Kareena effect: lasses take the surgical route

While women have been opting for cosmetic surgery for fat reduction to seek the overall slim look for quite some time now, of late there has been an upswing in the number of girls approaching surgeons to get a "wafer-slim" face.

Cosmetic surgeons say the new fad, which was fairly common for Hollywood buffs, has finally come to India.

"We have witnessed an increase in this trend in the last few months, I would say only after Kareena's appearance in 'Tashan'," says Dr Amit Gupta, plastic surgeon at Delhi's Divin Cosmetic Surgery.

"While earlier women seeking such a procedure came once in a while, now I have been undertaking at least two to three surgeries for fat reduction on the face every month," he says.

Buccal fat pad removal is a short but delicate procedure, in which the lump of fat inside the cheeks is removed by making a small cut in the mouth, to give a hollow look on the cheeks. The therapy can cost you between Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000.

On the other hand is liposuction that is extremely safe that costs almost the same and can be done under local anaesthesia.Besides, injections of chemicals like PTC, which dissolve the fat in the body, are also popular.

"Its not only models or wannabe actresses who show interest in these methods but young college-going girls as well," Gupta says.

Agrees Dr Meenakshi Agarwal, Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon, Director of the Mumbai based 'Face and Figure' clinic, "Yes the requests for such fat reduction procedures have increased in the recent past, and it has to do a lot with increased consciousness among the people".

Dr Agarwal, who has been handling on an average five such cases a month, says women also come up for therapies to follow up their sudden weight reduction.

"In line with the zero figure fad, young women lose a lot of weight suddenly and then they come to us for procedures like wrinkle reduction through botox injections and things like reducing the law line".

Dr Anup Dhir, Cosmetic Surgeon at Delhi's Apollo Clinic, however, says he always warns his patients against going in for a sudden weight loss.

"This can at times be really harmful for the body but there is little doubt that young women are crazy about the hollow look," he says.