In the age of the internet where a plethora of information is available at fingertips, but sadly the authenticity of information is always debatable. On the account of world plastic surgery day; Afternoon Voice spoke to some renowned plastic surgeons from Maharashtra regarding the fallacy about plastic surgery. Most of the surgeon’s advised not to believe everything out there, by clearing up some common myths and misconceptions about plastic surgery.
Dr Parag Telang, Cosmetic Surgeon from Mumbai said, “There is nothing artificial or plastic about plastic surgery. Plasticos is a Greek word which means “to mould”, there is no plastic used or involved in surgeries. There is another biggest misconception that Plastic surgery is only about luxury, which is not true. There are many reasons that people undergo plastic surgery. In some cases, it is a required medical procedure and in others, it’s due to accident or disease. In many cases, procedures are undertaken in order to address self-esteem and confidence issues that affect the life of a person.”
Dr Suresh Sanghvi, a Cosmetic Surgeon from Pune said, “The Biggest myth about plastic surgery in India is that in every operation of plastic surgery the surgeon uses skin from other parts of the body. Unless it’s not a skin grafting case no skin is needed to be removed from elsewhere. Meanwhile, I also want to mention those extreme cases in the media but generally plastic surgeons aim to give a natural result that fits a person’s unique features and is not straight away obvious. After all, the mark of great plastic surgery is that you can’t tell the person has had plastic surgery! Millions of men and women have plastic surgery procedures every year and they look upgraded.”
Dr Anshuman Manaswi, a Plastic Surgeon from Mumbai said, “Many people think that the only treatment available in plastic surgery is skin grafting. This is a false impression. Plastic surgery means restoration of any part of the body for function or beautification. Skin grafting is one type of plastic surgery. But plastic surgery also involves cosmetic stitching of wounds, face and nose beautification or liposuction (fat removal) or cancer reconstructions. The field is very vast and awareness needs to be built in the public for better utilisation of the techniques available.”
Dr Abhilash from Kerala said, “There is a hilarious rumour that the Men shouldn’t and don’t undergo cosmetic procedures. This is an allegory. In the modern era, quite a big population of Men commonly seek out cosmetic procedures, such as liposuction, breast reduction and facial feature correction. Looking good is not only the prerogative of a particular gender.”
Dr Varun Dixit, a Plastic Surgeon from Mumbai told Afternoon Voice, “There are many misconceptions such as; plastic surgery involves the use of plastic. Plastic surgery is only for beautification; Plastic surgery is only for the rich and elite. Plastic surgery is dangerous Plastic surgery is the same as Aesthetic surgery and so on. The awareness about plastic surgery is not adequate in our society.”
Dr Deepak Chaturvedi M.D. (Medicine) from Mumbai quotes, “Plastic surgeons have a significant, crucial and indispensable role in the management of victims of Burns, Acid exposure, accidents, Trauma. Their specialized role in managing these patients through their phenomenal “Reconstructive Surgery” knowledge actually gives them the position next to God. When I say this, I really mean it. But something has gone amiss in the last couple of decades. Most plastic surgeons because of the pressure of demand have started branding themselves as “Aesthetic/ Beauty Surgeons”. The demand is huge so the reward definitely is too attractive to miss. From botox, fillers to facelift to tummy tuck to Liposuction to Breast job to Nose job to Hair Transplantation… Plastic surgeons are busy in their efforts to provide “Eternal Beauty” to the people having “Unrealistic expectations”.
With the growing demand (full of unrealistic expectations) the myth that “Being good looking (or in shape) is the key to success and plastic surgery is the solution” is growing day by day. With the continuously growing demand and the pressure from all the corners of the society including the media and entertainment industry, this myth has no other way but to keep growing. In coming years, more and more plastic surgeons may drift from Burns and Trauma management towards the fascinating “Aesthetics and Beauty Surgeries”.
