Make yourself beautiful with an injection or a scalpel: Despite the economic crisis and the chronic low tide in private wallets, aesthetic plastic surgery is still booming. Between 1993 and 2008 alone, the number of cosmetic surgeries increased sixfold. According to the German Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Berlin, 400,000 Germans went under the knife for “Operation Beauty” last year alone. 80 percent of them were women, a quarter even teenagers between 15 and 25 years. And if asked on the street, every second German would not be averse to having an operation. Not even if he had to put up with general anesthesia and a few days in the hospital.
Flattening the ears, tightening the eyelids, removing fat, correcting the nose, removing wrinkles – these are the normal wishes of patients, the basics of aesthetic plastic surgery. But in the last five years or so, they’ve become more and more exotic, the incisions in the body, more hair-raising – and more and more questionable. Labia are shortened in a girlish way on a grand scale, buttocks are shaped with a scalpel or navels are set tightly in the middle for a crop top. Some plastic surgeons will do anything for money. Without the risk-benefit factor of the intervention, without having the health of the patient in mind. Here are the five most insane, not recommended cosmetic surgeries.
Totally unnatural: BOTOX AT 25
Plump rubber boat lips for high school, anti-wrinkle botox for Christmas: The “New Generation” knows no fear of contact with artificial beauty. Injections with the strong natural nerve toxin botulinum toxin are particularly popular. Better known by the abbreviation “Botox”. But rejuvenation injections – where exactly? Usually in “Zornes” or nasolabial folds. But with a 25-year-old there is no sign of it. So why do more than 100,000 young women in Germany have non-existent wrinkles sprayed away every year? For prevention. Better safe than sorry. So that fine lines and especially creases don’t stand a chance. “In principle, a Botox treatment should be symptom-oriented and applied if there is a specific finding that causes suffering,” emphasizes Dr. Christoph Reis, specialist in plastic and aesthetic surgery, from the private clinic Dr. Etscheit in Dusseldorf. “As a rule, however, this only happens after the age of 30.” If you are too young, Botox can quickly lead to an artificial, mask-like, overcorrected result. dr Reis: “Especially with young women, naturalness is the top priority.”
Large incisions in BUTTON TIGHTENING
At the age of 45, you have a tight butt like a 25-year-old. Without the sweaty grind at the gym. Almost 10 percent of German women over the age of 40 are already fulfilling this dream. But the patients literally have to bleed for their dream. Because during the up to three-hour operation under general anesthesia, the surgeon removes wrinkles and slack tissue with very large incisions: from the outside of the buttock fold to the front in the groin. “The problem with a buttock lift is in fact that it has to be bought with long scars, which are always noticeable,” says Dr. Marita Eisenmann-Klein, Director of the Clinic for Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Caritas Hospital St. Josef, Regensburg. “If the scars are at the top of the gluteus they are clearly visible when standing on the undressed patient. If they are in the crease between the buttocks and thighs, it can be expected that the scars will subside over time and then become more noticeable.” And the patients then pay up to 7,000 euros for this. Conclusion of Dr. Eisenmann-Klein: “The buttock lift is really only a method for patients after massive weight loss and severe skin sagging.”
BELLY BUTTON SURCHARGE – too high a price
Along with crop tops and navel piercings, navel correction has also become fashionable. The picture book navel should be centered like a young girl, vertically slightly elongated and oval in shape, not too deep, but not protruding either. At least that’s how quite a few plastic surgeons define the optimal optical middle of the woman. But pregnancy, weakening connective tissue, strong weight loss – and radical liposuction! – move some navels out of the supposed beauty norm. Plastic surgery does this in a mostly outpatient operation lasting up to one and a half hours under local anesthesia. In what is known as umbilicoplasty, the surgeon removes excess skin around the navel or detaches it from its base and fixes it a few centimeters below its original position. Not even such a small procedure, which is controversial even among cosmetic surgeons. “There is an urgent need to warn against creating new needs in patients. If a navel is perceived as unaesthetic, there is often an umbilical hernia behind it,” says Dr. Marita Eisenmann-Klein. “With treatment by an inexperienced surgeon, even life-threatening complications are conceivable. The results are also usually disappointing, since tightening operations in the navel area rarely involve sufficiently sagging skin.” The navel is also a genetically determined individual external characteristic of humans. Why standardize everything? And then, if possible, constantly re-operate according to popular beauty trends – too high a price!BREAST BUILDING – Long-term studies are missing
Syringe instead of scalpel: hyaluronic acid is being injected more and more often to build up breasts. Cosmetic surgeons sell this alternative to silicone implants as “gentle”. The doctors use Macrolane gel for the method, which is already used in a similar composition for wrinkle injections. Since the gel breaks down within two to four years, it has to be refilled regularly. “Even during wrinkle treatment there is a risk of cysts or nodules forming as a result of foreign body reactions,” says Dr. Marcus Schlichter, specialist in aesthetic and plastic surgery, Aestheticum practice clinic, Bremen. To date, there have been no controlled long-term studies. The German Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery warns against Macrolane injections in the breast. The reasons: With this technique, more than a hundred times more active ingredient is used than with wrinkle injections. And then also in such a sensitive area as the mammary gland tissue, which in every tenth woman degenerates malignantly in the course of her life. As a result, patients can assume that they will experience more problems. A breast build-up with autologous fat from the abdomen, buttocks or thighs is not without. There are no foreign body reactions. But the fat cells grow poorly in the mammary gland tissue or do not survive long, so that they have to be constantly injected. And this method requires two interventions: liposuction and injections. As a result, patients can assume that they will experience more problems. A breast build-up with autologous fat from the abdomen, buttocks or thighs is not without. There are no foreign body reactions. But the fat cells grow poorly in the mammary gland tissue or do not survive long, so that they have to be constantly injected. And this method requires two interventions: liposuction and injections. As a result, patients can assume that they will experience more problems. A breast build-up with autologous fat from the abdomen, buttocks or thighs is not without. There are no foreign body reactions. But the fat cells grow poorly in the mammary gland tissue or do not survive long, so that they have to be constantly injected. And this method requires two interventions: liposuction and injections.Ordeal: “Younger” HANDS
Remodeling the hands with injections of autologous fat – that alone sounds a bit like Frankenstein’s horror cabinet. In the case of plastic-surgical hand rejuvenation, the relining of the age-related shrinking subcutaneous fatty tissue with autologous fat or hyaluronic acid is usually only a small step towards “juvenile” hands. Quite often, the sagging skin is tightened beforehand or protruding veins are sclerosed. And then the age spots have to go. Lasers, diamond grinding heads for dermabrasion or fruit acid peelings do this. It is understandable that this “rejuvenation package” contains all sorts of risks: e.g. B. light skin instead of age spots, irreparable sensory disturbances, asymmetry of the hands, irregular skin relief. And then youthful hands don’t match forearms anymore,
Botox injections are available at dumping prices after a nose job, and liposuction at a special discount after a facelift. Dubious plastic surgeons lure their patients with a bonus system of up to 10 percent discount. And thus enter anti-competitive territory. According to the judgment of the Frankfurt Regional Court, the OP discount “would cause consumers to undergo treatment or an operation in an improper manner”.BARGAIN CUT ABROAD
More popular than ever: beauty tourism. But the trip to the supposed “surgical paradise” can literally cost the patient dearly: through consulting fees, agency fees and travel expenses, the seemingly cheap foreign surgery quickly becomes more expensive than with a German plastic surgeon. And: If complications occur at home, the German doctor must report the cause to the insurance company. They then refused to pay the costs.ON A GREAT JOURNEY WITH THE BEAUTY-DOC
The latest trend among tour operators: a dream cruise vacation with minimally invasive cosmetic surgeries “all inclusive”. On board, the plastic surgeon injects z. B. wrinkles or injected botox. Aesthetic dental treatments such as bleaching can also be booked. Other tour operators even plan major surgeries such as facelifts on the high seas.
