Plastic surgeons in Brazil

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In 2000, Brazil became the capital of Plastic surgery on a per capita basis, surpassing the United States. A legacy of beautiful Brazilians--starting with the lore associated with the song "Girl from Ipanema," to current super model Gisele Bundchen and a parade of buxom models who have succeeded her-- has created the perception that Brazilians have cornered the market on pulchritude perfection.

And Brazilians are unabashed in admitting to a little help from a surgeon’s hands: in Brazil, it’s more important to be perfect than to be natural.

With visions of curvaceous cleavages dancing in their heads, American women are flocking to Brazil for cosmetic surgery. The origin may be the fame of Brazil's most renowned cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Ivo Pitanguy, who continues to run a cosmetic surgery clinic in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian surgeons can use gummy bear gel breast implants and emphasize techniques that are supposed to minimize scarring for breast augmentation.

Frankly though, it is fair to say that Brazil’s popularity for cosmetic surgery is fueled by two other powerful lifestyle forces: cost and the desire for travel. If one can go on a vacation, stay in a fancy hotel and get a host of "plastics" done at a fraction of what it might cost in the U.S., it’s a formidable draw.

For example, the company Estetica Brasil will arrange surgeons and medical facilities and will organize your recovery in a secluded environment in sunny Fortaleza, a tropical paradise on the northeast coast of Brazil.

Discussing about plastic surgery abroad, there are several options, but Brazil is definitely a no-brainer if you want world-class quality at an affordable price. Fortaleza, in northern Brazil, is close to the USA, and home of some of the best Board Certified plastic surgeons in the world.

Now let us compare the popularity of Plastic Surgery in Brazil and US. In the US, in 2005, as many as 1.7 million cosmetic surgical procedures were performed. In Brazil, approximately 600,000 procedures were performed and it has a population of about 186 million. It is not easy to compare these numbers since the American Society of Plastic Surgery and the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery include different procedures in their calculations, but it is a fact that Brazil has a very high rate of plastic surgery per capita.

What is interesting though is that about half of the total number of surgical procedures is done for aesthetic reasons. Now that is no surprise considering the size of Brazilian thongs and bikinis. Another reason that makes Brazilian plastic surgeons more appealing is that the country is ethnically very diverse and that gives doctors a lot of expertise in operating on people of different body types and skin colors - two things that can make a big difference.

And according to news reports, cosmetic surgeons in Brazil undergo rigorous training and certification despite the fact that some American doctors (for competitive reasons) may often criticize non-American doctors by calling them poorly trained or using questionable medical techniques.

So my advice is that do your research before picking a Brazilian clinic but it is definitely something to think about.

For decades Brazil has been considered a thriving centre for cosmetic surgery, and it is now at the heart of a growing wave of surgery tourism, with foreigners jetting in for a few days on the cutting board and a week's recuperation on the beach. After the United States, home to 5,000 registered cosmetic surgeons, Brazil comes in a close second, with around 4,000.

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.

Cosmetic surgery has traditionally been seen as the reserve of Brazil's wealthy upper classes. That however is changing. The development of "minimal incision" and "less invasive" operations at walk-in clinics are starting to democratise access to cosmetic treatment, suggesting that private clinics will soon be found in some of the city's shanty towns.

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. 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 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. This is why Brazilian surgeons remain among the world's best when it comes to abdomen or buttocks. The operating techniques come predominantly from Brazil.

Women from the US, Europe and other rich countries where there is high medical costs are flocking to have their Plastic Surgery in Brazil, like a tummy tuck, a liposuction or breast work, done for less in places like Brazil.

Plastic surgeons in Brazil report a 20% increase in foreign patients last year over 2005. The popular cable television program Entertainment Tonight has followed women on the so-called “beauty and the beach” trail to Brazil.

Price is the biggest incentive for prospective foreign patients. Depending partly on the often fluctuating exchange rate, total expenditures in Brazil usually run from one-third to one-half of what the same procedure would cost in the United States, say insiders.

Brazil stands out from cut-throat competition of Third World crowd because it can keep a straight face as it offers First World quality at a reasonably lower rate. Over 600,000 aesthetic operations were performed in 2006. Brazil has been a recognized international leader in the area of plastic surgery for decades.

Full-service operators try to eliminate some of the worry by helping prospective patients perform due diligence on physicians and hospitals, an often difficult task given language barriers and an unfamiliar bureaucracy.