If You’re Judging Someone’s Plastic Surgery Choice, Don’t
In 2017 17.5 million people elected to have a cosmetic procedure done, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
The majority, 15.7 million people, received a non-invasive or minimally invasive procedure like fillers or Botox.
1.8 million people elected to go under the knife and receive a breast augmentation, the most popular procedure, before liposuction and rhinoplasty.
But a higher number, 5.8 million, clocked in for receiving reconstructive surgery as oppose to those who received cosmetic surgery.
The difference between reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery, according to PlasticSurgery.org, is reconstructive is done to address and fix abnormal structures of the body due to congenital defects, trauma, developmental abnormalities or infection.
Cosmetic, on the other hand, is done to solely improve the appearance of a feature that is otherwise clinically fine but the patient wants to personally enhance their appearance.
It’s no secret both men and women are electing to receive plastic surgery, and based on the numbers, more so for reconstructive than cosmetic reasons.
And women as young as in their twenties are also choosing to receive Botox and fillers, as are many women entering their thirties and forties.
Some women are keen to go under the knife while others prefer not to embark on the plastic surgery road. But regardless of what men and women choose to do, at the end of the day it’s for no one to judge the reasons why someone has work done.
Why am I making this statement? Because all too often I hear some woman touting about how ridiculous it is that “this plastic surgery trend” is getting out of control.
According to the statistics the number of people receiving plastic surgery is on the rise by a mere 2 percent a year. It’s not skyrocketing and again, more people are going for reconstructive purposes than anything else.
There is no trend, people have been receiving plastic surgery since the 16 century. Whether it was rhinoplasty or correcting disfigurements from being a soldier in war, everyone from the ancient Romans to the Egyptians were utilizing plastic surgery to help correct someone’s appearance.
The other thing to consider before judging someone for having plastic surgery is many men and women might not have a choice in the matter.
A woman who needs a double mastectomy isn’t electing to have the procedure done. And many women who are breast cancer survivors decide to have reconstructive surgery and implants put in to give them breasts again.
Or what about men and women who have alopecia and decide to have eyebrows tattooed so they, simply put, have eyebrows again? Is that so insane?
Maybe a mother of five just wants to have her tummy tucked after giving birth multiple times. Is that really so crazy?
My point is before we go and silently judge or even make fun of someone for having a procedure done, stop and think why they elected to have it done in the first place.
And even if there was technically no reason to have surgery, maybe the person’s quality of life and happiness improved after they fixed the one thing that always made them self conscious and insecure.
It is possible to go too far, but that’s between the patient and surgeon. And perhaps we need to start questioning the ethics of the surgeon who is agreeing to work on a patient who’s goal is mentally and physically unhealthy.
Yes, we can sit and say part of what makes you unique are your imperfections, but maybe we need to look at the impossible beauty standards Photoshop created and why we still feed into it as though it’s reality.
And if you elect to have something changed or fixed, that’s okay, too. Whatever makes you the best version of yourself while providing you with a happy life should be the journey you choose.
And for those who claim they’ve never had any work done, they just don’t realize that the American Society of Plastic Surgeons also counts microdermabrasion as a non-invasive procedure.
