Dreams for beauty melt with silicon

Dreams for beauty melt with silicon

The recent barrage of media coverage on the downside of
cosmetic surgery has not deterred people from going to the beauty
parlor to have parts of their bodies "improved". The Jakarta
Post's Maria Endah Hulupi looks into the issue.

JAKARTA (JP): Professional surgeons have lots of tragicomic
stories to tell about young people who have fallen victim to
crooks who promised them good looks through cosmetic surgery.

The victims, some with bulging lips, twisted noses or swollen
eyelids that they got from beauty parlors elsewhere, came for
advice on how they could have their original looks restored.

Lisa, not hear real name, is an average looking university
student, who thinks that her angular cheeks, flat nose and
"unsexy" chin are unattractive. She feels that she looks 10 years
older.

She went to a small beauty parlor in Central Jakarta,
promising facial improvements at affordable prices by a
beautician who claimed to be an assistant to a plastic surgeon at
a leading hospital.

Despite the numbness, Lisa was happy with the results. She
finally had the face she had dreamt of. But three months later,
disaster struck. Her nose is dislocated, and her cheeks and chin
are baggy, turning her heart-shaped face into an oblong-shape,
not to mention the carbuncles and the reddish tint of her skin
due to inflammation.

Meanwhile, Ricky (not his real name) has a traumatic story to
tell about his unsuccessful attempt to have his penis enlarged
through a silicon injection a few months ago.

He was shocked when another plastic surgeon later recommended
that his now bluish penis be removed as it was already decayed.

Julia, also a pseudo name, is probably a bit "lucky". The
prostitute had a liquid silicon injection to enlarge her labia
majora. And, wait for it ... she went to a plastic surgeon to
have her silicon sucked out again. Her reason: a friend made fun
of the obvious bulge under her tight pants when exercising at a
fitness center.

Duped

Many of the victims say they were duped by bombastic claims
made by inexperienced beauty centers and uncertified
practitioners. These uncertified practitioners, due to little
knowledge of the side effects, use harmful substances, such as
injectable silicon. Profit is their sole motive.

An alarm was sounded by plastic surgeons at a recent gathering
held by the Indonesian Association of Plastic Surgeon (Perapi) in
Jakarta.

The association's chairman Yefta Moenadjat disclosed that
according to patients, they received such treatments from beauty
centers in West and North Jakarta. But other surgeons revealed
that such practices are also rampant in other cities across the
country.

The victims range from wealthy ladies to students, street
singers and transvestites. The latter are a tiny group but a
potential market segment to whom injectable silicon is even sold
door-to-door.

Some of the patients say they were deceived by friends or the
practitioners into using the silicon method, which has been
banned in industrialized countries.

"They were informed that the injections were of collagen,
which is safe, but after examination we found out that it was
liquid silicon combined with other additives," he said.

Yefta, who is also a plastic surgeon at the Cipto Mangunkusumo
General Hospital (RSCM) explained that collagen treatment would
help reduce wrinkles due to aging by stimulating the formation of
natural collagen after each injection.

The crooks charge a lot of money, at least Rp 700,000 per
treatment, and the injection should be repeated every three
months. It should only be given using a special syringe and in
compliance with special procedures to prevent hypersensitivity.

Injectable silicon treatment, which can be injected using an
ordinary syringe, has been banned even in Indonesia as it poses
health hazards.

"That's why, if a staff member who claims to be a beauty
expert uses an ordinary syringe for cheap collagen injections, I
can assure you that he is lying," he said.

Industrial silicon

The injectable silicon is procured from China, Taiwan and
Thailand where the use of that chemical in beauty centers is
still prevalent.

Industrial grade injectable silicon is used in heavy industry
and household equipment manufacturing. While medical grade
injectable silicon, which is used in aesthetic surgery, is used
to coat syringes, infuse bottles and catheters, among other
things.

In the U.S., the use of medical grade silicon for aesthetic
surgery has been banned since 1970.

Another RSCM plastic surgeon, Gentur Sudjatmiko, suggested
that what is sold on the market as cheap collagen liquid is, in
fact, injectable silicon.

Many people and even the phony beauty experts are not aware of
the dangers.

"We have also learned that some centers combine it with
certain additives to make the silicon more elastic and the
treatment cheaper compared to plastic surgery," Yefta said.

The body parts that are commonly injected with these harmful
chemicals are the cheeks, nose, lips, breasts, penis, labia
majora and labia minora.

Unlike solid and gel silicon, which are considered safe for
implants, the injectable silicon will spread and penetrate
further into surrounding tissues and vacuoles, making the areas
gritty to the touch. Patients report numbness in those body parts
where the injections are given.

"Esthetically, such treatments can end up in disaster because
the injectable silicon is liquid and will not remain in the
location where the injection was initially given. It runs
downward to the lower parts," Yefta said, adding that injected
silicon for breast enlargement would also hamper early detection
of breast cancer.

Decaying tissues

What is likely to follow is siliconoma or tissue damage, or
swelling because of inflammation triggered by the silicon and the
additives, with the degree of severity ranging from mild
inflammation to decaying tissue.

"Inflammation occurs depending on the quantity of injected
silicon and the depth of the injection," Yefta said.

The inflammation would continue as long as the harmful matter
was still present in the body and the only way to resolve the
problem was by making an incision to remove the silicon. This
would leave scars and sometimes tangible imperfection when the
dead tissues have to be removed as well.

If the liquid is injected into the vein, it would be even
worse. This oil-like silicon may travel within the blood vessel,
like embolus and can be fatal if it ends up in the heart.

Given the serious health implications, Yefta suggested the
public entrust such delicate jobs to registered practitioners in
plastic surgery.

Perapi (http://www.perapi.com) lists 42 plastic surgeons: 20
in Jakarta (including six in the RSCM) and Tangerang; four in
Surabaya; three in Bandung; two each in Semarang, Yogyakarta,
Makassar, Malang and Medan; and one each in Surakarta, Manado,
Denpasar, Samarinda and Palembang.

Herkutanto, the Indonesian Medical Association's head of the
medical law department, underlined the importance of government
control over beauty centers and the use of harmful chemicals in
health treatments.

The effort, he said, should be based on Law No. 23/1992 on
Health, which carries a maximum punishment of seven years in jail
term and/or a fine of Rp 140 million.

Although the law is already there, very few people are aware
of their rights. Why don't the victims sue deceitful surgeons?
Skeptical about the legal system?

"They think they will embarrass themselves if their cases
become public knowledge," says Herkutanto.