More plastic surgery clinics in Dubai than Hollywood

Dubai - "As far as the UAE is concerned, almost nobody is completely comfortable with the way they look," a general surgeon said.

Did you know that Dubai, of all the cities in the world, has more plastic surgery clinics than anywhere else on the planet, including Hollywood? This is what Dr J.S. Rajkumar, laparoscopic surgeon at Medstar Healthcare LLC, told Khaleej Times.
"As far as the UAE is concerned, almost nobody is completely comfortable with the way they look. A huge premium has been placed on the skin-hair-figure by the cosmetic and the beauty industry, and the general public has been completely swept by this wave of body consciousness. Thus, the choice was made to differentiate into wellness and aesthetic centre at Medstar to cater to the growing needs of the population," said Dr Rajkumar, a renowned general surgeon who has performed over 25,000 laparoscopic surgeries.
Medstar Healthcare is a standalone sophisticated day surgery centre in the UAE and a multi speciality family care and aesthetics centre supported by a team of highly experienced physicians and support staff has recently changed ownership and management.
Explaining the new facilities at MedStar, Dr Rajkumar said: "The new MedStar has been revamped and energised with multiple departments catering to integrated and holistic healthcare for the entire family. The current focus is to increase the quality of the patient experience."
Apart from the regular departments for illness, they are also concentrating on the wellness experience. "We have a special infusion room in which patients can have, with a gentle ambiance, intravenous infusions of vitamins and anti-oxidants to provide nutritional supplementation.
"There is also a strong bias towards a static and cosmetic surgery and daycare keyhole surgeries, to allow patients to go back home on the same day with much less pain and much less discomfort."
While giving more insight into the data of the massive difference between the ratio of men and women who do cosmetic surgery, Dr Rajkumar said: "Yes, it is true that there is a substantial difference. On an average, out of 10 patients undergoing any form of cosmetic surgery/procedure, eight tend to be women. Also, it is true that a large proportion of these tends to be Emiratis or those from the neighbouring GCC."
Since more and more people are accepting their natural looks and flaws as well, how significant is cosmetic enhancement during these times?
"It is good that there is, at least in some quarters of the population, decreasing body consciousness and an increasing consciousness of the true self. However, there is still a huge number of patients who seek to be more comfortable with their body image. Not all beautiful people are good, but all good people are beautiful. Inner beauty is priceless.
However one needs to look deep inside to discover it. For outer beauty, however, look no further than Medstar," commented Dr Rajkumar.
arti@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Dubai