The number of Moldovans who want to change their looks by turning to plastic surgeons for help has increased. Plastic surgeon Igor Mahovici, lecturer at the State University of Medicine and Pharmaceutics “Nicolae Testemitanu”, has told Info-Prim Neo that even if it is a period of crisis and the people say they are poor, the number of patients who want to modify their physical aspect is on the rise. “In Moldova they perform all kinds of operations, except those with stem cells that are now in vogue. Women mainly seek breast enhancement and facelift procedures. Men want to restore their noses deformed as a result of blows and correct their ears. Surely, most of the patients are women, but men also started to pay attention to their appearance during the last few years,” said Igor Mahovici. Plastic surgery on underage persons is performed only with the parents’ consent. “The patients who want to change their appearance are divided into two categories – those who have visible problems and those who want to improve their look. Age is certainly a major criterion that determines the wishes. The young women want to increase their breasts and lips, while the elder ones want to get rid of wrinkles,” said the plastic surgeon. He also said that his eldest patient was a man of almost 80. “I operated a woman aged 78. She came from Cyprus in order to have surgery in Moldova. She didn’t say why, but only stated that she didn’t trust the surgeons in her country,” stated Igor Mahovici. The clinics in Moldova import all the instruments and products needed to perform plastic operations and this affects the price of surgery. “A facelift costs €150 and up, depending on the procedure. The price of breast implants starts from €2,000. We use implants imported from the U.S., Italy, and France. The technology used in plastic surgery is modern. I don’t think we will have something like this in Moldova soon,” said the doctor. In Moldova, there are 12 esthetic medicine clinics and centers. Most of them are specialized in cosmetology procedures, including increasing the lips, removing tattoos, scars and moles. Plastic surgery is performed in only several clinics. All of them are private.