Dubai: Shams. K, a 30-year-old Emirati housewife, underwent two liposuction operations because she had gained weight after two deliveries.
"Daily exercise did not help," she says. "I had to go under the knife to regain my shape before pregnancy."
Maha A., a 39-year-old Syrian expatriate, said she had breast augmentation done. "I have a small figure. I always dreamt of having a curvy figure. I underwent the operation and I'm happy with the outcome," she says.
"Everyone has two images of themselves. One, is the image seen in a mirror. The second image is hidden in the subconscious. This is the image that the person thinks he or she should look like," says Ali Al Numairy, director general and head of plastic and aesthetic surgery at the Gulf Specialty Hospital in Dubai.
"If the two images do not merge, then whenever he or she sees in the mirror, the subconscious keeps repeating that the current image is not the one he or she wants. That's when the person seeks consultation from a plastic surgeon," he says.
Some people also feel that in today's market, good-looking candidates are always chosen. Some others feel that they are not being promoted because they are unattractive.
Nada M., a 43-year-old Lebanese, business women says, "I underwent a liposuction operation and had a nose job done eight years ago. I am happy with my look. I don't care what people think, since I am happy."
"Nowadays plastic surgery is available to everyone, even people with a very modest income. Their limited budget is no longer an obstacle against their dreams. They can simply approach banks and get a loan and obtain the sought after good looks," says Al Numairy.
And he adds: "It's very true that self image has a big influence on psychological and social well being and even on the individual's professional performance. Most of the successful people are beautiful in the first place, and their beauty has facilitated everything to them and they used it as a passport to introduce them to success effortlessly."
The surgeon says that his job is not to just cut and shape. "On the contrary, a plastic surgeon's role is to make someone's life happier."
Some freshly-graduated plastic surgeons feel they are the best and can do anything. "This is a dangerous stage in the life of the surgeon as he or she begins to accept any case without paying attention to the consequences."
He then notes the mature surgeon knows how to select the cases or point out to the people that they do not need plastic surgery. "The wise surgeon is one who insists not to do the surgery no matter what the profit. Because in such cases the beauty seeker does not know how serious the consequences would be and sometimes the look they demand is not possible because of age or other factors," says the surgeon.
He recounts a recent case where a women in her 20s had come asking for cheek augmentation. "The operation would have worked perfectly, but only for a short period of time. When her facial features start getting older, the augmentation would not be match her age.
"I explained to her over and over again and the also whole process to her husband and showed her how her looks would change through images on computer. I explained to her the operation could not be reversed if she does not like her features with the augmented cheeks, when she reaches 45 or 50. She was finally convinced and we did not do the operation,'' says the surgeon.
Celebrities
He also feels that globalisation has played a big role and as well as the media which builds up images of good-looking celebrities and makes them legendary icons, who then endorse products of multi-national companies. "People like to look like these celebrities," he says.
"Beauty should be complete. Beauty should be symmetrical and beauty should have harmony," says Al Numairy.
He explains: "For instance, when you look at a face with just one eye the face is incomplete. If one eye is bigger than the other, then it is not symmetrical and doesn't reflect the warmth of beauty. When you look at a face with large features, but small eyes, then there is no harmony."
He notes that time also plays a role in the concept of beauty. "In certain periods of time beauty was seen only in skinny women. Today, curvy women are on top of the list. On the other hand, space is a key factor as well, because the standard of beauty in Africa is totally different from in Japan," he explained.
The surgeon feels that soul adds something to beauty. "For example, a dried flower does not compare to the beautiful look of a flower flourishing on a plant."
In each surgical procedure, he says, there is something called patient exclusion, such as a third party motivator - those who go under the knife for the sake of someone else, like the husband for instance.
The surgeon says that a plastic surgeon should always let the image seeker speak freely and frankly what he or she feels about the outer image. "A plastic surgeon should remain neutral and should not start searching for any imperfection in a seeker's image, because once the negative comment reaches the beauty seeker that would be hard to change such vision from the subconscious."
"He or she will imagine themselves as imperfect persons even if there is nothing wrong with the features" he noted.
