Despite the crisis, society’s growing concern for its good image means that Spaniards continue to spend more and more on surgery and aesthetic medicine treatments. The latest study by the Spanish Society of Aesthetic Medicine (SEME) puts the amount spent by men and women in Spain at 1,000 million a year.
Specifically, one in four Spaniards admit to being consumers of aesthetic medicine, spending an average of 500 euros each. According to the study, led by Professor Antonio Valdivia (University of Barcelona), it shows that more than 8 million women and almost 2 million men have undergone some type of rejuvenation treatment.
The problem of low cost
As in almost all markets, in aesthetic medicine there is also a low cost part in the form of portals that act as intermediaries. But in medicine, cheap can be very expensive. The prestigious Dr. Natalia Ribé, member of Top Doctors and medical director of the Institut Natalia Ribé, has explained that “most of the aesthetic treatments that are performed below cost pose a risk to the patient because in many cases the staff is not qualified for their practice, the places are not suitable, approved products are not used or incorrect practices of the products applied are carried out”.
Dr. Ribé warns of the negative consequences for patients but also for the profession, since “it is the medical-aesthetic community itself that destroys itself by offering treatments at such a low price.”