Manboobs No More! Gynecomastia Surgery Cost in Australia

Most people use the terms cosmetic and plastic surgery interchangeably, not knowing that between them can lie a world of difference. Both disciplines focus on appearances, and as such are closely related, but to think of them as one and the same is technically wrong.

The main difference between cosmetic and plastic surgery primarily lies in the end goal. Cosmetic surgery deals in enhancing features, while plastic surgery is a specialization with correction as the primary goal.

Australians now spend more on cosmetic surgery than Americans--to the tune of $1 billion per year. It is important to understand the distinction between the two to further understand the procedures you are signing up for.

Plastic surgery: improving function

Without plastic surgery, people’s normal functioning can be severely impeded, and so plastic surgery procedures are often required to improve quality of life. Babies born with cleft palates undergo plastic surgery to avoid further complications later in life like loss of hearing and ear infections. Burn victims get scar revision surgery because tightening scars can limit their range of motion, and place undue strain on muscles and joints.

Some common types of plastic surgery include:

• Breast reconstruction: A procedure commonly conducted for breast cancer patients who needed to have a mastectomy (removal of one or two breasts) or a lumpectomy (removal of a section of the breast affected by a tumor). There are two main ways to reconstruct breasts, either through implants made from silicone and salt water, or using tissue transplants from a different part of the body.
• Burn surgery: While treatment for simple burns is often an outpatient procedure, healing and treating severe burns takes course over several weeks, even months. Burn surgeries are often necessary to improve motion. Scars can contract and tighten the skin around burn wounds, limiting motion and impairing basic movements like walking or even just stretching joints. Reconstructive burn surgeries include procedures that expand and release the skin such as skin grafts, skin rearrangement, and scar revisions.
• Birth defect repair: In the US alone, nearly 120,000 babies are born with birth defects. Many of these defects impede physical function. Cleft palates, fused fingers and toes, abnormally structured veins and arteries are just some birth defects that can be corrected by plastic surgery.

• Foot and ankle reconstruction: Victims of car crashes and workplace-related accidents can go to plastic surgeons to reconstruct and attempt to restore the basic functionalities of their feet, and so can people with bone-warping diseases like arthritis and foot deformities such as severe flat feet.
• Hand surgery: Surgeries for the hand are performed to restore strength and function. Common ailments that are corrected by plastic surgery include Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and abnormal skin formations that make it difficult to flex the hand called Dupuytren’s contracture.

Cosmetic surgery: improving appearance

In contrast to plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery is completely optional. Thousands of men and women every year choose to go under the knife to get a rhytidectomy--commonly known as a facelift--just to achieve a more youthful appearance. An increasing number of men are opting into gynecomastia surgery, which may be a bid to improve psychological and emotional well-being, since persistent breast enlargement in men has been linked to poor self-esteem.

Some common types of cosmetic surgery include:

• Breast enhancement: While former Bachelor contestant Laurina Fleure’s claim that 70% of women in Australia have breast implants might be a stretch, close to 24,000 women in Australia had breast augmentation procedures done in 2014. The number is only expected to grow at a rate of 6.3% per year. Additionally, nipple correction surgery is an emerging trend, with 30% more women going in for a smaller nipple size.
• Face enhancement: Facelifts, eyelid lifts, brow lifts, and neck lifts are some of the procedures that fall under face enhancement. Cosmetic procedures for the face are highly sought after in the country—every year Australians consume $350 million worth of wrinkle reduction products. Some plastic surgery enthusiasts such as 22 year-old Rita Abdou spends thousands of dollars to have their facial features improved.
• Body enhancement: Next to breast augmentation, liposuction or fat reduction is the second most popular procedure in Australia’s cosmetic surgery ecosystem. Interestingly, more men are also investing in body sculpting, specifically in gynecomastia surgery, or breast fat reduction. Abdominoplasty, commonly known as tummy tucks, are also among the top five most popular procedures in the country.

Key differences between a cosmetic surgeon and a plastic surgeon:

Cosmetic and plastic surgeons perform very different procedures and have distinct goals for every surgery (enhancement vs reconstruction), so it only follows that the study, training, and certification for these two fields will look very different from each other.

In Australia, doctors have to complete a specialist course before they can call themselves plastic surgeons. This post-graduate field of study can take a minimum of 5 years, on top of 12 years’ worth of medical and surgical training. In contrast, any doctor with a medical degree can take workshops on specific cosmetic procedures. It is not unheard of to hear about a doctor who can perform breast augmentation.

However, the Australian Medical Council currently does not recognize “cosmetic surgeon” as an accredited specialty. Any doctor with a medical degree can undertake training and workshop courses on cosmetic procedures from institutions like the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery. This means that dermatologists may learn to perform liposuction, or ophthalmologists, eyelid surgery. Yet these doctors are legally not allowed to call themselves “surgeons”. If your doctor is calling themselves a cosmetic surgeon, this only means that they have received prior training and certification in the field of surgery.

Esteem Cosmetic Studio is one of Australia’s leading cosmetic clinics. Since 2007 our qualified medical team of consulting and board-certified surgeons, doctors, and nurses have sculpted the satisfaction of countless patients. We would be happy to answer any questions you have about any cosmetic surgery procedure. Send us an email or drop by one of our clinics in Brisbane, Canberra, and Sydney.