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Give a friend a lift with a plastic token gesture

Jan 16 2004
By Clare Usher, Daily Post

FORGET book tokens and boxes of chocolates, the newest gift idea for the woman in your life is gift vouchers - for cosmetic surgery.

The popularity of nips and tucks, nose jobs and breast enhancement in the search for the body beautiful is growing, with the amount of inquiries to plastic surgeons doubling within the past year.

One clinic says it has registered twice as many calls in the first week of January this year as it did in the same period in 2003, which has broken all previous records.

The figures come from a new report by the Transform clinic which has also seen business increase by more than a third in the last 12 months.

One woman who has joined the crowds flocking to plastic surgeons is St Helens model Louise Glover (pictured).

The 20-year-old former Miss Great Britain had a breast enlargement from a 34A to a 34D seven weeks ago at Cosmedico, in Liverpool.

Miss Glover said: "It was something I really wanted done and it will help me in my career as a model.

"I had been getting through to the finals of all sorts of competitions but not winning and I decided that bigger boobs was what was missing.

"It cost £3,300 which my family paid for at Christmas. I couldn't have paid for it on my own.

"I wouldn't have had it done if it was a boyfriend or modelling boss telling me to, I did it for myself."

Influence from magazines and film idols, along with TV shows such as Extreme Makeover, where people spend around £100,000 getting parts of their body altered have put cosmetic surgery under the spotlight.

And the rise of clinics selling gift vouchers means that friends and family can contribute to presents of an operation for their loved ones.

Liverpool has seen the fastest rate of growth of any of the 13 clinics in the Transform group.

Breast enlargements are the most popular procedure and constitutes more than half of the surgeons' workload.
Spokeswoman Lindsay Mullins said: "The arrival of the American TV drama Nip/Tuck, and other cosmetic surgery shows, has undoubtedly thrust the subject of cosmetic surgery into the limelight in the UK.

"Although some of the show's content is quite gruesome, patients realise that cosmetic surgery and clinics in the UK are a lot different to those featured in the shows."

Healthcare company Bupa estimates that up to 75,000 procedures were carried out in the UK last year alone, ranging from Botox to major liposuction.

SOME DOS AND DON'TS

CONSUMER champion Which? offers the following advice to anyone considering cosmetic surgery:

* Research the procedure and the clinic or surgeon;

* Take a friend and get a consultation with a surgeon beforehand, and visit two or three clinics to compare services;

* Question the surgeon and make sure you feel comfortable with them and ask about the facilities;

* Choose a clinic which will involve your GP and get a copy of the complaints procedure;

* Don't base your decision on price, and don't have surgery abroad out of choice

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