Cosmetic surgery on breasts and eyelids

Cosmetic surgery on breasts and eyelids most often

14/06/2013

Breast augmentation, eyelid tightening and liposuction were in 2011 the most commonly performed cosmetic surgery in Germany. This resulted in a survey of the German Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (DGPRÄC) among its members.

Plastic surgery involves more than just cosmetic surgery
The DGPRÄC counted a total of 138,500 esthetic-plastic interventions in 885 plastic surgeons operating in Germany - this corresponds to about one third of the total plastic surgery. In addition, almost 132,000 wrinkle injections with botulinum toxin, hyaluronic acid and other supplements are added. In the total volume of plastic-surgical operations, the proportion of so-called cosmetic surgeries rose only slightly at 30 percent. The President of the DGPRÄC, Prof. Peter M. Vogt, therefore emphasizes: „This shows very clearly that plastic surgery involves more than 'plastic surgery' and aesthetic surgery as one of the four pillars of the subject is only part of the broad spectrum.“ The other three pillars are Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Hand Surgery and Burn Surgery.

Men rarely correct
Basically, it should be noted that significantly more women than men put under the knife. According to the DGPRÄC men were only in the hair transplant, ear and chin corrections in the majority. However, this should not hide the fact that the proportion of men opting for plastic surgery has been increasing. According to the German Society for Aesthetic Surgery (GÄCD), their number has more than doubled. The under-18s, who only make up 1.3 percent of the population, are a tiny phenomenon. Prof. Vogt said: „By far the most OPs are ear corrections - other interventions are rare.“ For the male part, the expert analyzed: „The statistics clearly shows the problem areas of the man - hair loss, protruding ears, a little prominent chin.“

Massive wrinkle injections
It was also found that the „classical“ surgical interventions are almost as many wrinkle injections face, but the validity of such figures is considered rather low. Prof. Vogt on: „On the one hand, the high number is due to the fact that botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid must be regularly injected“ and „In addition, many other groups of doctors also offer injections, so that the total number is certainly much larger. Even non-medical practitioners and beauticians inject wrinkles today, beauticians are not authorized to do so.“ In the case of wrinkle injections, only about one in ten is a man. In the UK, according to a recent poll, the „British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons” (BAAPS), 69 percent of Plastic Surgeons correct the complications of external wrinkle injections. Above all, unqualified users are responsible. In principle, the overall proportion of women in Germany who opt for such treatment is relatively small. For example, the market research company GfK had been commissioned by the „pharmacy magazine“ found that only slightly more than one percent of German women can be treated with Botox to smooth their wrinkles.

Differences in Intimate Surgery
As already suggested, the survey on the subject of intimate surgery revealed that penile correction, with around 150 interventions, is more of a marginal issue. The DGPRÄC had already some time ago the alleged „trend“ critically questioned for penis enlargement. But quite different in female intimate surgery. Of the 138,500 cosmetic surgeries performed, the respondents also had more than 5,400 labia corrections. This is an indication that such interventions „arrived in the middle of the society“ are. Prof. Vogt points out, however: „We will have to discuss how to deal with the topic. In many cases, the interventions are necessary, for example, in greatly enlarged, painful labia. But of course, the strong media attention also ensures that many women no longer see their labia as 'beautiful'.“ (Sb)

Picture: Martin Büdenbender