Dubai: Do people care how their liver looks when over-filled by cholesterol fats and sugar? Not really. But if just a tiny wrinkle appears on their forehead, they lose sleep over it.
“Why is that? Because it shows. It is visible. This is, was, and it will always be,as part of human nature. People want to look perfect, flawless, attractive and forever young. Remember these four powerful words,” says Dr Michael Salivaras, aesthetic plastic surgeon, Clinica Joelle, Dubai.
People do not want to be old. Let me put it this way: They do not want to look old rather than being old.
“People do not want to be old. Let me put it this way: They do not want to look old rather than being old,” he says.
So how can illusions be gently banished? How do cosmetic surgeons say no?
“When I do not really see the problem,” responds Dr Salivaras. “When I believe that they do not understand what I am explaining to them. When I am not 100 per cent sure that they are certain of what they want. When I cannot technically deliver what they want because it is impossible.”
Dr Govila says he does turn away clients. “The main reason is the inability to match what they are looking for.”
“Everything we do should have a justification and be based on evidence and not on photos or whatever else,” says Dr Salivaras.
If it’s not all concurrence and unanimity between the doctor and the client, how much of it is due to the unstoppable nature of the image change an individual seeks?
“Sometimes I feel that patients are so blindly driven by their motivation that they are not willing to hear and understand anything regarding risks and problems related to their procedure,” says Dr Salivaras.
An important element of the discussion is the need for the client to understand the reversibility of the procedure. What if they don’t like how they end up looking?
“Do not forget that cosmetic surgery is based on fashion that changes on average every 10 years,” says Dr Salivaras.
“For example, breast augmentation sizes are bigger this decade compared to the past decade, like what was done 20 years back. Strong facial lines are back in fashion compared to the last decade when more feminine appearance was the norm.”
Beauty comes from within. A woman who is depressed and who does not smile will always look sad irrespective of how many fillers and how much botox she has used on her face to keep it looking young.
And thanks to the internet, people are getting so much information about how procedures are done that when they come for consultation, they even tell the experts how a procedure should be done.
“What they don’t realise is that to reach that level, you have to study for minimum of 12 years to be able to deliver what they see in a five-minute video with before and after photographs,” says Dr Salivaras.
At the end of the day, the truth matters, says Dr Salivaras.
“People who will receive the present will eventually open the box and see inside. This is what I advise to them especially the ones that they worry too much about the way they look.
"Beauty comes from within. A woman who is depressed and who does not smile will always look sad irrespective of how many fillers and how much botox she has used on her face to keep it looking young,” he says.
