RP337 A New You

 RP337 A New You?

More and more Asians are discovering that they don't need to keep the face that they were born with or the bum made huge by too many late-night bubble teas. The body they've always wanted is just a doctor's visit away!
Asia is quickly becoming the plastic surgery capital of the world. Thirty years ago, plastic surgery rates in Asia lagged behind the West due to low incomes, fewer qualified doctors, and a culture that shunned outward vanity. Now, countries like South Korea and China are the places to go to have your face and body altered. In South Korea,20 people in every thousand have had plastic surgery. Most of them had their procedures done in Gangnam, a wealthy district of Seoul. More and more people from Vietnam, China, and Japan are also flocking to Gangnam, where over 500 clinics offer "a new you."
So, what's changed to make Asian people so keen to go under the knife? First and foremost, people have more money in their pockets. A beautiful face has become a symbol of success in Asia, which means plastic surgery can help you display your success to the world. There is also a lot of workplace pressure to get plastic surgery. It's not just the actors and actresses who are looking for eternal youth, but regular people as well. Some job seekers get plastic surgery so they don't lose a job to someone who has the same qualifications but a prettier face.
Asian people tend to want different plastic surgery procedures than their Western counterparts. In the West, customers often want to look younger by having wrinkles or bags of fat under their eyes removed. Asian customers on the other hand often want to look like Westerners. Popular procedures in Asia include double-fold eyelids, breast enlargement, and cheek or lip reduction.
This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. After all, Asia was the birthplace of some of the first plastic surgery procedures. A fourth century Indian medical textbook called The Sushruta Samhita contained a section describing how to reconstruct someone's nose if they happened to have it chopped off.