Philippa Goossens, a plastic surgeon based in Vaucluse, has come under fire for refusing to administer anaesthetic to her clients, citing the oft-repeated adage that “beauty is pain” as her reasoning.
When approached for comment, Goossens told The Garter she was “committed to the purest form of beautification”, which in her view was “a wholehearted understanding of the fact that beauty really is all about pain.”
“It’s been true for millennia, and the way I see it, it’ll continue to be true. Not only that, but in my view, those who can’t deal with the pain don’t deserve to be beautiful,” Goossens was quoted as saying in last month’s Plastic Surgery Monthly.
Since implementing her no-anaesthetic policy, Goossens has had two patients die of shock on the operating table; however, this has done little to soften her stance.
“There’s literally no way to attain real beauty without subjecting oneself to various types of torture,” Goossens said.
The controversial practices Goossens employs have shocked the medical community, who says she should be stripped of her license and banned from ever working as a medical professional again.
However, others, like long-time client Miranda McHale, have expressed support for Goossens’ unconventional philosophy on cosmetic surgery.
McHale, who has had 13 procedures performed on her right nipple alone, found the approach to her procedures refreshingly honest.
“I don’t get anaesthetic when I’m having my brows done, or my vajeen waxed, or when my little toes are being squished to a pulp inside my stilettos, so why should I get it for a routine bit of lipo or the removal of a few ribs to reshape my waist?” McHale told The Garter.
Another returning customer, Angela Moretti, is ambivalent about Goossens’ ideas, but is nevertheless loyal to the Eastern Suburbs clinic for its high-quality results.
“Last thing I had done was pretty painful, sure. I almost swore off surgery entirely afterwards. But it’s always worth it,” Moretti said.
“Yesterday I passed out from using a waist trainer and while I was out cold on the footpath for 20 minutes, three hotties left me their phone numbers on slips of paper. And just today, I found a picture that someone had snapped of me while unconscious on one of those ‘Sydney’s Finest’ Facebook pages.”