfied patients following cosmetic surgery. There is a lack of regulation, education and a great deal of secrecy in this industry. As a result the entire medical industry is suffering financially and women are personally suffering.
