BEWARE OF BEAUTY DOCTOR WHO OFFERS GUARANTEES
Recently there came to medical attention the case of a woman who had been the victim of the search for beauty through surgery. She was the wife of a prominent merchant in a foreign country.
When she was eight years old she was operated on for the relief of tuberculous glands in her neck. She grew up, married successfully and gave birth to a handsome son.
But in the meanwhile her life, comfortable enough otherwise, was disturbed because the scars of her operation showed when she wore evening dress.
Tours Europe.—Finally she set out upon a tour of Europe. She arrived in Paris, where she consulted several eminent surgeons, all of whom advised against operation.
Then she heard, through the press notices of the theatrical papers, that American beauty doctors were doing marvels in such cases. In this country she reached finally a beauty doctor widely heralded through paid publicity secured by publicity agents.
She was intrigued and coaxed into an operation by cleverly written pamphlets detailing the success accomplished on worn-out actresses and movie stars. She decided at last not only on an operation on her neck but also on face lifting, face peeling, wrinkle removing and similar procedures.
No Anesthetic.—These operations were carried on in the office of the beauty doctor, without an anesthetic and rather crudely in the arrangements for cleanliness. A qualified surgeon works in a qualified and reputable hospital. Advertising beauty doctors are not admitted to reputable hospitals.
The woman finally left the ministrations of the beauty doctor. She had unsightly scars, worse even than those for which she had originally consulted him.
Her skin, irritated by the caustic chemicals used to peel it, continued to give off fine scales. The lifting operations, the loss of blood, the weeks necessary for recovery in a low-grade hospital in which the beauty doctor finally placed her, left the woman nervous, melancholy—mentally a wreck.
A reputable surgeon makes no guarantees of success in plastic surgery. The disreputable beauty doctor relies on the shame of the patient and her fear of ridicule to protect him when his surgery goes wrong, as it so often does.