Medical professionals are dedicated to providing patients with healthcare. The aim of aesthetic surgery is not related to health, but purely to serve the patients vanity. Thus, creating a corrupting situation, whereby money entices and motivates surgeons to use their profession for trivial means such as breast augmentation, penis enlargement and facelift. The demand for such procedures is fuelled by lifestyle choices to enhance physical appearance and boost confidence, rather than a medical need, opening the door for social media outlets to manipulate a persons idea of what an acceptable body image is.
The notion of aesthetic surgery referrs to a medical procedure initiated by the patient to modify the appearance to parts of the body, solely to improve their body image and make the body more attractive. Poor body image connotes a displeasing or negative concept of the body, based partially on self analysis and somewhat on opinions from others. This conception is not always related to reality and can be influenced by diseases such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Anorexia Nervosa.
Consequently, it can be said that aesthetic surgery is not only a means of modifying the body, but a means of transforming the body image. Aesthetic Surgery does not address an individuals poor body image being the result of and emotional or psychological disorder, however, aesthetic surgery can address a specific physical problem area that causes a poor body image, and rectify it. Furthermore, aesthetic surgery allows the individual to attain a normal body image that can better symbolise who they really are.
Studies have conclusively shown that aesthetic surgery improves a persons poor body image, thus being the answer to poor body image. Critics of aesthetic surgery promote the notion that aesthetic surgery does not address and individuals poor body image being the result of an emotional or psychological disorder such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and therefore cannot provide the answer to their poor body image.
Prospective aesthetic surgery patients suffering from emotional or psychological disorders can often dismiss possible dangers and side effects caused by aesthetic surgery such as death or infection. A patient suffering from disorders such as body dysmorphic disorder, polysurgical addiction or a personality disorder will not benefit from aesthetic surgery and will not see an improvement to their poor body image. In most cases, patients presenting with these symptoms require psychological help, no aesthetic surgery as treatment for their poor body image.
With this said, aesthetic surgery is not the answer for patients suffering from emotional or psychological disorders. While it is conceded that aesthetic surgery does not result in an improvement to a person’s body image who suffers from an emotional or psychological disorder, numerous studies conducted over the past ten years in Australia, Europe and the United States show that aesthetic surgery is the answer to a person’s negative perception of their body as the surgery addresses a specific problem area that causes the poor body image and rectifies it.
Three common types of aesthetic surgery procedures undergone to improve a poor body image are abdominoplasty, commonly referred to as a ‘tummy tuck’, breast augmentation which is enlargement of the breasts and rhinoplasty, also known as a ‘nose job’. In a study conducted by the Department of Plastic Surgery of the Innsbruck Medical University Hospital and the Department of Plastic Surgery of the Linz Hospital of Sisters of mercy, aimed at determining whether abdominoplasty had a psychosocial aftermath, a convincing increase in an improvement to body image was reported.
The subjects in this study were overweight people who had undergone major weight loss either by dieting or by gastric banding. As a result of the weight loss, they were left with undesirable skin flaps distributed around the body, more noticeably in the abdomen area. The study found that after undergoing aesthetic surgery, the quality of life and body image of each patient improved. The results concluded that there was a significant improvement in body image, and it can therefore be stated that aesthetic surgery was the answer for these patients to their poor body image.
Another study consistent with these findings was one conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Surgery, that examined body image concerns of women considering breast augmentation. A poor body image is thought to be the main motivator for breast augmentation. Women considering breast augmentation reported a greater dissatisfaction with their breasts compared to women who were not seeking breast augmentation.
The women considering breast augmentation were of the belief that the surgery would improve their body image. The study also found that women considering breast augmentation reported an increase in discontentment with their body image, a problem common amongst other aesthetic surgery patients. Furthermore, a study conducted by the Rhinologic section of ORL, Karolinska Institute in Sweden, reported that the psychosocial impact aesthetic rhinoplasty had on an individual’s body image was positive.
A majority of the patients examined had a negative perception of their nose since puberty, inciting a severe complex and a feeling of being socially inhibited. Post rhinoplasty surgery, it was reported that the vast majority of patient’s felt more self confident, noting an improvement in their body image and self esteem and an overall improvement in their quality of life. Aesthetic surgery allows the individual to attain a normal body image that can better symbolise who they really are. An example of this is shown in an interview with an aesthetic surgery patient.
The patient has a rigorous exercise routine, strict diet and consumes very little alcohol. Regardless of the amount of exercise done, and weights aimed at the specific area of shaping the legs, the patient was unable to shape and tone her legs. The patient’s decision to undergo aesthetic surgery was motivated by the fact that she could not tone her legs through diet and exercise, and used aesthetic surgery as a last resort. Through aesthetic surgery, the patient was able to fix her ‘genetic flaws’ and shape her body to her desire, improving her overall body image.