Body image dissatisfaction is on the rise, no doubt encouraged by the media, social media and celebrities who project the “acceptable” body image as their only redeeming quality or talent. Beauty can be defined by different standards and geography. In Europe, beauty is generally defined by thinness, whereas in North America and Latin America, small waists, wide, rounded buttocks (think, the “Brazilian butt lift”) and large breasts are the desired standard. Interestingly, it can be a safe assumption that body image is defined by geographical location.
Like everywhere else, gluteoplasty or buttock enhancing surgery is on the rise in Cuba. At a recent plastic surgery conference held at the local Hermanos Amejeiras Hospital in Havana, Dr. Alicia Maria Tamayo Carbón, Chief of the Plastic Surgery department at the hospital said that there are increasing quantities of people seeking plastic surgery services specifically to enhance their buttocks.
“The gluteoplasty surgery (buttock enhancement) is one of the most requested of plastic surgery enhancements by women. There is an increasing current trend of patients who want to have big buttocks and there was a time when the most wanted by them was the increase of the mammary region or removing the fat from certain part of their body. They are mostly requesting the increase of their gluteal region at present time.
In Cuba, buttock enhancement is done through fat transfers of the patient’s own fat or buttock implants.
Buttock enhancement surgery is not without risk, no matter where the surgery takes place. Undergoing this surgery outside of a qualified medical institution implies increased risks such as infection. Patients can also have a reaction to the implants.
Planning to have this buttock surgery is Cuba requires forethought and planning. There is currently a shortage of gluteal prostheses in the country.
Dr. Tamayo said, “We do not have a store with different-measure implants and characteristics to be able to carry out that surgery; moreover, if we make a mistake while carrying out it, we do not have options to replace that implant, so the previous planning of the surgery plays a key role.”
All patients who want to have the buttock surgery should be in excellent health before operation. The doctor added that, “All patients in Cuba who desire to undergo a surgery of that kind at the Amejeiras Hospital should visit their local family-home service doctor and he/she would be sent to the Plastic Surgery Service, along with all the patient’s health records because it is expected that the patient to be operated should be healthy.
