Selfies Leading To Increase In Plastic Surgery

Click, Flash, Chop

I don’t get all the hate for selfies. I feel as though I really should. Especially on this dreary Monday morning. But, oddly enough, I just don’t. If people want to take 1,000 pictures of themselves with their dinner, go for it – it doesn't impact my day at all. It just makes you look stupid. But hey, I’m not here to judge. Selfies just shouldn't be taken that seriously.

Unfortunately, in the US, it seems that the power the selfie holds over us is now a huge factor in people seeking plastic and reconstructive surgery.

source: wonderfulengineering.com

A poll that was conducted earlier this year by the American Academy of Facial, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) revealed that one in three doctors noticed that patients wanting to go under the knife placed a large emphasis on their appearance in social media and selfies.

This is a big increase compared to the same poll conducted in 2012 and 2013 and individual surgeons have noted that selfies have become a huge factor in people seeking to go under the knife. Yes, this report is real. People are telling themselves that they need plastic surgery because they have to look just right in their selfies and no angle seems to veil their insecurities.

I’m not sure if this report should warrant anger or pity. On one side, yes, this does sound like an extreme over-reaction for the sake of selfies. On the other side, it is quite sad that people place so much emphasis on their appearance nowadays with their face sprawled all over their social accounts.

Dr. Sam Risk, a surgeon in Manhattan, commented, "There has been a 25 percent increase over the past year and a half to two years. I refuse a significant proportion of patients with selfies because I believe it is not a real image of what they actually look like in person. They come in with their iPhones and show me pictures. Selfies are just getting to be so crazy. Too many selfies indicate a self-obsession and a certain level of insecurity that most teenagers have. It just makes it worse. Now they can see themselves in 100 images a day on Facebook and Instagram.'

The poll by the AAFPRS also highlighted how there has been a 10% increase in nose jobs, a 7% increase for hair transplants and 6% for eyelid surgery.

source: paulwilsoncosmetic.co.uk

The AAFRPS President Edward Farrior said that social media caused people to ‘hold a microscope up to their own image and often look at it with a more self-critical eye than ever before.’

He was quite spot on. We analyse everything about our faces far too much.

I mean, don’t you just hate it when you catch a reflection of yourself at an odd angle in a mirror? I did this weekend and stood for a good minute pondering to myself: ‘Is that what I really look like?’ But then you realise that odd angles like this are what other people see of us every day. No one is going to see us in ways that we force. Like that head tilt just to the left, or with that smile with just the right amount of pout. Social media allows people to perfectly tailor their appearance. But with just about everything else on social media, it isn't a complete reflection of who we are.

Yes, you want everyone to think you’re that gorgeous, wild, party animal who never sleeps. But, in reality you spend more nights than you’d like to admit watching Netflix in your pants. 

Tom Welby

Tom has just graduated from University of East London in Creative and Professional Writing. He loves writing and is currently interning as content writer hoping to go further. His other loves include Arnold Schwarzenegger films and his dog. Follow him @TomAtSMF

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