Plastic surgery now accessible
THEY can mend gaping holes, reattach limbs and even construct a penis from a person’s forearm. They are the magicians of the anatomy and they are now waving their wands over a larger portion of the population.
According to plastic surgeon and Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons of Southern Africa (Aprassa) president Dr Chris Snijman, all South Africans are now accessing a field of medicine that was once deemed the playground of the rich and famous.
“Plastic surgery is accessible. All reconstruction is covered to some extent by your medical aid and all government hospitals have a plastic surgeon representation.
“If you are looking specifically at aesthetic surgery the demographics have changed. Up until a decade ago, cosmetic surgery was deemed to be for the fabulously wealthy and was probably more Caucasian.
“Now there’s a massive change in paradigm, in what I call aesthetic surgery for people of colour.”
Snijman said the increase in cosmetic surgery crossed all the colour lines.
“They can afford it. It’s become socially acceptable and there’s a heightened awareness of it.”
With this heightened awareness, however, comes a number of challenges that keep those in the profession on their toes.
One of those challenges is managing the unrealistic expectations conjured up in the minds of patients by social media, Hollywood and the celebrity surgeon.
Snijman warns: “Forget the Hollywood hype, forget the my ‘darling, I love you, beautiful boobs, etc’.”
He says that is just the tip of the iceberg.
“The discipline of plastic surgery selects the surgeon to do it, not the other way around. To do what we do requires someone who is quite happy with their own company.
“A lot of our work is done in the early hours of the morning in solitary. It’s a very lonely speciality.
“[It requires] an undue amount of patience and perfectionism. We will take out a stitch and redo it and redo it until it’s perfect, work is on show. “You can’t hide our mistakes.” He says plastic surgeons also have to do a fair amount of counselling to prepare patients for surgery and manage expectations.
“[In Johannesburg] there are the big five, which are your Hollywood kind of practice, but most of us will have another string to our bow.
“There are very few purely cosmetic surgeons because it can become quite boring. The beauty is in the reconstruction.”
Snijman said plastic surgeons are the “fix-it” artists of medicine, as he demonstrated how a penis shaft could be constructed with tissue from a person’s forearm.
“The concept that is out there is that plastic surgeons are artists. Most of us will paint or do something. We’ve all got some little outside interest, but in essence our best canvas is the human body.”
With increased access and advances in medicine, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between reconstructive surgery and aesthetic surgery, he said. because our
“A woman will come in with a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer, potentially life-threatening, and within two to three weeks she’s more concerned about how her reconstructed boobs are looking than her dying. It shifts the whole focus.”
Aprassa has about 158 registered plastic surgeon members, which account for over 98% of South Africa’s licensed surgeons.
A key area of concern for the association is that there are general practitioners carrying out cosmetic procedures which they have not been trained to do, like breast augmentations and liposuction.
Patients who do not get the goahead from licensed surgeons often end up in these practices and sometimes the results are disastrous.
Snijman said a large part of the association’s work was monitoring and reporting these doctors and creating awareness for the public.
“If you are not a recognised member of our association and you do not have the prerequisite qualifications you shouldn’t be touching patients.”