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 Plastic Surgery: The New Makeoverby Valerie Gladstone — October 19, 2007Plastic surgery has become the new makeover of choice for thousands of American women, rich and not so rich. In the past 5 years with the advent of reality shows like "Extreme Makeover" and the popularization of nonsurgical treatments likes lasers and wrinkle injections, all kinds of people are embracing vanity medicine. According to one survey, a third of the people considering plastic surgery reported average household incomes below $30,000. The trend has been fueled by the medical industry's marketing cosmetic surgery as if it were an appliance or other big-ticket consumer product: a commodity to be financed with credit cards and loans. Patients now include teachers, retirees, and blue collar and lower salaried people who pay in installments just like they would a car. But although there are obvious upsides to the accessibility of cosmetic surgery, people may be less aware of the drawbacks, which even doctors increasingly bemoan. Some patients are spending on vanity care rather than health insurance. Others are going into debt to finance their surgeries. And perhaps the worst news regarding plastic surgery was revealed in a recent study published in the Annals of Plastic Surgery on women who had had breast implants. It found that there was a threefold increase in suicide and in deaths related to alcohol or substance abuse compared with women who did not have implants. These findings don't suggest that having a breast implant is the root of the problem but rather that there is often a preexisting psychological disorder among women who have them. What this means is that anyone considering plastic surgery of any kind should very seriously evaluate their reasons for wanting the surgery and their expectations of what it will mean in their lives. If surgery is looked upon as a lifesaver in any way, it's doomed to disappoint. It also seems to me that it's incumbent upon plastic surgeons to better evaluate their patients. And getting into debt is never smart. I know this is a controversial subject and I'd love to hear all sides of the argument from you. Especially first-hand experiences.
What people are saying...
I don't think I will ever understand the "aesthetic" plastic surgery phenomenon. Never has there been an industry more adept and more successful at undermining the individual's self-esteem for its own mercenary ends than the cosmetic surgery industry. I've heard all sorts of lame excuses from people I thought knew better: I don't have the right body type, my nose is too big, my lips are too small, I'm an actress and I need bigger boobs to get considered for lead roles, nothing's where it used to be before I had the baby, I can't smile in photographs because my face wrinkles up. Even men are prey to the cosmetic surgery vultures: I'll be passed over at work for a younger-looking guy, if I don't get hair implants, people will think I'm not virile, I'm too "ethnic." To my ear the subtext of all these excuses is simply this: I hate that this body, this face, is the legacy left to me by my parents. No matter how much I say I love them, what I mean is "how could they do this to me? How could they curse me to live my life looking like this?" The image problem isn't even limited to how these people see themselves in the mirror, but how they think other people see them. Well, here's the honest truth: the mirror always lies, because it reflects your conceived image, not your true image, and others react to you the way they sense you are seeing yourself. They say you need to spend a lot of money to get "good" cosmetic surgery. But what about all those stars who have had work and can certainly afford the best and look like burn victims? Wayne Newton, Kenny Rogers, Richard Chamberlain, Joan Rivers, Sophia Loren. I never thought I'd see the day when it would hurt to look at Robert Redford. Kandi and Denise, You make excellent points. And oh yeah, I wonderd why Robert Redford was looking so strange. I guess the answer is more self respect and self esteem - which isn't easy when images of artifically created women and men are always being shoved in our faces. But when you think about it - who are the people who really love and trust - have they been rearranged by surgery? I bet not. Comment on this Post
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