Cosmetic Plastic Surgery & Diving
Posted By Divers Alert Network on 28 July 2005
By Wesley Hyatt
Senior Editorial Assistant
Don't be afraid, at least in terms of recovery time from plastic surgery. Some procedures require no wait, others generally three months or less. With planning and foresight, you can have surgery far enough in advance that it will not affect your diving excursions, from a nose job to liposuction (the removal of body fat).
"I can't think of any cosmetic plastic surgery that would be a contraindication for diving," said Edward Golembe, M.D., director of the Hyperbaric and Wound Healing Center at Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. A DAN referral physician, Dr. Golembe is familiar both with plastic surgery and scuba diving.
Still, plastic surgery is surgery, with inherent risks. It's done mostly for beauty, not health. It's not covered by most insurers. A person undergoing any procedure must be realistic about what it involves, what it can accomplish and what can go wrong with it, whether it's a general concern or related to diving.
The Numbers
Even given all that, the number of people choosing cosmetic plastic surgery is exponentially growing. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), from 1997-2003, the total number of cosmetic procedures increased 293 percent. Surgical procedures increased by 87 percent, and non-surgical procedures increased by 471 percent.
The ASAPS claims nearly 8.3 million surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures occurred in America in 2003, with 22 percent of them surgical and 78 percent non-surgical. The most popular surgical procedures were liposuction (384,626 procedures), breast augmentation (280,401), blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery (267,627), rhinoplasty or nose jobs (172,420) and breast reduction (147,173). The most popular non-surgical procedures were Botox(r) injections (2,272,080), laser hair removal (923,200), microdermabrasion (858,312), chemical peels (722,248) and collagen injections (620,476).
Women comprised 87 percent of cosmetic plastic surgery patients in 2003. However, the number of men having cosmetic procedures increased 31 percent from 2002. People ages 35-50 comprised 45 percent of the total procedures; ages 19-34, 24 percent; ages 51-64, 23 percent; ages 65 and over, 5 percent; and ages 18 and younger, less than 3 percent.
Clearly there is a demand for plastic surgery. It's mostly done in people's spare time. So is recreational scuba diving. To balance the need to accommodate both, the following information gives an overview of common cosmetic plastic surgeries and how long (and in some cases why) divers must wait after they are treated before resuming scuba activities.
These recommendations come from both Dr. Golembe and another DAN referral physician familiar both with plastic surgery and scuba diving, Dr. Ralph Potkin, medical director for the Beverly Hills Center for Hyperbaric Medicine in Los Angeles, Calif. Dr. Potkin consulted with fellow plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Zax for his answers and, as he noted, "First and foremost, these remarks are generalizations, and each case needs to be individualized and the cosmetic surgeon should be involved in the decision making. Also, these recommendations are based on favorable, uncomplicated healing."
Besides risks given for each procedure, all surgeries' potential risks include bleeding, reaction to the anesthetic and infection. Risk of complications can be reduced by following your surgeon's instructions before and after the surgery.
The Procedures and Their Wait Periods
This lists only the most commonly performed types of cosmetic plastic surgery. For example, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgery, only 4,211 leg lifts (to eliminate loose, wrinkly skin on the gams) were performed in 2002, or .01 percent of total cosmetic procedures performed that year. With that minute amount done, it is not included.
Keep in mind that this only summarizes what is involved with these procedures. Surgeries done on outpatient bases let patients go home the same day of the operation; those with an overnight hospital stay allow the medical staff to monitor the recovery.
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