Plastic Surgery – A Sign of Recovery?

When nations start to recover from wars or poverty, guess what one of the leading indicators are?

More jobs? Certainly. More new cars sold? Maybe. People getting more cosmetic plastic surgery? Without doubt!

On March 21st, the Associated Press circulated a story worldwide telling how plastic surgeons in Iraq are now being overwhelmed by patients wanting nose jobs, Botox, liposuction and more.

(Read more about the new demand for plastic surgery in Iraq.)

Because plastic surgeons are also trained in reconstructive surgery, those same doctors had been busy treating scars, burns and poorly healed wounds.

But, guess what? Cosmetic plastic surgery has been a harbinger of better times before.

Take Afghanistan, for instance. At war since the late 70s or under the thumb of oppressive rulers, things started getting better in 2005, with allied nations chasing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda into the distant hills.

Then, relative peace, security and prosperity came to the larger Afghan cities like Kabul, its capitol.

The opening of the Hamkar Surgical Clinic, the first Afghan cosmetic surgery clinic in the nation, made headlines worldwide. People there also wanted breast augmentations, eyelid lifts, nose jobs and removal of facial wrinkles.

On the other side of the globe, in China, prosperous times mean that more people are now asking about – and having – much more cosmetic plastic surgery.

According to China Daily, plastic surgery procedures in Beijing have doubled this year, with the typical patient being young, shapely and determined to stay that way.

China also was the first to hold a beauty contest just for women who have had cosmetic plastic surgery. The idea was triggered when a Chinese woman spent about $13,000 on cosmetic surgery only to be disqualified from the contest because she had breast implants and a face lift.

Yet another emerging economy, Hungary, also organized a similar contest. (Read more in our post about Miss Plastic Surgery.)

As of 2004, about $2.4 billion was spent on rejuvenation surgery in China. That amount has probably doubled to come close to the $10 billion that Americans spent on cosmetic plastic surgery in 2009.

Not foreseeing the Great Depression in America, President Hoover promised a continuing time of prosperity as “a chicken in every pot”.

So will newer politicians in nations emerging from hard times now promise “a lift on every face” as the yard stick for measuring good times?