Liposuction and Plastic Surgery Information - Young Chinese driving huge growth in Cosmetic Surgery

Young Chinese driving huge growth in Cosmetic Surgery

Saturday, 16 September 2006

The popularity of cosmetic surgery amongst young Chinese is booming, with thousands of college graduates opting for various procedures in order to look more attractive and to increase their career prospects.

Beijing's 'Evercare' hospital is one of many facilities that are accommodating the growth in demand. The number of young people under 25 opting for a cosmetic procedure has risen dramatically in the past two years. Surgeons at the hospital conduct more than a thousand procedures a year - with a third of patients aged 25 or less. The most popular operations are eyes enlargement, nose jobs and facial reconstruction.

The hospital's rapid growth is an indication of the boom in demand for cosmetic surgery among China's newly affluent consumers. Founded in 2002 with only a few doctors at the time, the hospital now has 40 plastic surgeons at six locations throughout Beijing. When the hospital was founded, nearly all patients opting for plastic surgery were between 25 and 35. But these days, the majority of patients are young college students who hope that by changing their looks they will enhance their chances both in their private and professional lives.

"Students have time to get plastic surgery done on them before they step into the real world. They all want to plunge into society with a better looking face. They feel it is more advantageous in finding jobs and finding a better boyfriend or girlfriend, if they are beautiful. So we have a lot of young students here trying to look more beautiful so they are more competitive once it comes to jobs and finding boyfriends or girlfriends," said plastic surgeon, Wang Jiguang.

The cheapest operation is an eye enlargement job, costing around USD$300. At the other end of the price scale is facial reconstruction, the most popular among students and costing USD$7,500.

For many years, Chinese officialdom banned cosmetic surgery, seeing it as "bourgeois vanity". Only 20 years ago, plastic surgery expertise was restricted to a small number of doctors specializing in post-accident repair work. But now such "bourgeois vanity" is fuelling one of the fastest growing industries in the country. According to figures released by the government, the Chinese spend 2.4 billion USD a year on cosmetic surgery, with an estimated 1 million operations performed a year.

But there are dangers that come with the cosmetic surgery boom. According to some industry estimates, at least 200,000 people have reported being disfigured after plastic surgery in China in the last decade. But these dangers are often overshadowed by dramatically increased wealth and lifestyle options in a society where changing one's looks is just another service that can be bought for a price.

Tags: China, cosmetic surgery,