Many women are opting for plastic surgery to boost their self-confidence. That’s according to the Head of the Plastic Surgery Department at the University of Ghana Medical Centre, Dr Zainab Nina Schumacher.

She said this in a discussion with host, Animwaa Anim-Addo on JoyFMs Strong and Sassy on a topic to explore the journey of reconstructing beauty through plastic surgery.

According to her, the vast majority of people who undergo these aesthetic surgeries really want to look good when they stand in front of the mirror to look at themselves.

"Some have had children, their bodies have changed over the years, and they kind of miss their old selves. For others, because of the kind of job they do, society perceives them to look in a certain kind of way so they live up to those expectations by doing plastic surgeries” she stated.

An actress, Kisa Gbekle who was called on the phone during the show to share her perspective on why she did a plastic surgery reiterated Dr Schumacher’s position that she wanted to look good.

“I didn't do my body because of a man. I did my body because I want to look like who I used to be after childbirth.

"I had a baby, and I couldn't tie my tummy. I had a flabby skin and it had fallen on my lap so I had a mummy makeover which includes tummy tuck and muscle repair,” Kisa explained.

Discussing what these surgeries entai, Dr Schumacher explained that it is always ideal to find the right hospital, and a good surgeon to assess you to ensure you are safe before undergoing the surgery.

“We try to always do some form of psychological evaluation before doing surgeries for our patients. We try to understand what is motivating the patients to want to do the surgery and we encourage that if you want to have any kind of aesthetic surgery, you do it for yourself and not because somebody thinks or feels that your body must look a certain way”, she noted.

Dr Schumacher named liposuction, and tummy tuck as some of the common surgeries people opt for lately.

“Liposuction is the removal of fat and tummy tuck is to get rid of your excess skin and also tighten up your abdominal muscles that has separated either from weight gain or childbirth," she clarified.

According to the plastic surgeon, more women are doing the Brazilian butt lift because not everyone is comfortable wearing silicon shorts to look good.

Explaining how the Brazilian butt lift is done, Dr. Schumacher said the fat that is harvested from the liposuction, is prepared in a certain manner and transferred to the buttocks area, or the hips.

She, however, stated that the fat transfer normally is not 100 per cent as some litres of the fat could be lost because not all the fat transferred is likely to stay and most importantly when a person who has undergone the surgery loses weight.

Additionally, Dr Schumacher talked about the side effects of such aesthetic surgeries.

She said that every surgical procedure has some possible complications but normally, there shouldn't be any side effects if a person removes fat from their stomach and distributes it to the butt area.

“You could have some bleeding, infections, your skin could die from the procedure or you could have some abscesses in the butt from the transfer of the fat," the plastic surgeon stated.

“Also after surgery, a person doesn’t have to put pressure on their butts. You can't sit full flat on a hard surface so we prefer that you nurse on your stomach with the BBL pillows so that for about 4 weeks things will settle, otherwise, you can displace or kill the fat if you sit on a normal hard surface"Dr Schumacher added.

She noted that aesthetic surgery is actually not scary if you are doing it at the right place with the right person.