Unrealistic expectations drive people to undergo plastic surgery
London, UK, December 28: Cosmetic surgeons are witnessing a new trend wherein people want to go in for surgery in order to copy the looks and lifestyles of models and celebrities. These “unrealistic expectations” are driving away surgeons from conducting operations.
One of the main reasons for this could be that many celebrities are undergoing surgery these days. Also, there is fierce marketing about how easy such a surgery is. This makes women think that they can drastically change their lives by going in for cosmetic surgery.
A survey conducted by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) revealed that unrealistic expectations coupled with the obsession for looking like celebrities is making surgeons say no to clients. Basically, the reasons for undergoing the knife have changed.
The second most common reason for turning down clients is that they want to undergo procedures which would actually not reap any benefits. And the third reason was the probability of health risks associated with the procedure keeping in mind the medical history of the client.
“More and more we have clients coming in with pictures of celebrities they want to look like, especially for rhinoplasty and breast augmentation, and we are turning increasing numbers of them away,” said BAAPS Honorary Secretary Rajiv Grover.
He added that these days girls want to look like a certain pop star or a celebrity and think that surgery can help them attain that goal.
However, responsible surgeons do inform the clients about the probable risks and do not guarantee that the results will match their expectations.
As such there is a voluntary code of conduct for cosmetic surgeons. This code asks doctors to “take responsibility for explaining the patients the reasonable expectations and results from undertaking the procedure.”
Adam Searle, a surgeon in London, said that when clients come to him with the picture of a certain celebrity, he realizes that they do not want to have a certain feature like him or her. Instead they want to emulate their lifestyle.
He added that he is dead against men who force their wives or girlfriends to become their fantasy women. But people do get caught in the hands of dishonest surgeons who promise them the unachievable.
Nigel Mercer, a fellow surgeon and President of BAAPS, said, “Women will come in with a picture of the supermodel Cindy Crawford and say I want that nose. I have to explain they have a fundamentally different facial structure. I will say to them it can’t be done, and I don’t think there is anyone on earth who can do it; but there are always unscrupulous surgeons who are not so honest.”