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Going under the knife

VALENCIA TALANE - Oct 29 2009 11:41

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Sthembiso Khumalo's* decision three years ago to have a mammaplasty (breast reduction) is one the 22 year old from Johannesburg will never regret.

Having first found out about the procedure at the age of 17, Khumalo was 19 when she finally underwent the operation that changed her life forever.

"I had it at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban and although the cost was about R20 000, the government subsidised it to some extent. They ended up paying R14 000 of the R20 000," says Khumalo.

"I wouldn't lie and say there was no pain, because there was, and discomfort, because it took about three months from the time of the operation to the point of full recovery.

"I had to go back to the hospital two weeks after the procedure was done so that they could replace the bandages that they'd put around my chest when I was first there.

"My doctor was happy with the progress and I was given more bandages to take home where I could dress myself."

Generations actress Connie Ferguson had a nose job. (Photo: The Sowetan)

But that is where the discomfort came to an end for Khumalo. The operation changed her life. Not only were there visible changes to her body, with her chest now more proportional to the rest of her body, but also a huge boost to her self-image and confidence.

"Having the procedure helped take away my chronic backache, and it also changed my life in a big way."

Grace Pheto* had a breast reduction five years ago in her hometown of Bloemfontein in the Free State. She had been suffering from chronic backache for years until her doctor finally justified to her medical aid why she must have the surgery. (Most medical aids do not recognise breast-reduction surgery as a medical procedure and as such do not cover the operation.)

CONTINUES BELOW

The 26-year-old student had the operation at the Rosepark Hospital in Bloemfontein, and it took about six weeks for her to recover fully.

"I had the procedure done in 2004 and I was very happy with the results. The only stressful bit was the things that I couldn't do until I'd fully recovered -- like swimming and driving, because these put pressure on the chest muscles -- but other than that all was well with my health and I was happy to have a new look and to have gotten rid of the back pain," says Pheto.

Despite her eagerness to have the breast reduction, Pheto maintains that this operation is all the cosmetic surgery she is willing to endure.

Asked if she'd consider alternatives to surgery, such as botox treatments, Pheto is adamant that hers was a necessary procedure and that she would never go for other cosmetic options.

It seems the attitude among patients who share Pheto's view is that there is no point in fixing what is not broken. And with more and more women becoming financially and socially independent, it is not strange that fixing or correcting "imbalances" in one's body, especially when it has a huge effect on your self-esteem and confidence, means going under the knife for large amounts of money.

According to Lawrence Chait, a plastic surgeon at Johannesburg's Parklane Clinic, most black women go for reparative rather than cosmetic surgery. This is typically your body-contouring procedures such as breast and hip-area reduction, tummy tucks and general liposuction.

"I've seen an increase in the number of black patients who come for procedures at my practice. I'd say 50% of my clientele is black," says Chait.

"My black patients are usually women who are generally unhappy with their natural look and most would just like a little bit of work to bring certain body parts in proportion with the rest of their bodies."

Chait's general feeling is -- even though a matter may be sensitive for the patient, where they feel uncomfortable with certain areas of their bodies -- there needs to be some understanding that the doctor's role is to restore the patient's confidence by simply contouring and adjusting those areas he or she is uncomfortable with so that they are proportional to the rest of his or her body, rather than making extreme changes to the way the patient looks.

"For instance, a person requesting that I alter his or her 'African' nose, which has a unique look to it -- and make it look leaner, without realising that it would be disproportionate to the rest of their face as a result -- would first get advice on what an extreme change would mean, and then we could talk about how best to go about it," says Chait.

Musician KB Motsilanyane had a breast reduction operation earlier this year (Photo: e.tv)

Dr Paul Skoll, from Cape Town, admits to a less than 10% complement of black female patients, but agrees with Chait that the patients in question are generally more interested in "repairing" areas of misproportion rather than enhancing or changing their looks altogether.

Asked if he has done work on any celebrities or well-known personalities, Chait promptly accedes that when he has, he has only found out after the fact -- usually the procedure has already been done and the person is walking out of his consulting rooms when Chait discovers that he or she is a famous celebrity, courtesy, of course, of his nursing sister and secretary.

Although the celebrity factor played no role in influencing Khumalo's move to have the reduction, she does concede that after having gone through with the operation, she realises what a great relief it is to be comfortable with the way one looks, so wouldn't write off the possibility of going for procedures such as botox when the signs of ageing start to show.

The feeling seems to be that we should leave the extremes of cosmetic surgery to the celebrities who believe their livelihoods depend on their looks, but for ordinary women who want to live better lives and can afford to take the medical route to do this, the option is always there, albeit pricy, but there nonetheless.

*Not her real name

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Going under the knife

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