Plastic surgery long ago ceased to be taboo in Brazilian society. Celebrities talk openly in the media about their respective facelifts, wrinkle reductions and bum tucks, while several glossy magazines dedicated to the topic appear on newspaper stands across the country.
Exact figures are hard to come by, with doctors at the conference reluctant to talk about how much the Brazilian market is worth. Americans spent around $12.4bn on plastic surgery in 2005, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery; doctors here say Brazil is not far behind.
The development of "minimal incision" and "less invasive" operations at walk-in clinics are starting to democratise access to cosmetic treatment.
"The mentality of the Brazilian people ... is a very open kind of mentality compared with that of the Europeans. Brazilians have a much greater ease in seeking out plastic surgery," says Vincent CHASTEL, Managing Director for estetica Brasil, a leading cosmetic tourism agency. "It is a tropical country, where people enjoy exposing their bodies. This helps stimulate people to have surgery."
Brazil's medical legislation has also paid a considerable part, he says. Silicone breast implants, outlawed in the US for 10 years, have been part of Brazilian life since 1993. This, Chastel says, has, in effect, given Brazilian surgeons a 10-year headstart.
The tendency of Brazilians is the body as they show off their bodies on the beach: they mainly opt for liposuction or work on the abdomen, which explains why Brazilian surgeons remain among the world's best when it comes to barrigas (bellies) or bundas (buttocks).
These techniques come predominantly from Brazil.
For More Information and a Free Virtual Consultation, please Visit Estetica Brasil website : http://www.bbinstitut.com/
