What A Real Plastic Surgeon Said After Watching The Series "Doctor Preobrazhensky"

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The first channel showed the series "Doctor Preobrazhensky". This is the first major television project dedicated to a closed topic - plastic surgery in the USSR. The main character, maxillofacial surgeon Lev Preobrazhensky (Denis Shvedov), under the supervision of the KGB in the mid-60s, gets at the disposal of the Beauty Institute, where he performs plastic surgeries for the party elite and other VIP patients. Plastic surgeon Andrei Zhumanov, Photo: personal archive "Teleprogram" asked the real plastic surgeon Andrei Zhumanov, who was a consultant on the set, how much was possible and which of the stars of the Soviet screen had plastic surgery done. “Lyubov Orlova had several operations” - What procedures were the most in demand? Lips pumped? - No, there was nothing, although they tried to inject fat there. On the set, I gave the guys a 1959 textbook as a visual aid - this is a red book about cosmetic surgery on the face. Everything is described there: rhinoplasty, and blepharoplasty of the eyelids, and plastic surgery of the face, and recovery from burns, and much more. In fact, the entire range of operations that we are now performing in certain areas is based on the practical basis laid down even then. I will say more, some plastic surgeries were carried out already at the beginning of the twentieth century. - Can you name the most famous clients of the Beauty Institute? Lyubov Orlova was the first in the USSR to experience the achievements of plastic surgery. Photo: stills from films - One of the brightest stars of Soviet cinema - Lyubov Orlova comes to my mind. She underwent facial surgery several times. I think a number of People's Artists and Artists of the USSR and political functionaries also used this. Remember the story when Luis Corvalan, the Chilean leader, was brought to the Soviet Union and operated on? It was in the early 80s (a fighter against the dictatorship of Pinochet was rescued from a concentration camp in Chile as a result of a military special operation, taken to Moscow, given political asylum, underwent three plastic surgery to change his appearance and returned to his homeland, where he lived illegally before the fall of the Pinochet regime. - Auth.). The beauty institute was already working at full capacity then, there were several surgeons there. I believe that the special services also regularly used the services of the institute, however, as in other countries. - Now a plastic surgeon is a fashionable, highly paid and in-demand profession. Was it the same then? - Students did not know about such a specialty at all. Doctors have dealt with this case without significant publicity. It was also a risky business deal. Even in the mid-90s, the idea of being a plastic surgeon seemed inconceivable. Where to study? Who? In all areas there was an authoritarian monopoly. Someone has achieved success and does not let others into their kingdom. There were jokes about the Institute of Coloproctology at that time that doctors of sciences there until 40 - 50 years old "hung on hooks" - their older comrades would not let them near the operating table. In the 60s, plastic surgeons were black sheep. People are talented, with experience, knowledge, a sense of taste, interesting personalities, for the most part remain single artists. “Doctor Preobrazhensky shows many operations and tools. These are modern pieces of iron? - Not really. There were many original devices from that time. For example, the antediluvian apparatus "Dermatome", which is used to take the skin. But in general, we had to slightly enrich the appearance of the surgical table in our film, add grace. It was rather difficult to get hardware props for the anesthetic aid of that time, so I had to resort to cinematic techniques. In Doctor Preobrazhensky, the plot itself and the way it is implemented are important. This is not a story about surgery as such, but about surgeons doing an unusual job and living in the most dynamic period in the development of Soviet history. "Experience was gained in the war" - In 1930, the wife of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Polina Zhemchuzhnaya, saw salons in Paris that deal with the appearance of women. And in 1937, the Institute of Cosmetics and Hygiene of the Glavparfymerprom was created in the country, where the shape of the nose and ears was corrected under local anesthesia. Where did our surgeons get their knowledge from? - Each major war (at the time of the film's action, two world wars have died down), in addition to injuries and deaths, brings a colossal surgical experience. The founders of all well-known scientific medical hospitals were surgeons who had gone through wars (Bakulev Research Institute of Cardiac Surgery, Petrovsky Surgery Center, Burdenko Research Institute of Neurosurgery, Central Scientific Institute of Dentistry and others). Lyudmila Gurchenko has repeatedly resorted to plastic surgery, due to which, over time, her eye shape has changed. Photo: globallookpress - Preobrazhensky's assistant uses the porcine pericardium (the outer shell of the heart. - Ed.) For breast reconstruction. What is it like? - In the middle of the twentieth century, we had to use available fabric materials. Therefore, the pericardium was also used. And at the Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery, for example, there was an original technology: a collapsible model was turned from plexiglass, which was placed in the mammary gland, and a connective tissue pocket was created. Then, after a month and a half, it was all pulled out and sterile oil was injected there. Thus, the reconstruction took place. - In the series, such operations are popular among actors and party officials. Was that so? - The top of the society was aware of this opportunity, and those who wanted to use the "beauty surgery". The most famous place is the Beauty Institute on Novy Arbat, founded in 1930. The entrance was restricted. But one thing is the wife of a party functionary or a popular film actress, another is an ordinary worker. What were the tasks and goals of the average woman living in the Soviet Union? Build socialism, go to work, overfulfill the plan. By the way, plastic surgery in the USSR, with its free medicine, could only be done on a self-supporting basis, that is, for money. Facial plastic surgery cost 7 - 10 rubles, rhinoplasty - 15 - 30 rubles. The average salary in the 1960s was 70-90 rubles. see also