S. Korea's plastic surgery fad goes extreme
Source: AFP |
May 28, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea's obsession with plastic surgery is moving on from standard eye and nose jobs to embrace a radical surgical procedure that requires months of often painful recovery.
A stream of celebrities boast on TV shows how it gave them a "new life," while advertisements extolling its cosmetic benefits are everywhere from street billboards to subway stations, magazines and Internet sites.
But there's nothing really "cosmetic" about double-jaw surgery.
One result of the bone-cutting procedure is often a slimmer jawline and that's what caught the attention of South Korea's booming beauty industry.
A small face with a "V-shaped" chin and jawline is considered a mark of feminine beauty in much of East Asia, along with a high-bridged nose and big eyes.
"This surgery alters your look far more dramatically than, say, Botox or a nose job because it changes your entire facial bone structure," said Choi Jin-Young, a professor in dentistry at Seoul National University.
"But it's a very complex, potentially dangerous surgery. It's disturbing to see people with no real dental flaws daring to go through it just to have a small, pretty face," Choi said.
The procedure, which involves general anaesthesia and takes months to recover from, carries the risk of various complications including permanent facial numbness or even paralysis.
Data from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons suggests South Korea has one of the highest per-capita rates of plastic surgery procedures in the world.
Cut throat competition among the growing number of plastic surgeons has driven some to promote more radical procedures that others might not offer.
There is no official data on how many double jaw surgeries are performed. One recent study estimated the annual figure at 5,000.
Some 52 percent of those who had taken the surgery suffered sensory problems such as facial numbness, the study said.
"My mouth keeps moving leftward and the jaw area has gone numb," wrote one user of a medical consumer online forum, showing photos of her skewed mouth.
Last August, a 23-year-old college who underwent double-jaw surgery killed herself. She left a suicide note explaining her desperation after the surgery left her unable to chew food or stop crying due to nerve damage in a tear duct.
A Seoul lawmaker in January proposed setting a minimum age limit for plastic surgery, noting the danger of "bone-related surgeries" in particular.
But Lim In-Sook, professor of sociology at Korea University, said legislation couldn't tackle the root causes that push some women to risk their health for a prettier face.
"This is a highly male-dominated nation where women need both brains and beauty, or often beauty more than brains, to get a job, get married and to survive in all aspects of life," she said.
Plastic surgery, according to Lim, has become just another accepted way of giving yourself an edge in what is a super-competitive society.
"So every single part of our bodies becomes an object for nip and tuck," Lim said. "Today it's your jaw, but who knows what we'll have to fix tomorrow?"
A stream of celebrities boast on TV shows how it gave them a "new life," while advertisements extolling its cosmetic benefits are everywhere from street billboards to subway stations, magazines and Internet sites.
But there's nothing really "cosmetic" about double-jaw surgery.
One result of the bone-cutting procedure is often a slimmer jawline and that's what caught the attention of South Korea's booming beauty industry.
A small face with a "V-shaped" chin and jawline is considered a mark of feminine beauty in much of East Asia, along with a high-bridged nose and big eyes.
"This surgery alters your look far more dramatically than, say, Botox or a nose job because it changes your entire facial bone structure," said Choi Jin-Young, a professor in dentistry at Seoul National University.
"But it's a very complex, potentially dangerous surgery. It's disturbing to see people with no real dental flaws daring to go through it just to have a small, pretty face," Choi said.
The procedure, which involves general anaesthesia and takes months to recover from, carries the risk of various complications including permanent facial numbness or even paralysis.
Data from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons suggests South Korea has one of the highest per-capita rates of plastic surgery procedures in the world.
Cut throat competition among the growing number of plastic surgeons has driven some to promote more radical procedures that others might not offer.
There is no official data on how many double jaw surgeries are performed. One recent study estimated the annual figure at 5,000.
Some 52 percent of those who had taken the surgery suffered sensory problems such as facial numbness, the study said.
"My mouth keeps moving leftward and the jaw area has gone numb," wrote one user of a medical consumer online forum, showing photos of her skewed mouth.
Last August, a 23-year-old college who underwent double-jaw surgery killed herself. She left a suicide note explaining her desperation after the surgery left her unable to chew food or stop crying due to nerve damage in a tear duct.
A Seoul lawmaker in January proposed setting a minimum age limit for plastic surgery, noting the danger of "bone-related surgeries" in particular.
But Lim In-Sook, professor of sociology at Korea University, said legislation couldn't tackle the root causes that push some women to risk their health for a prettier face.
"This is a highly male-dominated nation where women need both brains and beauty, or often beauty more than brains, to get a job, get married and to survive in all aspects of life," she said.
Plastic surgery, according to Lim, has become just another accepted way of giving yourself an edge in what is a super-competitive society.
"So every single part of our bodies becomes an object for nip and tuck," Lim said. "Today it's your jaw, but who knows what we'll have to fix tomorrow?"
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