Asian plastic surgery is a Vancouver growth industry

Asian plastic surgery is a Vancouver growth industry

 

June 22, 2012. 

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  Posted by: 
  Erin Ellis, Vancouver Sun

  
  

I knew that Chinese people sometimes make fun of Caucasians with the name “big nose,” so it struck me as odd that young Asian women are paying for surgery to make their noses more prominent.

And Vancouver plastic surgeons are happily picking up that business. Angie Kozina, director of  8 West Cosmetic Surgery, says the number of procedures for Asian clients has tripled in the last five years at her clinic. She recently hired a receptionist who speaks Cantonese and Mandarin to help her field inquiries. The clinic’s patients are now about 50 per cent Asian – both Canadian and foreign-born – because 8 West’s surgeon Dr. Thomas Buonassisi has made double-eyelid surgery and ‘Asian augmentation rhinoplasty’ his specialties.

To explain,  double eyelid surgery creates a fold in the skin above the eye instead of a single curtain of skin running from eyebrow to eyelash. It’s been around for a while and is the most common specialty surgery for Asians in Vancouver. Its aim is to make eyes look bigger, but the end result also mimics Caucasian eyelids.

Before and after double eyelid surgery.

Rhinoplasty, or a nose job, for Asian clients is the opposite of that performed on most Caucasians who want to lower the profile of their regal noses. For those who want to make sure designer sunglasses don’t slip off their faces – and really, who can put up with that! – the answer is to surgically implant a smidgen of gortex or some of their own cartilage harvested from elsewhere on the body. It will likely cost between $5,000 and $10,000.

Vancouver plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Denton says the goal is not a European-style nose, but rather to create a higher nasal bridge so that it’s visible in profile and fills a “void” on the mid-face in a straight-on view.

“The ideal with a typical Asian rhinoplasty is not to give them a Caucasian nose at all, in fact they don’t want that now. Maybe 20 years ago that was the case… But the idea is to give the nose a bit more height which does several things: it anchors the mid-face, it draws the eyes closer together, it creates a shadow line down the side of the nose and actually makes the face look much more mature,” Denton said.

Asian clients now make up about 20 per cent of his practice, a steady annual growth of 10 per cent in recent years. He credits that to greater affluence in Asia, rising demand for cosmetic procedures in general and demographics in Vancouver where about 20 per cent of the population has roots in China, Japan and Korea.

Dr. J.A. Bartlett also says about 20 per cent of the patients in his facial plastic surgery clinic are Asian, but that has remained stable for 20 years. Likewise, demand for double eyelid surgery and nose enhancement is increasing along with all cosmetic procedures, he says, not any faster. When it comes to the nose, patients are seeking a straight, even bridge and narrow defined tip, two characteristics he says are pleasing across ethnic lines.

While plastic surgeons like to talk about our innate sense of beauty – the notion that all humans share a preference for certain facial features – I think society has an even greater influence on what we think is appealing. Look no further than today’s Barbie-doll breasted reality TV stars versus the waif shape of the 1920s which women bound their chests to achieve.

And it’s one thing to dye your hair or pluck your eyebrows, but do young women really need to go under the knife for the sake of a trend? Better to save that money for a cute little condo.

Here’s a link to a  list of Vancouver’s most popular cosmetic procedures,