Islamabad: Fancy a tummy tuck or facelift? How about a hair transplant? Such surgical procedures are regular in the West, but the trend is now also catching on in an unlikely country - conservative Pakistan.
Lured by the cheap cost, expatriate Pakistanis are among the biggest customers returning to their homeland for cosmetic surgery, in what is a rapidly expanding business in Pakistan.
Hamayun Mohmand's Hair Transplant Institute in Islamabad is typical of clinics in Pakistan that offer breast enlargement, tummy tucks, face-lifts, nose jobs and hair transplants.
He says most of his customers are people of Pakistani origin from overseas.
"My biggest concentration of people is from the United States. Second is the UK," Mohmand said.
Other customers getting treatment at a tenth of the price they would have to pay in the West, include people of Pakistani descent from Europe, especially Norway and Denmark, and a few from Australia, he said.
Ijaz Ahmed, a businessman of Pakistani origin from Manchester, said he had hair transplant work done in Britain and Greece but he wasn't satisfied with the results. Then a friend recommended Pakistan.
"I was worried about rip-offs, but I got some references and people said good things about their experiences in Pakistan," Ahmed said.
"I came to Pakistan, taking a risk, but I've had absolutely no problem." One of my friends used to go all the way to Thailand because it's very cheap there, but Pakistan is also very similar. I'm from Pakistan and decided to get it here," Ahmed added.
But it's not just people from overseas, who are flocking to improve their appearances at clinics in Pakistan.
Steadily rising economic growth is bringing with it the ways of a Western consumer culture, especially in its biggest cities — Lahore and Karachi. And looking good is as important in Pakistan as it is anywhere else.
"With television programmes like Oprah Winfrey and the complete makeover programmes, people have become more conscious of their image. They've started to believe in looking good," Mohmand said.
Affluent urban woman are fuelling the boom. "I got a nose job done before my marriage as I didn't like the parrot shape of it," said one middle class woman who asked not to be named. "It's worth spending the money to look beautiful and be confident if you can afford it."
Another Islamabad-based cosmetic surgeon, Nadeem Pasha, said the daughters of elite families, in their 20s and 30s, as well as women from the world of show business were setting the trend.
"Film actresses are among the biggest clients of plastic surgeons in Lahore," said Pasha, who declined to identify any celebrities among his customers.
Doctors say the latest craze among women is to enlarge their breasts. The process takes a day and costs nearly Rs 1,00,000 but post-operative care and consultations may push up the bill, Pasha said. "But even then, it's a lot cheaper in Pakistan than in the US or the UK where a similar operation might cost $7,000 to $8,000," he said.
The reputation of Pakistani cosmetic surgeons and the low prices they charge is spreading through word of mouth and on the Internet but dangers lurk.
Doctors says there are only a 100 qualified plastic surgeons in Pakistan but many more than that are practicing.
"There are lots of doctors who are actually, by qualification and training, not plastic surgeons but who are calling themselves plastic surgeons," Mohmand said.
"Unfortunately, it happens around the world, but there are no checks in Pakistan. Those I call qualified quacks, are quite a few," Mohmand added.
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