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How ‘predatory’ plastic surgery clinics are enticing young women with £85-a-month boob jobs during cost-of-living crisis
- EXCLUSIVE: Experts say the deals are making going under the knife too easy
- Read more: What is Katie Price’s £130,000 transformation doing to her body?
Plastic surgery clinics have resorted to ‘predatory tactics’ in enticing women to get boob jobs, photo witchdoctor medicine man campaigners claimed today.
Private providers are offering pay-monthly deals and using pictures of adult stars to promote £4,000 implant ops.
MailOnline discovered clinics offering finance deals for just £85-a-month, which critics described as a ‘recipe for disaster’.
Some are even promoting testimonials of OnlyFans models, claiming they have achieved dramatic results with them.
Experts, charities, and body image campaigners have now demanded an immediate ban to the practise.
Only fans star Rebecca Goodwin praised the work of Enhance Medical surgeons on a promotional post on the clinic’s Instagram, saying the results ‘amaze’ her ‘every single day’.
Ms Goodwin has a large OnlyFans following, with over 2million likes of her content which she charges subscribers £10 per month to access, promoting pictures like this one on social media
They warned the combination of pay-as-you-go surgery, and playing on body image insecurities, could lead people to going under the knife for surgery they might struggle to afford later.
The length of the pay-it-back later deals, which can run for up five years, could also leave people particularly vulnerable to sudden rises in bills, like the current cost-of-living crisis.
Dawn Knight, who has campaigned tirelessly to improve cosmetic surgery practises since she was left unable to close her eyes in 2012 following a botched eyelift, said the combination of pay-as-you-go surgery and predatory marketing was dangerous.
‘Being offered a procedure that is £8,000 but being marketed as say £80 per month sounds way more attractive, often leading to high amounts of debt at a very young age.
‘And it’s all driven by predatory and coercive marketing. It’s a recipe for disaster.’
Read more: I’m a plastic surgeon to the rich… These are the four procedures in highest demand right now
Dr Barry Weintraub (pictured), told DailyMail.com what plastic surgeries he is seeing most at his Manhattan clinic
She said cosmetic patients are offered so called ‘in-house’ financing by clinics, which could leave them with nowhere to turn if surgery went wrong.
‘This means they have no layer of financial protection at any point in their patient journey,’ she said.
‘The problem is if the procedure goes wrong… then the patient is left with a debt on a procedure that didn’t meet their expectations or has caused them significant medical or emotional harm with no redress.’
Ms Knight called for regulators and Government to clamp down on the financial deals offered by both surgical and cosmetic procedure providers.
Chris Calland, from Not Just Behaviour — a group that talks to UK schoolchildren on these issues, added that the combination of pay-monthly surgery and OnlyFans promotion was ‘concerning’.
She said: ‘By presenting it as a cheap deal, it’s really playing on the children who are most insecure and most vulnerable.
‘They are encouraging people to make a direct comparison of themselves with the model on the platform and suggesting that they can be like this person.’
She argued this made those turning 18 potentially vulnerable to marketing practises promoting an adult-star lifestyle.
Ms Calland added: ‘Over the last couple of years people have felt very low and their life is not quite matching up to others.
Enhance Medical Group boast they gave Only Fans model Faye Padley a breast lift with 400cc implants via a social media post. Ms Padley has 35,000 likes on OnlyFans and charges £10 a month to access adult content
Rebecca Jay is another OnlyFans model that has had work done with UK Enhance Medical Group. Pictured here are the ‘before’ and ‘after’ images the clinic posted of her breast enlargement procedure. Ms Jay, who describes herself as a ‘financial dominatrix’ charges users about £16 per month for her images and videos
‘Then they’re presented with “here’s something you can do very easily” and seems to provide an answer.’
Numerous campaigners have raised concerns about how bombarding young girls with carefully curated images of the ‘ideal’ female body posted by influencers and adult stars on social media is having on their mental health.
Ms Calland called for an overhaul of how financing cosmetic surgery is advertised, demanding more support, info, and regulation.
Professor David Veale, a consultant psychiatrist at The Priory Hospital and an expert in body dysmorphic disorder, said these type of ads for surgery should be banned altogether.
He said: ‘There is a constant tension between those who treat cosmetic surgery as just like make up and those who rightly view surgery as a procedure with potential risks or side effects and not to be undertaken lightly or promoted like a Klarna card.
Read more: What is Katie Price’s £130,000 transformation doing to her body? Medical expert warns glamour model could become a ‘hunchback’ because of her cosmetic surgery habit (which has seen her go under the knife at least 16 times since the 1990s!)
The £130,000 woman. Katie Price has spent a fortune altering her appearance over the past decade but a surgeon warns it may not be only her bank account that pays the price
‘So, of course, cosmetic surgery should not be promoted in this way.’
Plastic surgery provider UK Enhance Medical is one clinic offering finance deals for its procedures.
Instead of paying £4,250 upfront for a boob job, customers can go under the knife for £83.72 per month spread out over five years.
The deal, with an annual interest of 7 per cent, requires no deposit.
UK Enhance Medical Group, which has clinics in London, Solihull, Cardiff, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester and Leeds, has also used OnlyFans models to promote the procedures on Instagram.
Rebecca Goodwin, who has nearly 2million likes for her explicit content, is one such model promoting the clinic’s work.
‘Having my enhancement has improved my life and confidence more than I could’ve imagined,’ she is quoted as saying in an Instagram post on the UK Enhance Medical Group account.
‘I had them done in 2020 and the results still amaze me every single day, I can’t thank Enhance Medical enough.’
Another OnlyFans model Emily Paige, who has racked up almost 44,000 likes on her raunchy pictures, says in her testimonial for the same company: ‘I’m absolutely so happy!
‘The whole process was amazing from start to finish! Thank you so much.’
And fellow site model Lorina Jane, who has 200,000 likes and underwent a breast enlargement with the clinic, said in her testimonial: ‘Definitely recommend gals.’
UK Enhance Medical Group did not respond to MailOnline’s request for comment.
But it is just one of several British plastic surgeries MailOnline found offering pay-per-month financing deals.
Manchester Private Hospital said finance was available on ‘all cosmetic surgery’ and some procedures are available without a deposit.
Lorina Jade is another Onlyfans model to do work with UK Enhance Medical Group, getting a breast enlargement and providing a testimonial stating: ‘Definitely recommend gals’
Ms Jade described herself as a massive fan of Marvel and Harry Potter, often posting content of herself in costumes depicting various characters from films on social media. She has over 215,000 likes on OnlyFans
On its financing page, the clinic offers the example of a breast enlargement, which normally costs £5,500, being available for just a £500 deposit followed by 60 monthly payments of £105 with an annual interest rate of 9.9 per cent.
The clinic also offers Brazilian butt lifts — a procedure made famous by women trying to emulate curvy-bottomed celebrities like Kim Kardashian — and labiaplasty — the ‘designer vagina’ procedure.
Other cosmetic procedures like nose jobs, chin implants and vaginal tightening are also on offer.
The hospital told MailOnline financing deals benefited the ‘majority’ of their clients.
Read more: The botched hairline ops that are leaving young women disfigured for life. And, guess what, the craze for surgery is being driven by TikTok
Melanie Smith, 29, had hairline lowering surgery to reduce the size of her forehead in an effort to boost her self confidence
‘A significant number of our patients are struggling, for example patients needing breast reduction surgery which we will not get from NHS,’ a spokesperson said.
They added that they have a strict eligibility criteria in place for patients, such as completing a medical questionnaire around body dysmorphia, numerous consultations, contacting their GP, to ensure surgery is appropriate.
Mya, a chain of cosmetic surgery clinics, also offers similar procedures.
On financing options, it promises to ‘look at everybody on an individual basis and assesses their personal circumstances to see if there is something we can do to help’.
For breast enlargements, it says a procedure that would normally cost £5,795 upfront can instead be financed for as little as £98 per month.
Another example is the London-based Harley Medical Group, which offers a £5,995 breast enlargement for £103.40 per month.
Many other plastic surgery clinics also offer finance for procedures but only provide a full quote of options for customers following an individual consultation.
A spokesperson for Harley Medical Group said patient care was their highest priority and insisted their financing arrangements were conducted ethically, adding they also have patients undergo a psychological assessment before surgery.
‘For some clients, finance can be a barrier, so as a fully regulated and Care Quality Commission registered provider, we do have a finance option available for those who seek it,’ they said.
OnlyFans model Emily Paige said in her testimonial on the UK Enhance Medical Group page: ‘I’m absolutely so happy! ‘The whole process was amazing from start to finish! Thank you so much.’ Ms Paige who has racked up almost 44,000 likes on her raunchy pictures on OnlyFans
‘All costs are discussed in the first consultation so there are no hidden extras or surprises along the way. We also never price promote or discount our procedures.’
Mya was approached for comment but did not respond.
Some women have previously hailed cosmetic surgery financing as enabling them to finally afford to change aspects of their body they had been unhappy with for years.
And others insist that their cash is their own to spend how they choose, rejecting a nanny-state approach to what they choose to do with their bodies.
But Katharine Wright, of the health thinktank Nuffield Council on Bioethics, said the entire cosmetic industry had to be put in the context of 24/7 social media frenzy that women and girls now find themselves.
‘Social media feeds bombard girls and women with images of the ‘ideal’ body that will bring you happiness and success,’ she said.
‘These images are featured in and alongside ads or celeb endorsements for cosmetic procedures that give the impression that this ‘ideal’ body can now be yours with just a quick fix and a monthly payment.’
She said advertisements presenting cosmetic procedures in the same way a person might buy a handbag were extremely worrying.
‘Cosmetic procedures have serious risks and these ads and celebrity endorsements trivialise these procedures and underplay those risks,’ she said.
‘Providers of cosmetic procedures must be responsible in how they advertise procedures, as to not make them seem like a ‘quick fix’ that will lead to happiness or portray particular body types in a negative manner.’
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