Cosmetic Surgery: Dangers and Alternatives Essay

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Introduction

Cosmetic surgery is becoming more popular nowadays as technology is advancing and more operations become possible. This branch of medical science is different from plastic surgery because it does not serve a practical purpose and only makes the person look different. However, this trend should not continue as not only does cosmetic surgery still come with significant risks but it also changes the perception of beauty and may pressure people into having unnecessary operations.

Cosmetic surgery has been becoming more popular recently in the United States as well as other countries. According to Cosmetic Surgery (2017), the number of operations performed in the United States each year has increased by 732% between 1997 and 2016. Cosmetic Surgery (2017) adds that most of the procedures are performed on women and people between 35 and 50 years of age.

These statistics suggest that the surgery primarily appears to women who believe they are losing their beauty and want to retain it for as long as possible. Cosmetic Surgery (2017) notes that the most popular procedures are liposuction, breast augmentation, breast lifts, abdominoplasty, and blepharoplasty. These data are consistent with the prevailing view of cosmetic surgery as a tool that primarily applies changes to faces and breasts or reduces the weight of the patient.

Reasons for Operations

As mentioned above, the primary reason why people turn to cosmetic surgery may be a perceived loss of beauty. Bodies in Christ (2015) supports this idea and adds that many Americans struggle with body dissatisfaction as well as unattainable body ideals. The media frequently promote the latter as they are the primary medium for beauty product advertising. Fashion magazines tend to use Photoshop to edit featured images and make the bodies of the models appear slimmer, with more pronounced curves.

Such campaigns as these establish impossible standards and attempt to convince women that unrealistically thin bodies are the norm and that everyone should strive toward them. Attempts to do so promote body negativity and self-harming behaviors, warping the perception of beauty in the minds of people. Furthermore, some people are more impressionable or less mentally stable than others, and they may respond strongly to the kinds of advertising described in the last paragraph.

Bodies in Christ (2015) notes that enormous numbers of American men and women are affected by an eating disorder at some point in their lives and that around a thousand women die of anorexia nervosa each year. Furthermore, some people may turn their body image insecurities into mental issues, a condition that is called body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and described by Castle (2018). These kinds of people often realize their inability to deal with their perceived issues and turn to cosmetic surgery as a potential solution. However, the procedures are not perfect, and even if they do not suffer any adverse consequences, BDD victims tend to remain dissatisfied.

Dangers of Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic surgery retains the risks of more medically oriented surgical disciplines, although there is usually little to no threat to the patient’s life during or after the operation. Nevertheless, failures that harm the patients happen sometimes, particularly because the lucrative nature of the industry may attract companies that lack ethical concerns or proper quality control measures. Edmonds (2013) describes the case of PIP, a company that made breast implants that used non-medical silicone and were more likely to rupture than competing models.

A large number of women around the world received potentially dangerous implants, and, according to Edmonds (2013), they may be linked to an increased probability of cancer. Edmonds (2013) also highlights that trust is a significant part of the popularity and danger of cosmetic surgery, as the procedure is performed by doctors, and patients feel assured that they are safe. However, more and more varieties of doctors are beginning to offer to perform the procedures, and sometimes it is difficult to completely verify the safety of a product used for the operations, both for doctors and for patients.

Alternatives to Cosmetic Surgery

Ultimately, the primary concern surrounding cosmetic surgery is that it does not provide health benefits but carries risks for the recipient’s well-being. The only possible justification for the procedure is a subjective improvement, and there are usually less dangerous ways to achieve it. Cosmetic surgery would likely become unnecessary if people chose to be more positive about their bodies. According to Pennington (2018), children with facial differences tend to score better on body image tests than those who do not have unusual features.

One possible reason is that children in the first category often develop better social skills to compensate for the awkwardness and therefore realize that one’s appearance is not critical to who he or she is. On the other hand, Pennington (2018) notes that most teenagers without body differences put significant emphasis on body image and rate it higher than many other concerns. A cultural change that focused less attention on one’s appearance would likely improve the self-perception of many people, especially teenagers, and lead fewer people to resort to cosmetic surgery.

References

Bodies in Christ. (2015). America, 212(6), 5. Web.

Castle, D. J. (2018). Body dysmorphic disorder and cosmetic surgery: are surgeons too quick to nip and tuck? In Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit, MI: Gale. (Reprinted from Body dysmorphic disorder and cosmetic surgery: are surgeons too quick to nip and tuck? Web.

Cosmetic Surgery. (2017). In Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit, MI: Gale. Web.

Edmonds, A. (2013). The Risks of Cosmetic Surgery Should Not Be Ignored. In L. I. Gerdes (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. The Culture of Beauty. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press. Web.

Penington, A. (2018). Children with facial difference have a lot to teach us about body image. In Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit, MI: Gale. Web.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Cosmetic Surgery: Dangers and Alternatives." May 12, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cosmetic-surgery-dangers-and-alternatives/.

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