Development of aesthetic surgery in the Czech Republic: Scenario and expected changes in the practice of aesthetic surgery during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
In Western societies, women's youth and physical beauty are accorded a high status. It is gendered, socially constructed ideas about the female body that influence how women experience their own ageing and how they talk about their 'ageing body'.
Idealizations of youth and physical attractiveness often lead to pressure not only on older women to use different strategies to improve their appearance and slow down ageing. The coronavirus (COVID-19) disease was first reported in December 2019.
The rapid and initially "invisible" spread of the virus has led to a large number of changes and reactions, including in the medical and healthcare fields. In the health sector, non-emergency surgical procedures have been gradually pushed back and many other measures have been taken so as to lighten the health system.
However, it is not entirely clear how this pandemic has affected the aesthetic industry in the Czech Republic, which has been subject to different measures and restrictions than other health sectors. The presented results are based on an online questionnaire survey conducted in April and October 2021.
The aim of the survey was thus to map the situation among Czech aesthetic surgeons and their working career before the pandemic, their changes in their professional life under the set scenario of the COVID19 pandemic and the expected changes after the end of the pandemic measures. COVID-19 also create space for the emergence of new motives and factors that prompted Czech women to undergo cosmetic surgery procedures.
These too are discussed within the study.