What Motivates People To Have Cosmetic Surgery?

For many people, cosmetic surgery is a life changing experience. Not only does it change the way they look, but it also changes the way they feel.

As a result, it is not uncommon for people who undergo cosmetic surgery to report increased levels of self confidence and greater success in life.

However, cosmetic surgery does have its limits. Whilst it can help to improve your confidence and self esteem, it won’t necessarily make people like you more or even make you like yourself more.

Cosmetic surgery for example is not a cure for depression. Sure, improving your looks may make you feel better for awhile, but if you have low self esteem you will constantly desire to look better, and no matter how good you look, it will never be good enough.

People like this often end up getting many cosmetic procedures done and usually look worse than they did before they started surgery.

So before choosing to go ahead with cosmetic surgery, it is worth taking some time to quietly think about why you want to have cosmetic surgery.

Some good questions to start with are why you want a particular procedure done, and what you hope to achieve out of it?

If you find that your problems are largely psychological in nature, then you may be better off going to a psychologist rather than a cosmetic surgeon.

Why Do You Want Cosmetic Surgery?

If you are considering cosmetic surgery, you have probably looked in the mirror at a certain part of your body and wished that you could change its appearance.

This is often a good gauge as to whether or not you should get cosmetic surgery, because if something is bothering you constantly, such as every day or every week, then you probably would be a good candidate for cosmetic surgery because changing that body part would take that constant worry and bother off your mind.

What motivates people to pursue cosmetic surgery can vary, but some of the main factors are discussed below.

Try to see which of these motivators applies to you, and then read the accompanying description to help you make up your mind as to whether you have a good reason or not for wanting to change the way that you look.

I Want Cosmetic Surgery Because Of My Genes

One thing you can’t choose in life are your genes. They are handed down to you at birth, and will largely dictate how you look throughout the rest of your life.

Some people may have freckles they dislike, some people may have fat in parts of their body they don’t like and others may dislike the shape of their facial features.

Genetics are therefore a big motivating factor that causes people to want to get cosmetic surgery.

Some people are fortunate because their genes mean that they don’t require much cosmetic surgery, if any at all, whilst other people may feel as though they require a lot.

So whether or not you need cosmetic surgery really comes down to the luck of the draw. As to whether this is a good reason for wanting surgery, that largely depends.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to improve the way that you look, after all, very few people have genes that give them a perfect look which they are 100% happy with.

So for example, if you have an oddly shaped nose that you feel self conscious about, having surgery to give it a more natural shape can be very beneficial to your overall level of self confidence.

Where things start to become a problem however, is when you want to change everything about yourself. Rather than just one or two things you do not like about your body, you do not like how you look at all and want to change virtually everything about yourself.

In such cases, getting cosmetic surgery is probably not a good idea, as you are most likely suffering from a psychological disorder that you should seek help for.

Even though you may think surgery is going to help you, in all likelihood it will not and you will continue feeling the same way about yourself no matter how much surgery you undergo.

Cosmetic surgeons are actually very reluctant to operate on such people because people who do not like anything about themselves can very easily become addicted to plastic surgery and end up looking abnormal.

So as a general rule, just remember that changing a few things is probably ok, but changing everything is not.

I Want To Reverse The Signs Of Aging

Whilst there are many anti-aging approaches a person can take to reduce and delay the signs of aging, eventually time catches up with us all. The more we age the more loose our skin becomes, and eventually it starts to sag all over our body.

It’s no wonder that cosmetic procedures to hide skin sagging are so popular, especially when it comes to hiding facial skin sagging.

It used to be the case that the majority of people who wanted cosmetic surgery to make them look younger were people in their 50s and above.

However, as society now places such great emphasis on youth, people in their 30s are increasingly coming to cosmetic surgeons to help them turn back the years.

Aging, along with genetic factors, are the number one motivators for why people get cosmetic surgery.

Having cosmetic surgery to reverse the signs of aging is one of the main purposes of why cosmetic surgery was developed in the first place.

Today, there are many surgical procedures and non surgical procedures that can be very effective in helping you to maintain a more youthful looking appearance.

The only time this motivation to look younger can lead to problems, is if you are unable to accept your age.

The reason for this is that whilst cosmetic surgery certainly can help you to look younger, it will not turn you into a teenager again. So if this is what you are hoping to obtain from surgery, you are going to be disappointed with the results.

However, if you just want something to help you make you look your best, and slightly younger than you are, then by all means go ahead and book yourself in for whatever procedure takes your fancy!

I Want To Reverse Sun Damaged Skin

There never used to be such awareness about how harmful the sun can be to the skin. As a result, many people basked in the sun unprotected for long periods so that they could obtain the perfect tan.

In most cases, it was women who did the tanning. Later, as sun beds became more popular, people from both sexes saw tanning beds as a great way to get a tan cheaply and quickly.

Unfortunately, as we now know today, UV rays are very damaging to the skin and are a major cause of premature aging.

Early signs of sun damage appear as wrinkles, freckles and pigmented skin, with some people even developing skin cancer.

Discolouration of the skin can be treated with chemical peels whilst skin cancer is usually surgically removed.

Later signs of sun damage are sagging of the skin, and skin which has a leathery appearance. Depending on the extent of sun induced skin damage the person suffered in their youth, chemical peels may be sufficient to improve their appearance, although if sagging is a major concern then their only option may be to undergo a surgical face lift.

Sun induced skin damage is a significant motivating factor for people to undergo cosmetic surgery, especially those who had a lot of unprotected sun exposure throughout the 1960s to 1980s. Women are more likely than men to undergo chemical peels and face lifts.

Sun damaged skin is a good reason to go see your surgeon, but, if your skin is currently OK, please don’t think that you can spend lots of time in the sun unprotected and then go see a surgeon when you get older.

Although a cosmetic surgeon will be able to improve the appearance of sun damaged skin, what they can do is still quite limited and it won’t make your skin look as good as skin which was not as damaged by the sun.

I Want To Get Rid Of My Acne Scars

Acne scars can significantly affect a person’s level of confidence, so it’s no wonder that people in their 20s and 30s come to cosmetic surgeons to get rid of their scars.

Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to remove all and every type of scar. However, it is possible to significantly reduce their appearance so that they no longer are a major concern for the individual.

Some scarring can be concealed on a temporary basis, usually via the use of sub-dermal fillers, whilst the appearance of other scars can be reduced permanently by feathering the edges of the scar such as with laser skin resurfacing treatments.

If you have acne scars and they bother you, they are likely to be an extremely strong motivator to undergo cosmetic surgery and you will probably benefit from having them treated.

A word of warning though. Very deep scars can be difficult to remove completely, and in most cases, you will just be able to make them less noticeable rather than making them vanish.

So have realistic expectations when it comes to acne scar removal treatments, as otherwise you are bound to be disappointed and won’t receive as great of a psychological benefit from the treatment as you should.

I Want Plastic Surgery To Fix A Physical Problem

Sometimes, plastic surgery is required to restore the proper functioning of an area of the body. For example, eyelid surgery can help to improve a person’s peripheral vision which can be of benefit when driving.

Nasal surgery can help a person to breath better, and body reconstruction can help to take care of some of the symptoms that occur when a person loses a lot of weight, such as excess sagging skin. Additionally, plastic surgery can also be used to alter the appearance of deformities.

Plastic surgery can be of great benefit to people who were born with a deformity, or have a part of their body that looks abnormal due to an injury or disease they recently suffered from.

In such cases, plastic surgery should be encouraged if the person wants to have it done as not only can it help them to live a more normal life and fit into society better, but it can also significantly improve how they feel about themselves.

Parents may therefore want to pay for plastic surgery for their child if that child was born with an abnormality, as this can help that child to progress through school without feeling so self conscious about themselves.

If you suffer a deformity as a result of injury or disease, you may find that your insurance company will contribute towards the costs especially if that surgery is of a reconstructive nature.

I’m A Smoker And My Skin Looks Bad

If you are a heavy smoker and have been smoking for a long time, then you are likely to have suffered mainly from aging of the skin. As a result, your face may be wrinkled, sagging, and look dull and old beyond its years.

A chemical peel, microdermabrasion or a surgical face lift can all help to improve the appearance of your face and make it look younger.

However, it is worth noting that many cosmetic surgeons will not operate on heavy smokers because smoking delays the body’s ability to heal itself.

Therefore, unless you are willing to quit smoking for the time leading up to the surgery, you may not be able to undergo cosmetic surgery.