Plastic Surgery - What About It?

Did you know that plastic surgery procedures were carried out as early as 600 B.C in India? Sushruta is one of the earliest mentioned names in plastic surgery history. Sushruta is believed to be the first individual to describe the basics of plastic surgery in his famous ancient treatise called 'Sushruta Samhita'. He described over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures and classifies human surgery in eight categories (Saraf & Parihar, 2006).

Plastic surgery has been the talk of the town but still people are uncertain about its ethicality due to religious matter. Despite plastic surgery main disadvantage, which is to expensively paid to be in risks to enhance appearance, plastic surgery also have its advantages. It can rehabilitate injuries, build-up confidence and create a better life.

The most prominent advantage of plastic surgery is it helps rehabilitate injuries that are from accidents or wars such as wounds, and burned or cut skin. A sailor Walter Ernest O'Neil Yeo, was one of the first people who underwent plastic surgery. Yeo sustained terrible facial injuries including the loss of upper and lower eyelids while manning the guns aboard HMS Warspite in 1916 during the Battle of Jutland. Sir Harold Gillies also known as 'the father of modern plastic surgery' was the one who treated Yeo in 1917 at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Kent. Yeo is thought to have been one of the first patients who used skin grafts from undamaged areas on the body (Hartley, 2008). The rehabilitation of injuries by through plastic surgery is important because it will help the people with injuries reintegrate back into their normal life without shame and embarrassment.

Next, plastic surgery helps to build-up confidence. However, there are certain people who will be depressed even from a small number of flaws that they have, such as, their nose is too large or too small or they have uneven eyelids. This kind of depression is called body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). People who have BDD will sit in front of a mirror and look at their flaws for hours each day. If the BDD gets severe they may miss school or work to avoid social situations. They will isolate themselves even from their family and friends because they cannot control their negative thought towards their flaws and fear that people might notice it ("Body dysmorphic disorder," n.d.). It is estimated that approximately 0.5-0.7% of the UK population have BDD ("Obsessive-compulsive disorder," 2005). This is where plastic surgery helps. It is unnecessary for them to undergo cosmetic surgery but at least it will help them achieve their ideas of perfection and satisfaction that they need, and also build-up their confidence to get back on track with their life and in society.

Plastic surgery also helps to create a better quality of life. There are a lot of reasons why life is better if people have beautiful looks. Firstly, it is easier for beautiful people to find mates. Men seek attractive women as mates because good looks signify youth, health and a high probability of having beautiful offspring. Secondly, their social life will be better because attractive people are more persuasive and can use their sex appeal to command attention. Thirdly, good looking people have more chances to be offered jobs and earn a high income because in a study of a nearly 300 Dutch advertising agencies, economists found that firms with better looking executives have higher revenues (Spector, 2013). For example, Valeria Lukyanova from Moldova is a model with a porcelain doll-like appearance but before, she was an online sensation due to an excessive plastic surgery to make her face resemble like a doll. ("Model whose excessive plastic surgery," 2012). This shows that plastic surgery in enhancing appearance does make a difference in life.

On the contrary, the cost of plastic surgery procedures is high. The most popular procedures done are liposuction, eyelid surgery, breast implants, nose jobs and facelifts. The cost of these surgeries starts at around $2,000 and can exceed $4,000 in the United States according to the surgeon, location and amount of reshaping and removing in the procedure. Interestingly, facelifts cost more than the others. A facelift runs at about $5,000 and above ("The Most Popular Cosmetic Procedures," n.d. a). Those procedures cost a lot because of consultation fee, the expensive medications use during surgery, it may require several staff and doctors involved in the procedure, the use of facilities in the operating room and if the surgery requires an implant, further charges will be applied because it requires extensive research and testing. (Whitlock, 2014).

Nevertheless, plastic surgery may also cause health risks. Any surgery including plastic surgery should not be taken lightly. Possible complication might occur such as infections which may worsen scarring and require additional surgery or numbness and tingling from nerve damage which may be permanent ("Risks," 2014). For example, popular singer, Michael Jackson was not just known for his music and controversial cases but he was also known for undergoing rhinoplasty, a kind of plastic surgery performed on the nose. He underwent several surgeries just to achieve his idea of a perfect nose but sadly it did not turn out well. Leading rhinoplasty surgeon, Dr. Pamela Lipkin commented on Jackson's reconstructed nose: ‘I think something in his nose, a graft, an implant, has now come out through the skin and that is why he is probably got a hole in his skin. He had what we call an end-stage nose, one that's beyond the point of no return’ ("Revealed: Scalpel by scalpel," 2015).

Another disadvantage of plastic surgery is, it needs maintenance. Plastic surgery will enhance a person's appearance but it will not stop the aging process. To preserve the enhancement, that has already been made, several maintenance surgeries such as Botox and fillers every few months in years are a must. Botox usually ranges from about $300 to $400 per treatment/injection in the US ("The Most Popular Cosmetic Procedures," n.d. b). As for fillers, the average cost of popular types of fillers range from $400 to almost $2000 ("Dermal Fillers Cost," n.d.). On top of that, a high quality cleansing and moisturizing products may be needed to sustain the beauty. These touch-up treatments and additional procedure can disrupt financial budget if its needed regularly.

In conclusion, I strongly agree and support the idea to those who have no option. They are badly in need to undergo for the procedure as they need to reconstruct injuries or fight depression due to flaws and improve lifestyle. They deserved to have their normal life back but disagree to those who have option. Undergo plastic surgery due to enhance appearance which may pose risks and will only burn a hole in their pockets. Finally, I would advise myself and the rest to be thankful and grateful to what God's has given us, whether it is our looks or figures because He knows best.