Big breasts, full lips, face without a single wrinkle - the ideal promoted by the media is a dream of many women. To get close to him, many women choose plastic surgery. In many cases, the motivation to get plastic surgery is the need to get a better job, increase self-confidence, or keep your partner by your side at all costs.

Over 80 percent women would like to change something in their appearance. Many of them also declare that if an opportunity arose, such as a cash injection, they would be happy to put themselves in the hands ofof a plastic surgeon . The fact that these are not just empty declarations could be seen during castings for programs offeringplastic surgery . Hundreds of thousands of women apply for the projects. There is much more willingness than with other reality shows. The determination to correct the shortcomings of beauty is sometimes so strong that women are ready to undergo treatments in front of the whole of Poland. - Poles have found out that plastic surgeries are not as scary as they used to say, and that even a significant improvement in their appearance is possible - says Dr. Andrzej Sankowski, plastic surgeon.

What are the real advantages and dangers of improving your beauty with a scalpel?

Plastic surgery or Photoshop?

After the broadcast of plastic surgery programs, clinics began to find not only women known from the front pages of newspapers, but also ordinary housewives. Banks came out against those who wanted to improve their beauty defects, offering special loans for plastic surgery. Women began to borrow each other to fulfill the dream of bigger breasts or a smaller nose. However, it was not only the television show of plastic surgeries that contributed to the increased interest in the procedures. The world has been overrun by the cult of beauty and youth.

Beautiful women look down on the covers of magazines and movie screens, but time seems to be in their hands. This is today's ideal of beauty, and ladies want to equal it. However, not all of them are aware of the fact that every photo that appears in the press is processed by a computer program that can make an overweight person missfitness. - Women's magazines drive a lot of patients - says Dr. Sankowski. - Women compare themselves to women presented in the press, who promote one type of figure and beauty, and want to look like that too. It happens that patients come with a photo cut from the newspaper and want the same nose, although from a distance you can see that the photo is computer-corrected.

I have an operation to get a better job

The truth is also that in today's world an aging or less physically attractive person has much less chance of a career. Employers prefer to hire younger people with a better presence - such people inspire greater trust. They, too, are much more likely to be promoted than their older or less attractive female friends. It is already a standard to add a CV with a photo to the job advertisement. The employer is often guided by this first impression when initially eliminating candidates. If he has a choice of employing two people with similar qualifications, it is almost certain that he will choose the more attractive one.

Beauty is associated with success for a reason. Dr. Sankowski admits that his clinic receives people who want to improve their chances on the labor market by correcting their appearance. Indeed, according to a study by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 73 percent. of women think that an attractive appearance is a big advantage. Polish women are of a similar opinion and willingly submit to the correction of imperfections, which are to increase their self-confidence and make them competitive in the fight for the position.

This situation, however, is not new to our times. Yes, the cult of beauty is much greater today than it was years ago, but research shows that attractive people are subconsciously favored. Even infants focus longer on people with symmetrical facial features, a small nose and a big smile than on people we perceive as less attractive.

The results of psychological research leave no room for doubt: mom's love of beauty is encoded in her genes. We ascribe positive qualities to pretty people in advance. One glance is enough to subconsciously judge that a given person is intelligent and good-natured, while another, perhaps less beautiful, seems to be less sensitive. These stereotypes are firmly established in childhood. Fairy tales abound in images of beautiful and good princesses and their ugly, and thus - evil stepmothers. But the ruthless pursuit of beauty has been going on for a long time. Already in the 10th century, Chinese women bandaged their feet, breaking the metatarsal bones to achieve a smaller, more valued in this culture, shoe size. Equally painful, though less drastic, was extremely unusual to wear until the early twentieth centurytight corsets that make breathing difficult, even deforming the chest.

Plastic surgery improved my sex life

Today, women most often enlarge their breasts. Most of the women who undergo the procedure are in their 20s. Nose reduction or straightening is also very popular - women of all ages decide on these operations. Many women who want to smooth out wrinkles (most patients are over 30 and 40 years old) and those who want to suck fat from the thighs and abdomen (regardless of age) also visit plastic surgeons' offices. Plastic surgery in intimate places is also becoming more and more popular. With the help of a surgeon, you can even "regain" your virginity.

Men decide to get gynecomastia

Men also visit plastic surgeons more and more often. Although they are still in the minority - they constitute approx. 10 percent. patients - however, it can be expected that this number will increase. Men suffering from gynecomastia, i.e. enlarged breasts, often visit clinics. Gentlemen are also happy to straighten their noses and - mainly after the age of 30 and 40 - reduce the circumference of the waist. Correction of drooping eyelids is also very popular.

Dr. Sankowski sees male partners who are interested in plastic surgery at a young age. Many of them do not want to stand out from them in appearance. In addition, the gentlemen also want to increase their chances on the labor market.

Children have their ears operated most often

In the communion season, there was a lot of talk about gifts in the form of surgical correction of protruding ears. Dr. Sankowski admits that such patients are not uncommon. Parents with children come to the offices, whose appearance is starting to cause problems with their peers. They have trouble at school because of this, they feel unacceptable. This situation has a bad effect on their psyche. Then the surgery can help the child build good relationships with colleagues and higher self-esteem.

When does a doctor refuse plastic surgery?

Dr. Sankowski emphasizes that although not often, there are refusals to perform the procedure. It is estimated that a statistical doctor refused to perform the procedure in 12% of patients. patients. The reason for such a refusal may be the patient's he alth, because the person who wants to undergo the surgery must be completely he althy. To verify this, a lot of research needs to be done. Even an untreated tooth can be an obstacle. The patient's mental condition may also be the reason for the refusal. One of the most glaring cases is people suffering from dysmorphophobia, that is, the obsessive fear ofugliness. In the patient's consciousness, minor beauty defects become monstrous deformities that he cannot live with. He looks for rescue in plastic surgeries, but in reality even a series of treatments would not bring him any relief.

"I dream about breast enlargement. I know that this operation would change my life completely, because small size is my biggest problem ”- Internet forums are full of such entries. Often, patients expect too much after surgery. They believe that with breast enlargement or fat suction, their lives will change completely. They hope that after plastic surgery they will get a better job, keep their partner with them, and increase their self-esteem. For people with such high expectations, confronting reality can be very painful. The operation does not solve personal problems. Yes, it can help you regain self-confidence and there are cases when, for example, nose correction, which has been the cause of complexes for years, gives a huge injection of self-confidence, which opens another door. It can be a stimulus to act and achieve a chosen goal. However, the procedure will not change the patient's character and if he is shy and conservative on a daily basis, it is very unlikely that he will suddenly become a hit. It will be similar with the partner - bigger breasts will not stop his feelings.

Then the patient experiences a huge disappointment, which very often leads to depression. It is a difficult task for the doctor to recognize the real motivation of a person who wishes to undergo surgery and to make them realize that their expectations are too high. In the USA, there are special therapies for women whose plastic surgeries did not bring the intended effect, making them depressed.

Addiction to plastic surgery

Unfortunately, if the treatments were cheaper, the addiction to them would probably become a new civilization disease. There are patients (the vast majority of women) who cannot stop at one treatment. In pursuit of perfection and ideal, they lose themselves, falling into the trap of addiction. - Plastic surgeries are like renovating an apartment: when one thing changes, the others adjust to this change - notes Dr. Sankowski. Often, these people are not able to see the border beyond which the effects of treatments become caricatured. They are still imperfect in their own perception.

Addiction to plastic surgery is the same disease as addiction to gambling or drugs and, like other addictions, it is associated with a lack of self-acceptance. A good plastic surgeon should recognize the problem and refer the patient to a specialisttreatment.

Homemade plastic surgery

But addiction is not the only risk associated with plastic surgery. The unprofessional "clinics" emerging like mushrooms are a great threat, taking advantage of the lack of strict regulations regarding who can deal with the improvement of the appearance. Institutions of this type offer injections of Botox or hyaluronic acid, and even more invasive treatments, despite the fact that people who do it do not have medical education.

Tempting with lower prices and surreptitious advertising on internet forums, they trick patients, which often has tragic consequences. The so-called aesthetic cosmetics, which often feeds on naivety and, above all, ignorance of women.

Dr. Sankowski emphasizes that he has often de alt with women disfigured by unprofessional, sometimes even at home, "treatments", and such damage is very difficult to repair. Uneven, shapeless breasts, badly injected botox creating tumors - these are just some of the risks faced by people who put themselves into the hands of people without medical education. Yes, even in the best clinics, unsuccessful operations can sometimes occur. However, these are extremely rare cases.

Plastic surgery victims

The media outdo each other in showing the victims of plastic surgery. Unfortunately, these are usually addicted women who need specialist help. Jocelyn Wildenstein, in order to keep her husband with her, decided to undergo a series of treatments designed to make her look like… a cat. The husband is gone anyway, but she continues to succumb to the surgeries that made her a monster. Angelina Jolie's fan also caused a lot of controversy - she underwent many surgeries to look like an idol. But that's not all - just like Angelina, she wanted numerous offspring, so she underwent IVF to conceive octopuses.

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Psychology