Economic Downturn Affects Cosmetic Medical Industry

With consumer confidence dropping rapidly due to an economic slowdown, the cosmetic medical services industry is suffering the impact. The hardest hit is the medical services, which are not covered by the national health insurance.

▽ Putting off plastic surgery and orthodontia

Plastic surgeons in the affluent Gangnam area of Seoul are seeing a significant decrease in the number of patents. Kim Byeong-geon, director at BK Dongyang Surgery Clinic, said, “We saw a 30 percent drop in double eyelid operation and rhinoplasty from last year, and more than a 40 percent decline in facial contouring surgery, which costs 5-6 million won.”

Guk Gwang-shik at the Korean Association of Clinical Plastic Surgeons said, “Plastic surgery is so sensitive to the economic situation that some people even say that the plastic surgery business reflects the overall economic status before the stock market. There are increasing numbers of customers who want to consult with doctors but have surgery later.”

Dentists specialized in treatments not covered by the national health insurance, including orthodontia, teeth whitening and implant, are also having a hard time. In the Seocho district in southern Seoul, where 307 dental clinics are concentrated, 12 clinics closed down during the first five months of this year. The figure is more than half of last year’s number of dentists who gave up their practice.

In eye hospitals, demands for LASIK are plunging. Lim Ki-hwan, an ophthalmology professor at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, said, “There is a significant increase in the number of patients who would rather wear glasses than have a LASIK surgery, which costs 1.5 to 1.8 million won.”

More and more patients try to endure pain or discomfort. For spine and joint surgery, patients with severe conditions, including those having difficulty in walking had surgery despite the economic situation. But non-surgery treatment for alleviating pain or slowing down the progress of the disease decreased significantly.

Lim Jae-hyeon, deputy director at Nanuri Hospital, said, “Decompressive Surgery and lumbar interbody fusion of spine has not declined much, but non-surgical treatments, including lessening of pain with drugs and high frequency went down more than 20 percent.”

▽ Delaying hospital opening and attracting patients from abroad

BC Card usage in medical facilities from March to May increased 19.3 percent year-on-year for plastic surgery clinics, 12.6 percent for dental clinics and 3.1 percent for dermatology clinics.

That is far behind the average usage increase in entire industries at 26.1 percent. Samsung Card usage also showed that the amount of card payment at dental and dermatology clinics grew 16.3 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively, while the average usage increase rose by 18.3 percent.

Under these circumstances, more and more doctors are postponing opening of their own hospitals or focusing on attracting patients from abroad.

A 35-year-old dentist working for a large dental clinic in the Gangnam area said, “I was planning to start practicing next year. But with the ever-worsening economic situation, I delayed the plan by a couple of years.”

Based on the prediction that the economic situation will worsen in the second half, some plastic surgery and dermatology clinics have been focusing on marketing activities to attract patients from other countries, including China, Singapore, Mongolia and Russia.

nuk@donga.com