She was in her 50s and about to emerge victorious after having faced a long fight against cancer. She needed to improve her appearance, so she turned to a plastic surgeon. Her primary oncologist did not agree: how was she going to continue subjecting her body to other interventions that, in the latter case, were not even necessary. But the patient did not give in to her wishes and she decided to undergo facial rejuvenation.
The change in the woman’s physical appearance brought with it an increase in her self-esteem as great as necessary, said the plastic surgeon who operated on her, and affirmed that this contributed to the patient’s recovery.
Others are added to this case, each with its history and foundations: There is the 20-year-old girl who fixed her nose and put shame aside to establish more social ties. Or the 27-year-old who perfected his pecs and, after going through the clinic, managed to take off his shirt in front of his friends on the beach that summer.
According to a report by the German statistics platform Statista, the market for cosmetic medicine and surgery presented marked growth between 2021 and 2022 worldwide.and it is expected to continue to rise for at least the next seven years.
It is estimated that global turnover in this market went from US$69.5 million to US$75.9 million between 2020-2021. Likewise, it is projected that, by 2030, earnings from cosmetic surgeries will reach US$ 156 million per year. Uruguay is not the exception to the rule.
In recent times, and particularly after the first year of the pandemic, there has been a “significant increase” in consultations for cosmetic surgeries locally, plastic, reconstructive and cosmetic surgeon Gonzalo Fosatti told Café & Negocios. Fosatti has been head of the Plastic Surgery and Microsurgery Service of the Pasteur Hospital since 2008, head of the Plastic Surgery Service of the Maciel Hospital since 2016 and vice president of the Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery of Uruguay (Scpreu). In addition, he founded his own clinic in 1999, which bears his name and has run ever since.
In the era of social networks and the cult of the virtual image, cosmetic surgeries gained greater momentum than they had already been registering. As a result of the confinement imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, video call communications were a fundamental means of maintaining work or personal ties.
People saw themselves more and this made self-perception during confinement a fundamental factor for people to be encouraged to consult for this type of intervention, said the report, which delves into the Latin American reality.
Fosatti explained that in Uruguay this was also the main factor that explains the growth in consultations for cosmetic surgeries in the local market. And he added: “It is very difficult” that a patient who comes to consult a surgeon for an intervention “does not end up completing it.”
According to the vice president of Scpreu, consultations by Uruguayan patients increased in general, and there is no age range that has shown more interest than another in having surgeries of this style. However, there was an approach of men towards these clinics, something that in the specialist’s view was previously uncommon.
In this sense, the report details that, although in the past women of adult age were the patients who underwent these surgical procedures, currently the generation of centennials (born between 1995 and 2010) “expresses interest in aesthetic care” , even more than their predecessors, the millennials (born between 1980 and 1995).
What the Uruguayans ask for
“The Uruguayan patient is conservative; I celebrate that, he is never going to ask you for something grotesque, that breaks with symmetry, for example, ”added the surgeon about the emblem of the local patient.
Body contouring is the aesthetic intervention most requested by Uruguayan patients and, although it is the most widespread, it fights its position with the breast implant, which is the second most requested cosmetic surgery.
Rhinoplasty (a procedure to restore the nose) and otoplasty (ear restoration) are also surgeries in high demand, particularly among male patients, Fossati added.
cross the pond
In Uruguay, the cost of interventions is no longer a decisive factor for the client not to access surgeries, explained the specialist. This is because —in Fosatti’s terms— in recent times this type of medical specialty has managed to reach more sectors of society, and has managed to break the barrier of economic prejudice.
Despite this, the tendency of Uruguayans to travel to Argentina to undergo surgical procedures has increased considerably after the pandemic.
On this phenomenon, the Statista report states that “medical tourism” has been consolidated on the continent. Argentina and Colombia, in particular, have become the favorite destinations for those interested in cosmetic surgery., who come from other countries of the continent. These markets offer a lower cost for the same interventions and a greater development of this sector of medicine compared to its neighbors.
In Argentina, cosmetic surgeries can be “up to three times cheaper than in Brazil or Uruguay”, maintains the report. “Many tourists from neighboring countries choose Argentina to perform surgeries that imply a short time or recovery and that do not take more than one entrance to the operating room,” he develops.
According to data from the National Institute for Tourism Promotion of Argentina, this country received an average of 1,000 medical tourists per month before the pandemic.
In this sense, the Argentine surgeon Jorge Wetzel (specialist in aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery), member of the Argentine Association of Surgery (Maac) and in charge of the Communication area of that organization confirmed the trend on the part of Uruguayans to undergo surgery in their country , like Fossati.
Wetzel explained that the profile of the Uruguayan patient “is not very different from the Argentine”, as Chileans or Brazilians can be, who also come to Argentina to go through aesthetic clinics.
The professional, who practices in the city of Buenos Aires and runs his own clinic, said that the economic situation in the country causes lower costs compared to the region, which strengthens medical tourism in that country.
According to the surgeon, the surgical procedures that are most requested in his country are two: breast implants —which lately “tends to fall”— and liposuction.
For Wetzel, it is essential that the patient who arrives in another country to undergo surgery is careful and goes through a meticulous process, which goes from choosing the right professional to taking care that the postoperative period is in the country where the surgery is performed and for the necessary time. “To take care that there are no risks, the professional must submit the patient to various controls and analyzes, such as an electrocardiogram,” explained the Argentine. And he added: “If the specialist doctor complies with all the controls, there are very few chances that the outpatient will get involved” in aesthetic interventions.
Besides, Wetzel highlighted the importance of the surgeon maintaining ties with peers from other countries for control issues regarding the evolution of the patient, and expressed that he has them both in Uruguay and in other countries..
Fossati, for his part, qualified this idea and expressed that “it is important that the patient undergo surgery in their own country whenever possible for reasons of safety and control.”
Although both professionals preferred not to talk about costs for “ethical reasons,” according to the report, cosmetic facial surgeries can cost between US$10,000 and US$40,000 in Latin America. The minimum cost of this type of intervention, on this continent, is usually US$1,500 and can reach up to US$20,000 or US$30,000 if it involves “surgeries with many processes”.
Uruguay has already shown that it follows the continent’s trend in the aesthetic medicine market, although with more “cared for” tastes than some of its neighbors. “You have to do it for your own well-being, because, ultimately, it’s about operating on your soul,” Fossati concluded.
