27/12/2018
Mexico Becomes One of the Top 3 Countries for Cosmetic Surgery
Living in a retirement community, most of us have either undergone or know friends who have had cosmetic surgery. As we age we all want to feel better about our appearance. It is a common sentiment that you lose 10 years as you cross the border into Mexico. While that is said with humor it has a base in fact. On trips north of the Border it is sometimes shocking to notice how people over 60 become invisible and in a youth driven culture are often dismissed. Living in Mexico and on Lake Chapala especially you are honored, respected and live a much more active life. 60 is the new 50 and 70 is the new 60 here. What would be more natural to want your outward appearance to reflect how you feel inside?
Cosmetic surgery used to be the province of movie stars and wealthy socialites but in recent decades have become commonplace to an increasing number of people. The question is becoming less “if” you will have a cosmetic procedure as “when”.
The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) compiles data from over 3,200 surgeons in over 103 countries and while figures for 2017 are still being compiled their 2016 figures show almost 10.5 million surgical cosmetic procedures performed worldwide (with an additional 13 million non
surgical). The US has traditionally led the way in the number of procedures. However recently the US has slipped to #2(483,054), Brazil is #1(501,490), Russia (who used to be #3) has dropped to #6(101,127) and Mexico has jumped to #3 (167,746). Mexico becoming one of the major players becomes even more surprising when you consider the number of cosmetic surgeons in Mexico is only ¼ of that in the US (1,634 to 6,600).
Mexico is also leading the way in safety and just hosted the Second Ibero-American Forum for Safety in Plastic Surgery in Guadalajara last month. Hosting over 500 world renowned surgeons we can be proud that local Cosmetic Surgeon Dr Gabriel Hernandez was selected as a moderator.
In an interview with Dr Hernandez at his lakeside office at Casita Montana Medical Center he was justifiably proud of this recent honor and with over 21 years as a certified Aesthetic Surgeon and the former president of The Western Society of Plastic, Esthetic and Reconstructive Surgery as well as
former Regional Vice President of The Mexican National Association in Plastic, Esthetic and Reconstructive Surgery he has some very strong views on patient safety.
“Patient safety should always be foremost in the mind of a surgeon,” said Dr Hernandez who added that “performing more than 2 procedures at a time on a patient dramatically increases safety risks”. He also stressed making sure your surgeon is board certified and that the hospital he uses is certified. A certified hospital will not risk their certification by allowing a non certified doctor to perform and have higher standards of sterilization, equipment and staffing. He also stressed that patients having non surgical procedures such as injections and fillers should have the injections performed by a doctor and patients be shown the sealed box with expiration date before receiving an injection.
While we all want to look wonderful and are fortunate to be living in a community with access to world class cosmetic surgeons it is important to do your homework. Take the time to interview your doctor, make sure he understands your goals, participate in deciding procedures as well as recovery, and ask lots of questions.
