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Ethnic cosmetic surgeries rising

By Ann Geracimos (Contact) | Wednesday, September 10, 2008

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The "plastic" in plastic surgery comes from the Greek for plastikos, meaning to mold or shape - originally often with a flap of skin. Increasingly, however, the shapes and textures of the human body are changed with the use of creatively engineered man-made or petroleum byproducts - especially in cosmetic surgery.

Along with new approaches and new medicines making possible results that were not possible a decade or so ago, new kinds of patients are appearing in doctors' offices, asking for different kinds of surgeries.

The numbers of people from minority ethnic and racial backgrounds seeking treatment continue to rise, with nearly a quarter of the cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in 2007 performed on ethnic patients, according to figures supplied by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. (Racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 24 percent of all cosmetic procedures last year, both surgical and nonsurgical. Hispanics led with 9 percent, then blacks at 7 percent, Asians at 7 percent and other nonwhites at 1 percent.)

"If you look at market dynamics, it is almost an untapped area. ... Income levels are rising. [Plus] there have been one or two minority surgeons featured on television," says Dr. Kofi Boahene, assistant professor of facial and plastic and reconstructive surgery and otolaryngology head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute. He also sees a slight increase in the number of surgeons of ethnic backgrounds doing cosmetic surgery.

"Training usually is generic, and usually Caucasian, but that is changing," he notes.

At the moment, however, he estimates there are fewer than 20 people in the United States who specialize in plastic surgery of the face, head and neck and have a notable interest in minority populations. He says that among board-certified plastic surgeons, just 3 percent are black. Dr. Boahene, who was born in Ghana, regularly travels there and elsewhere abroad on medical missions.

Minorities don't always seek out minority professionals - Dr. Boahene's practice is 60/40 Caucasian/ethnic, he says - but some patients think a doctor of similar background will have a more intuitive understanding of their special skin and bone structure.

"Biologically, ethnic skin behaves differently," Dr. Boahene says. "The skin usually is thicker and produces more melanin, or skin pigment per cell. The way [nonwhite people] lay down collagen is different, which gives some advantage and some disadvantage. There is less sun damage, but they are more prone to thick scarring caused by skin cells producing collagen in an uncontrolled fashion.

"Generally, when you have an injury, the way it heals is by making new collagen to knit the skin back together, and at some point, the body programs itself to stop," he says. "But in skin prone to scarring, that signal doesn't turn off. Asian skin also is prone to these issues, but not as much as African-American or Hispanic."

Black skin also is prone to more pigmentation and discoloration because of the nature of its pigment, he adds.