Recently, news about plastic surgery has
caught the attention of the public. A young woman with the Internet
username "pink baby" has spent more than 4 million yuan ($635,000)
on over 200 cosmetic surgeries during the past 13 years. The first
operation was done on her eyelids when she was 16. Since then,
doctors have operated on nearly every part of her body, some parts
more than once. Nonetheless, these expensive operations didn't
bring her beauty or the perfect figure that she desired, but have
left her in constant pain.
Of the more than 200 plastic surgeries, 70
percent were repairs after failed operations. Despite that, she
still couldn't resist the lure of cosmetic surgery and became
addicted. Worse still, due to substandard and often illegal
operating procedures, the injected substances in her body are like
bombs that could explode anytime, with disastrous consequences for
her health.
The story of this woman reflects the worrying
situation of China's cosmetic surgery industry and the
over-emphasis on appearance in Chinese society.
Alongside the economic boom, the quality of
Chinese people's lives has greatly improved, which gives them more
ability to pursue beauty. Cosmetic surgery is appealing to many
ordinary Chinese, not just stars in the entertainment business.
Since the 1990s, a plastic surgery department has been established
in almost every hospital in China. Entering the 21st century, the
business is more prosperous than ever.
China saw over 3.4 million plastic surgeries
from 2009 to 2010, among which 1.8 million are surgical operations,
according to an investigation conducted by the International
Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. With this number, China ranks
third in the world in terms of the number of plastic surgeries.
The total production value for China's plastic
surgery sector reached 300 billion yuan ($47.58 billion) in 2010,
with more than 20 million people working in the business. During
the past decade, the industry has witnessed a 40-percent annual
growth.
High demand in the market leads to the
existence of some substandard plastic surgery institutions,
increasing the risks of having cosmetic surgeries. According to the
China Consumers' Association, during the past decade there have
been 20,000 consumer complaints annually because of failed plastic
surgeries. The astonishing number tells us that about 200,000
Chinese people have been disfigured to some degree by plastic
surgeries in the past 10 years.
Compared with other countries with developed
plastic surgery industries, China has lax supervision on the
industry or even none at all in some places. Some advertisements
for plastic surgery make it sound "simple," "painless" and "with no
side effects at all." It is hard for consumers to clearly apprehend
the truth. The reckless pursuit of being good-looking and over
reliance on plastic surgery make more and more people willing to
risk their health to receive such operations.
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