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Venezuelan Women Are Panicking Because Of A Breast Implant Shortage

Kaitlan Collins Contributor
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Venezuelan women are panicking because the country is experiencing a shortage of brand-name breast implants, causing women who are desperate for bigger cup sizes to take drastic measures.

Because of the shortage, women and their doctors are turning to unsafe practices–using the wrong cup size or buying implants that are of lesser quality, NBC News reports.

Venezuelan physicians said access to implants approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are “all-but-impossible” to get because of restrictive currency controls. Local businesses don’t have the income to buy foreign goods.

Dayana Mendoza was Miss Venezuela in 2007 and Miss Universe in 2008. (Photo: Tumblr)

Dayana Mendoza was Miss Venezuela in 2007 and Miss Universe in 2008. (Photo: Tumblr)

The president of the Society of Plastic Surgeons, Ramon Zapata, said the Venezuelan woman, who are “very concerned with their self-esteem,” are complaining.

The country has one of the highest plastic surgery rates in the world, only falling behind U.S., Brazil, Mexico and Germany. Last year, over 85,000 implant surgeries were performed. Women could enter a raffle for a chance to get a breast enhancement surgery, financially provided as campaign purposes by politicians or businesses. However, President Hugo Chavez advised against the practice of giving young women implants as gifts, calling the fixation with implants “monstrous.”