The Psychological Effects of Going Through Cosmetic Surgery

Did you know more than 16 billion dollars was spent on Cosmetic Surgery in 2016? (ASPS 2017) Throughout the many decades, cosmetic surgery had become widely known method to enhance an appearance. In recent years, this procedure has become prominent not only among adults but also among adolescents however, popularity does not mean it is safe and the best option. There are numerous negative effects of cosmetic surgery that people, especially adolescents should consider before undergoing such procedures. Some negative effects of cosmetic surgery are high expenses, high medical risks, promotion of unhealthy body image and adverse psychological conditions.

Although improving appearance through cosmetic surgery seems optimistic, risks and possible complications are associated with cosmetic surgery. Patients’ susceptibleness to these complications vary but are certainly issues that should be taken into consideration. Many patients don’t take into consideration the risks of cosmetic surgery.

In recent years plastic surgery is something that has become a very popular trend, and also where many young people are even lining up for it. Plastic surgery is to reconstruct or repair parts of the body, especially by the transfer of tissue it can be used for treatment of injury or cosmetic reasons. It enhances one’s physical appearance, allowing him or her to achieve a look he or she desires. For example, a women’s buttocks can be enlarged or reduced, or a nose can be straightened or lifted. Many people find themselves changing their bodies and wondering if perfecting their appearance would make life a bit more perfect. Plastic surgery can enhance someone’s level of confidence and boost their self-esteem, but it is something that can have very serious consequences people need to be aware of.

Many feel that self-esteem is something that only teenagers worry about but self-esteem is something that has to constantly be taken care of. When people feel bad about themselves they just are not happy. Moreover when women become older age begins to take its toll. Although some woman view laugh lines and wrinkles as a rite of passage most view wrinkles has a sign of getting older and weaker. So instead of letting nature run its course woman all over North America run to the doctors for major surgery. A face-lift is the most common plastic surgery among older woman. A face-lift is when a doctor makes an incision along the hairline and pulls back on the skin and make it tighter. Thus making a woman appear twenty years younger. Many older women go to this procedure as a fix to make them feel younger and raise their self-esteem. Plastic surgery is not something that just older women turn to woman of all ages in there twenties and thirties also go to plastic surgery for a self-esteem boost. Younger women turn to surgeries like nose jobs, breast implants, buttox implants, cheek implants, collagen implants and liposuction to help make they feel better. Women want to feel more attractive to men so they try to become the unachievable, the Barbie. The perfect Barbie doll-image that woman of all ages strives for. Most people do not view surgery as a major process; they see

In a society so consumed by the ideology of beauty, it makes sense as to why so many women these days undergo cosmetic surgery. The definition of beauty has long been obstructed and changed. In the past, if you look at the woman, you will see they are curvy, during this era being thin meant you were poor where as a beautiful and wealthy woman would be plump because she could afford fine dining. As society has changed, being slender has become the new trend, creating the idea that in order to be truly beautiful one must be thin. The movie stars in Hollywood, although most people realize the beautifying changes that are made to the pictures, this idea of 'beauty ' and 'desire ' still lingers in the mind of whoever comes across it. Our society is bombarded with several different ideologies of beauty but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The beauty standards that have been set should not be what are shaping people around the world and influencing them to go through with plastic surgery. The use of plastic surgery has changed from a medical procedure used to reconstruct the wounded or people with birth defects to reconstructing something people do not like about themselves. Plastic surgery was used during WWI in 1910 and after the war, skin grafting grew. The first training program in the United States was in 1924 thanks to Dr. John Davis. In 1950-1959, plastic surgery was used broadly to repair cleft pallet. It wasn’t until about

Today, more and more women think about cosmetic surgery to make their bodies look perfect. The most popular kind of plastic surgery is breast augmentation. Some women want to enlarge their breasts; the others wish to correct their sagging bust, and they go to a surgeon and ask him or her to change their body. A short-term effect of such operation is full satisfaction with the new appearance and improvement of sexual life. Women often feel excited and think that their life will change for the best. However, such feelings are often temporarily, and they may develop into something worse. Therefore, there is another side of breast augmentation, which is less pleasant than the previous one. Such long-term effects as depression, pain, discomfort, various infections as well as suicide are experienced by many women who underwent a plastic surgery. Consequently, the theme of breast augmentation is important since it relates to thousands of women who hesitate whether to change their breasts or not, especially those women who have already made an operation. Although breast augmentation helps women become more self-confident in their beauty, this type of cosmetic surgery has also many negative effects such as unwillingness to breastfeed, different health problems, and even suicide.

Thesis: The cosmetic, issues, and beauty. We need to understand every possible outcome while considering plastic surgery

Usually, plastic surgery can be associated with individuals that tend to be self-conscious or have low self-esteem. Acquiring cosmetic surgeries can significantly boost a person’s confidence and self-image. Normally, beautifying procedures are seen to improve psychological damage. Plastic surgery can be beneficial for mental health. Although this may be true, plastic surgery has become an addiction. The perception of beauty should not be held at the hands of surgery.

If one is considering cosmetic surgery I suggest reconsidering. Research shows cosmetic surgery can be a risky and costly procedure. Society is pressuring people to look more attractive. Media shows actors to be flawless and the public feels that one should be compared to these actors. Cosmetic surgery is becoming more popular is today’s culture. People are turning to cosmetic surgery for many reasons, some of them are not healthy.

One can argue that when one changes their outward appearance, all those compliments the person receives, can change their personality a bit. For example, a person that used to be very self-conscious about how they look would now become slightly more outgoing, because they feel better about themselves. When someone gets more attention from the opposite sex, after having done the surgery, that person would feel happier. Most people use facial plastic surgery for “correcting feature defects or improving the appearance; for example, removing birth marks, moles, scars and correcting disfiguring defects.” (Singh, 1)

Body image is a huge factor in advertisements. Many teenagers and young adults are drawn to how they look according to others. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty, people grow and build their own character. Advertisements for cosmetic surgery or other enhancers could greatly influence this group of people. Diana Zuckerman, Ph.D. states that in 2012, “more than 236,000 cosmetic procedures [were performed] on patients between [the ages of] thirteen and nineteen” (Zuckerman). That is a lot of surgeries for young adults who aren’t fully developed physically or mentally.

In cosmetic surgery, you can get hurt emotionally as well. You can be unhappy with the outcomes of the surgery. Allison A. (2008) states that people can get depressed before and after surgery because there is never a 100 percent chance of being satisfied with appearance. There is always something, one little thing that bothers you. Because of the Hollywood figure that

MedicineNet analyzes mental health risks as a result of unrealistic expectations of surgery. When a person engages in plastic surgery on the wrong grounds, they tend to be unsatisfied with their results. This causes stress and sometimes depression on the patient, which can also affect their physical health, due to delayed and/or prolonged healing time. It is critical for plastic surgeons to be specifically trained in psycho-therapy. During an initial consultation, the doctor must first determine whether the patient is emotionally stable. They look for things such as age, development, mental illness, whether the patient is realistic towards the outcome, whether the patient has recently undergone any sort of traumatic event, or any other factor capable affecting their mental health. Once this is assessed and the patient is cleared for surgery a whole new array of problems arise.

In the past few years, there have been several shows about cosmetic surgery such as “Extreme Makeover”, and “The Swan”. MTV has also started targeting young adults with shows such as “I Want a Famous Face”. These kinds of shows have contributed to much of the popularity, increasing the number of surgeries performed.

In recent years, it has become very popular to have cosmetic surgery. Over of 120,000 surgical procedures it was estimated that were performed in the UK during 2011. Cosmetic surgery procedures are carried out in women more that men about 9 in every 10 ,and the cosmetic treatments non-surgical, such as Botox, accounting for over 90% of all cosmetic procedures it is even more popular than surgical procedures.(6)