The Pros and Cons of Cosmetic Surgery

By John Guevara

Cosmetic surgeries are procedures intended to improve a person’s appearance, and range from liposuction, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty and eyelid surgery to facelifts and liposuction. Such surgeries have become increasingly common over the last few decades, and it is likely that the reader themselves knows a number of people who have undergone some sort of cosmetic surgery. More than 1.8 million cosmetic surgical procedures were performed in the US in 2017 alone. The most common cosmetic surgery around the world is breast augmentation, followed by liposuction and eyelid surgery. If you are considering getting cosmetic surgery sometime in the near future, it is important to take the following brief examination of the advantages and disadvantages into consideration.

Advantages

In a society in which image is everything, wanting to improve your appearance is often high on people’s list of priorities. Looking good is often the key to feeling good, and cosmetic surgery can be a quick and easy way of improving self-confidence. This new confidence tends to translate into more personal and professional opportunities. It can also increase a person’s openness to trying new things, leading to a broadening of their horizons and life prospects.

In some circumstances, people opt for cosmetic surgery for health reasons. Procedures like nose realignment to improve breathing or breast reduction to alleviate back pain can drastically improve a person’s health and quality of life. In other cases, surgeries, such as those to remove excess skin for people who have lost a considerable amount of weight, or to remove unsightly growths or marks on a person’s face, can have a positive effect on mental health. If you are interested in a consultation with a high-quality cosmetic surgery centre, look no further than Absolute Cosmetic Medicine.

Disadvantages

Despite the potential pros mentioned above, the negative aspects of cosmetic surgery are unfortunately manifold. Patients can experience considerable scarring in cases where a surgeon does not possess the necessary level of training or expertise to carry out the operation properly. Many procedures carry with them certain medical risks, such as infection, nerve damage, swelling and bruising, tissue death, blood clots and severe bleeding. Worryingly, in the last few years, there have been various well-documented cases of patients being injected with or receiving implants containing toxic substances that, over the post-op period, can cause a person to become seriously ill or even die.

Another negative of cosmetic surgery is that procedures can be extremely costly. Although the price in the surgeon’s brochure might quote one figure, the hidden costs of anaesthesia, aftercare and medication can soon spiral out of control. The full cost of a procedure should be investigated before a person commits to having a procedure done. Studies have shown that cosmetic surgery can become addictive for some people, who continue paying for procedures in pursuit of the buzz that they gain from a process of constant physical improvement. The addiction can lead to people taking out loans to finance cosmetic surgery procedures that they cannot realistically afford.