Why hundreds are flocking to clinics for breast enlargements and nose jobs
David Darmanin
Almost 200 Maltese women have had their breasts enlarged by surgery at St Philip’s or St James Hospital over the past year, MaltaToday has learnt.
And the number does not include the host of other cosmetic interventions carried out by both hospitals – which keep growing in popularity as local makeover TV shows like Arani Issa, Bonġu and the international hit Dr 90210 promote the practice.
“Cosmetic surgery in Malta has really picked up over the last years,” St Philip’s Hospital manager Mark Bondin said. “Irrespective of the situation of the economy around the world, this industry is still growing in Malta, albeit at a slower rate than in previous years. We still witness a yearly growth of about 20%.”
Spokespersons for both St Philip’s and St James Hospital confirmed that cosmetic surgery in Malta has become popular among people coming from all walks of life, irrespective of their income or social standing.
The TV effect
Along with a raft of other cosmetic interventions such as lip and cheek augmentations; face, brow, arm, body, thigh and neck lifts; nose reshaping; fat grafting; liposuction; breast reductions, reconstructions and lifting; cellulite treatment; and ‘designer vaginas’ – breast enlargements constitute the largest chunk of the St Philip Hospital’s profit.
On his part, St James Hospital theatre manager Albert Micallef said that cosmetic surgery has been in steady growth since 1987, when “a general surgeon who had a special interest in cosmetic operations” started carrying out liposuctions at his own clinic. In a short while, both St Philip’s and St James invested in their own equipment and started carrying out such operations within their own premises.
“St James Hospital Group nowadays runs two state of the art hospitals and a dedicated cosmetic outpatient clinic,” Micallef said.
Bondin attributes a good part of the growth to “popular TV shows, which have really helped popularise the concept, and have led the general public to accept cosmetic surgery as normal practice.”
Rhinoplasties, popularly known as nose jobs, feature along with breast enlargements as the most popular operations performed at St Philip’s.
“Most people requiring cosmetic surgery are women aged 30 or younger, but this is not the type of service that attracts a specific stream of society,” Bondin said. “People from all walks of life ask for interventions. Some people in fact take loans to pay for the interventions. Other hospitals go as far as making the bank arrangements themselves.”
At St James too, Micallef confirms that “breast enhancement tends to be one of the most popular operations requested”.
“Throughout the years, we have had requests from all age groups ranging from 18 years to people in their mid-fifties or more. The clients tend to come from different strata of society,” he told MaltaToday.
Health and financial risks
At this time of the year, requests for cosmetic surgery seem to increase significantly, since according to Bondin, this industry is “very seasonal”.
“We get most requests at this time, before summer. Once people decide on their intervention they would not want to wait,” he said.
Although St James Hospital was not willing to disclose average price ranges for cosmetic interventions, St Philip’s revealed that “each invasive surgical intervention would roughly cost the patient anything between €3,000 to €5,000 – but this would very much depend on what is required.”
Implants and prosthesis all come at a high price. “A pair of silicone breast implants cost over €1,000,” Micallef said. Asked about the health risk such operations may carry, Micallef said that just like with many other surgical interventions – patients may risk getting infections, allergies, bruising and, in rare cases – the death of tissue cells and living tissue (necrosis of tissue).
“Secondary bleeding may occur sometimes after certain procedures like rhinoplasties,” he said. “These complications are discussed between the patient and the surgeon during the first consultation. Once again, the patient is reminded about the outcome and complications of the operation which is due to be carried out, prior to being admitted to the operating theatre, it is precisely at that time that the informed consent form is signed by both patient and surgeon. The success rate is high. I would rate it at 98%.”
Doctors at St Philip’s too ensure that all precautions are taken in advising patients of all risks – however small. “We ensure that routine investigations are carried out to assess our patients,” Bondin said. “If patients are found to be at risk, further investigations are carried out before deciding whether to go along with the intervention or otherwise. The surgeons on their part make a thorough and exhaustive explanation of the procedure and the risks before intervening.”
Surgery on minors
Neither of the hospitals intervene if the patient is found to be unfit for an operation. But whereas St James Hospital will only intervene on minors if the intervention would reduce the risk of taunting and bullying, St Philip’s seem to be more liberal in their approach.
St Philip’s has in fact operated upon girls under the age of 18 for breast enlargements or reductions, and upon both sexes for rhinoplasties, among others.
Some parents too seem to have become more liberal in allowing children to undergo cosmetic surgery. “More often than not, parents accompany their children when they request our services,” Bondin said. “When we deal with minors, it is generally also the parents who pay for it.”
Small penis? Think again
For those men who think that an intervention St James Hospital may resolve their issues on the size of their penis, think again.
“We have never performed penis enlargements at our hospitals, requests for such operations are few and far apart,” Micallef told MaltaToday. “Our experienced surgeons share the opinion that the results are never so satisfactory. Besides, one main complication that may arise is total or partial impotence.”
Although a few operations on male genitalia were carried out at St Philip’s, requests for such operations were minimal.
One in 50 ‘obsessed’
Micallef warned that such interventions may lead to psychological repercussions such as the excessive concern and the preoccupation by an imagined or minor defect in one’s physical features.
“I would be definitely inclined to confirm that patients who are satisfied and achieve a good result after the first intervention, would opt to go for a second or multiple procedures at a later date,” he said. “Patients do seem to develop a form of addiction for such operations.”
The condition is known as dysmorphobia, of which it is estimated that up to 2% of the world’s population suffers the symptoms. Surgeons at St James do not operate on people suffering from this condition unless they undergo therapy.
Medical tourism still low
Although both hospitals have made arrangements to fly in tourists interested in undergoing medical interventions in Malta, both spokespersons said that the vast majority of patients are in fact Maltese.
“So far, we get a very minimal percentage of tourists requiring such interventions,” Bondin said. “We know that medical tourism is on the national agenda, but we have only just started working on this idea and there is much more to be done.”
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