Is Plastic Surgery for You? A Personal Choice
It must just be human nature, this tendency to judge other people's motives and decisions. Certainly, it is defensible when the actions of others affect might us, but there seems to be no end of interest in who has had plastic surgery, or who might, and why. So this installment of the "who-what-why-when-where" series is the "who."
Plastic surgeons themselves are at least partly to blame, presumably because any interest is better than none (as in the Hollywood maxim "There's no such thing as bad publicity, there's just publicity.") Why else would the American Society of Plastic Surgeons include a survey on attitudes about plastic surgery with their annual statistics report?
For the record, attitudes are continuing to become more favorable towards plastic surgery. In 2008, 72% of women surveyed "approved" of cosmetic plastic surgery (only 51% of men), though only 40% envisioned considering for themselves at some point in the future. Compared to five years ago, this represented a 28% gain. Gone are the days when "having a little work done" was stigmatized and secret. Yet almost daily some starlet proudly proclaims their opposition to it, while their somewhat older colleagues sneak in through the dermatologist's back door for Botox. Almost invariably, those who criticize cosmetic surgery are themselves are too young to think about the effects of aging, or are genetically gifted with natural good looks, as though it is some sort of accomplishment. All I can say that a great many of my patients never imagined someday being in a plastic surgeon's office 10 or 20 years ago.
The cosmetic side of plastic surgery, now with its own media superstars, started out as the poor stepsister. Reconstructive surgery was the real heart and soul of the profession, a view still espoused by many. Cosmetic surgery was for the vain and superficial, while restoring the injured and afflicted was the nobler aspiration. That may be true at some level, but patients expect their doctor to bring the full weight of their experience and expertise to the operating room regardless of their reason for being there. And though many university training programs still give the cosmetic side short shrift, the increasing importance of it is evidenced by rapidly increasing membership in the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. (http://www.surgery.org/)
This is good news for anyone considering cosmetic plastic surgery; not just that techniques and technologies are better, but that others are less likely to pass judgment. But another thing patients consistently report is that their decision is a personal one, not based on trying to live up to others' expectations anyway.