Status: 02.05.2021 11:52 a.m.
–
–
–
Those who see their own face on the screen in video conferences are becoming more self-critical: In the USA, cosmetic surgeons have been popular since the pandemic – and the trend is likely to continue, say the doctors.
From Marcus Schuler,
ARD-Studio Los Angeles
–
–
–
At the beginning of the pandemic, Simon Ourian and his team in Beverly Hills were very uncertain. The practice was closed for four months and planned interventions had to be canceled. Usually patients from all over the world come to the plastic surgeon from Iran – they stayed away because of the entry ban. But also within the USA the interest in cosmetic surgeries declined suddenly.
–
–
–
“When we opened the practice again, more customers came to us from the local area and from southern California,” says Ourian, who is one of the most sought-after cosmetic surgeons in Los Angeles. The musician Lady Gaga is one of his customers as well as Kim Kardashian or Kylie Jenner.
Before the pandemic, 50 to 60 percent of his patients came from abroad: from Europe, the Middle East, Russia and China. But after the lifting of the restrictions that changed: “Suddenly the patients came from the region. Probably because many people could no longer follow certain habits. They had more time,” he suspects. “There are things in life that you cannot control. But you can have control over some other things.”
Dissatisfaction with your own face
What the cosmetic surgeon means by this is clear: the appearance can be optimized. Before the pandemic, you met other people and looked at their faces. Now you stare into your own face for twelve hours a day because you are in video conferencing and the webcam is recording you all the time.
“You have two options: you either love your face or you change something about it,” says Ourian. “We called this phenomenon the zoom boom. All of the new patients want to change their face and not their body.”
Before the pandemic, many of his patients had abdominal fat suctioned or their breasts enlarged. All of this is now much less in demand. Many customers are now asking for more defined facial features.
Many have gained between two and eight kilograms. Many of my patients no longer like their plump face. We can now make that leaner. That is a wish that we hear very often these days.
Surgical wounds remain hidden under the mask
From the point of view of cosmetic surgeon Ourian and his patients, the pandemic currently offers another advantage: everyone has to wear a mask. An unhealed facial surgery is therefore not noticed.
“You no longer have to hide after an operation. You can enlarge your lips, adjust your nose or change the angle of your cheekbones. Everything below the eyes works fine and nobody notices,” he says. “You can go shopping as usual. And nobody needs to worry anymore that paparazzi will photograph them when they leave my practice.”
Even if the pandemic is over, the surgeon is no longer worried: Many patients from Europe and the Middle East were just waiting for the travel restrictions to be lifted. He has already received so many appointment requests that after the “zoom boom” the “post-pandemic boom” will probably come: “A difficult year weighs on our shoulders and our faces. We want to get rid of that now,” says Ourian . “Everyone wants to go back to their normal life and meet others. And of course everyone wants to look particularly good.”
Zoom boom: Hollywood’s cosmetic surgeons are fully booked
Marcus Schuler, ARD Los Angeles, April 30, 2021 3:25 p.m.
–
–
–
