Plastic surgery can be a charged topic. In my constant search for what to blog about, one patient recently sent me an email and told me I should talk about this.
Does getting plastic surgery mean you don’t love yourself?
As my patient stated eloquently, “This is a huge topic. There is a difference between not loving yourself vs. just wanting get something fixed.” She goes on, “Everyone is different. You’re not going to have what someone else has look wise. But what I couldn’t achieve on my own I needed help fixing. And when I found you when doing my research I knew I could have that done. It didn’t make me “love me” more because I always have; what it did was give me the confidence in knowing I could have something done to fix an issue that was personal to me. And for that I am so thankful for you!”
I agree with my patient’s astute words. I don’t think getting plastic surgery means you don’t love yourself. And I don’t state this lightly. I know I am a plastic surgeon and that may make you assume things about me. I am not here to “sell” you surgery or tell you how your face/breasts/belly is bad. Surgery is something to really think about- there are scars, risks, costs, and downtime. I don’t think plastic surgery is right for everyone. I think there are some things which you shouldn’t fix. I think there are some things you can’t fix. I don’t think everyone should be some cookie cutter version of a woman. I don’t think everyone needs to be a certain body shape or size. I don’t think we should not age.
My patient base is a very non “plastic surgery” type overall. They are strong, self confident women. They are professionals, mothers, athletes. I know they love themselves.
But there are some things you cannot fix by diet, exercise, and sheer will. When your eyelids hang into your eyes as you age? You need eyelid surgery. When your babies blew out your abdominal muscles and skin when you were pregnant? You can’t fix that with sit ups. You need a tummy tuck. When your breasts are so big you can’t buy a bra off the shelf and need to special order it, or they give you constant back and neck pain, fix it. When you have a strong pear shape and starve yourself to try to make your legs smaller, I would much rather you do liposuction to balance your shape than have an eating disorder.
What I see in women is that this thing- whatever it was which was a thorn in their side, consuming so much mental energy- gets fixed. And I see them let it go and focus on other things. I can’t tell you how many women feel like they reclaimed their body. It can be life changing.
I do think who you pick as your surgeon makes a difference here. There are some places where they do “sell” things- more procedures, treatments which may not work, just more. Get a few opinions before you do anything.