The Pressure to Take Good Selfies is Making Girls Get Cosmetic Surgery

By Alex Rees

Is selfie culture helping bankroll the cosmetic surgery business? A new survey conducted by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery says yes, it sure is. The poll, conducted annually to analyze trends in facial plastic surgery, found that "one in three facial plastic surgeons surveyed saw an increase in requests for procedures due to patients being more self aware of looks in social media." And approximately one in eight surgeons identified "increased photo sharing and patients' dissatisfaction with their own image on social media sites" as a factor specifically. After all, you take one bad selfie and tell yourself you blinked at the wrong moment, or smelled something weird, but four bad photos in a row is a knock to your self-confidence, right? And detagging is even worse.

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The Academy's president, Edward Farrior, MD, said that "social platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and the iPhone app Selfie.im, which are solely image based, force patients to hold a microscope up to their own image and often look at it with a more self-critical eye than ever before... These images are often the first impressions young people put out there to prospective friends, romantic interests and employers and our patients want to put their best face forward."

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The survey found an increase in procedures performed on patients under the age of 30 reported by over half the doctors taking part. The survey describes this trend as the "increasingly youthful face of plastic surgery," which is now almost as much about preventing visible signs of aging as it is changing appearance. The most common surgeries undertaken to put those patients' "best face forward" are facelifts and nose jobs, while Botox and chemical peels were the most popular non-surgical options.

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