As a Los Angeles rhinoplasty specialist, I often follow surgical trends in other countries. I blogged recently about the astonishing popularity of cosmetic surgery in South Korea, for instance, and my own practice offers a comprehensive focus on ethnic cosmetic surgery. Now a new wire story is gaining steam – and raising concerns – about another country’s love affair with the scalpel: Lebanon.
The local Daily Star covers the trend in some detail:
At the Hazmieh International Medical Center, general manager, medical director and facial cosmetic surgeon Dr. Elias Chammas says demand among Lebanese has risen consistently since the center opened in 1998.
Rhinoplasty, or the nose job, has remained the firm No. 1 favorite, performed on girls from the age of 16, and followed, he says, by breast augmentation, liposuction and eyelid lifts.
[. . .]
Lebanon has traditionally been a favored cosmetic surgery destination among regional medical tourists due to the reputation of the country’s doctors, mostly trained in the United States, and the price of surgeries here.
This tracks reasonably well with worldwide trends, right down to the article’s mention of an increase in male plastic surgery as well. So why the concern? Because Lebanese accreditation isn’t quite as well established as in some other developed nations, and many people believe that a majority of Lebanese surgeons are performing complex procedures like rhinoplasty and blepharoplasty without advanced training.
For those of you staying stateside, my Los Angeles rhinoplasty office is proud to offer dual board certification and advanced training at this nation’s top hospitals. So no matter if you are Lebanese or Portuguese, you can contact us with confidence to set up a Los Angeles nose surgery appointment today.