What would you have altered? Do you think people who have plastic surgery are insane, or do you respect their choices?

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

Answers

I had a nose job when I was 14 and it was a big mistake to have it done that young because, apparently, my face hadn't finished growing or something. I would definitely still have had it done, but I should have waited for a few years. My new nose is a big improvement but it isn't great and ended up crooked. You would really need to see a picture of me pre-surgery to understand just how disfiguring my original nose was, but believe me, it wasn't just the normal kind of ugly that lots of people think their nose is. Gee, now I've made myself sound like some kind of freak.

I'm not the elephant woman -- honest!!

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I'd like to get lipposucked bigtime.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I just told my husband that I really want a nose job. For twenty six years I have hated my nose, it doesn't go with my face. I want a cute little button nose. I deserve a cute little button nose!

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

Everything. Every bit of it. Eyes, faces, sex, hands, feet, hair. Sometimes twice a day.

I respect the idea of plastic surgury, it gets a bad rap most, I think, because people tend to pick bland generic looks. This is probably because at the price of the surgery if you take a chance on less traditional looks it's not easy to go back. Hopefully the cost, in both money and recovery time, people will go a bit farther.

Look at tattoos and ritual scarring. A lot of creativity there. Less cost = more creativity. I expect we will be seeing even more creativiity and more outragous tatoos when laser removal (or some other type of removal) becomes cheaper.

Bring it on!

Byrne

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

There's lots of plastic surgery I'd like. My chin, my nose. Breast reduction. Liposuction. I used to want to have my breasts increased, but I've hated my nose and chin since I was a teenager.

I have two tattoos. I know they're a permanant modification. Plastic surgery feels like the same thing to me.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I don't agree with plastic surgery or anything else that tries to make us all look the same, sound the same, act the same, dress the same, eat the same, (you get the idea right? )... I am a huge proponent of the "everything is beautiful" school and I appreciate a mosaic much more then a melting pot. I don't think those who have plastic surgery are insane, I just wish they would have spent that money on therapy to increase their self esteem rather then surgery to decrease their nose/ass/thighs/etc.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I want the end of my nose thinned. It's too round, I hate it.

And some cosmetic dental work would be nice too. Braces and bleaching or bonding.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I'm going to go out on a limb here and confess, I'm planning to have my nose/underchin done this spring.

The nose, I've had all my life, of course, but the chin...well, let's just say some people (Rosie O'Donnell?) are more prone to wattles than other. The kicker is that I'm not particularly overweight, either -- I mean, I could stand to lose a few pounds, of course, but my mom's pretty thin, and her underchin is awful. And that's what I'm headed for, in a few years.

As far as the moral and ethical implications of plastic surgery go, I'll just say I'm grateful I make enough money to even consider having it done. It's not as though insurance will pay for it, naturally, meaning that unless you've got a good US$5,000-10,000 socked away, you're out of luck. It will be worth it to me, I think, to improve my profile. I see pictures of myself and I feel ten years older than I am.

Liposuction...well, I would think twice. There've been articles lately about how surprisingly dangerous it is. For one thing, many doctors aren't really trained in the procedure specifically, and take only weekend seminar-type training. Also, there was a statistic quoted -- something along the lines of, 1 in 20,000 people having hernia operations die during surgery, while 1 in *5,000* die during liposuction procedures. I'm no doctor, of course, but I think it's the clots that do you in. Very, very bad scene. --Sei

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I've always been a big proponent of the 'natural look', even when a weekend with my neglectful father resulted in my nose getting broken and no one realising it or taking steps to set it properly (no, my father didn't break my nose, I fell out of a bunkbed- he just didn't take me to the hospital).

I fought getting braces as though I were being sent to concentration camp. I wasn't ashamed of my smile. Obviously my teeth were that way because that's how they were supposed to be. I didn't want someone rearranging my face.

But I got the braces, and the whole thing was botched. The nose has become a problem because I can only breathe out of the right side of it and am constantly in the middle of a sinus infection.

So I finally set the appointment. I'm going in to see about getting my nose straightened so that I can breathe. But hell, I figure as long as he's rebreaking it anyway, I may as well have him do just a leetle bit of shaping...

and the teeth are getting fixed in six months. Am I having qualms about this? Not at all. The way I figure it, both procedures are to correct very unnatural occurrences that altered my face. Now, I wouldn't have any other plastic surgery done. I don't want a cookie cutter look.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

There are two surgeries I would just love to have:

Breast Reduction Laser surgery to remove stretch marks.

If I could just choose one: The Breast Reduction.

I only look down on the surgery if it's outrageous: ie: 36 different cosmetic surgeries.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

Breast reduction. Though I fear the scars it can leave. And, I'd like to have bigger eyes, but my eyeballs themselves are very small so there isn't really anything I can do in that area.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I had a chin procedure a few years ago, as an add-on to jaw surgery to correct a congenital condition. Dentists and orthodontists had been telling me for at least ten years that I needed this jaw surgery to correct my bite (with the ultimate goal of preserving my teeth) and I always assumed that whenever I got this surgery done, it would make my classically British non-chin (think Prince Charles) more prominent. Imagine my surprise when the surgeon told me they would be operating on the UPPER jaw, not the LOWER. And that my chin would look the same as before. Unless, of course, I wanted to have a little cosmetic procedure done at the same time. The benefit to me was that the cosmetic part was not very expensive, as my insurance was already covering the primary procedure.

I don't have an implant--as I understand it, the doc sawed off the tip of the bone and slid it out kinda like an escalator step and put some wires on there to hold it together while it healed. So there is no foreign tissue in my body, other than the titanium.

I am so very very very very glad I chose to have it done. It's not like I was ugly before--I'd had plenty of romantic attention in my life, and was already engaged to be married--but I had always felt extremely self-conscious about my chin. I did not like to have my picture taken, I tried to avoid letting people see me in profile, et cetera. I was *ecstatic* after a couple weeks when the swelling went down enough for me to see the difference.

In response to the therapy suggestion further up, I have to disagree and say it was not really a self-esteem issue. I wanted for a very long time to look different, and when it was within my resources, I did it. I honestly think it's on the same continuum as dyeing/perming your hair, or getting a tattoo.

It's interesting to me how indignant some people can get over the issue of cosmetic surgery (I should clarify that this comment is not directed at anyone in this forum, just my general reaction to attitudes in society). Some people seem to find it very offensive, I think because they see it either as playing god, or because "if people have that much money to waste they should give it to a good cause." (Please. Unless you live the life of Siddhartha, a comment like that is total bullshit.)

Or maybe cosmetic surgery is disturbing because if a lot of people alter their looks, I suppose theoretically it "raises the bar" on what is considered attractive or at least average and that could feel threatening. But really, I did not have plastic surgery so that I could look like a movie star or even just to look like "everyone else". I had it to look like the "me" I always wanted to see when I looked in the mirror.

Exempli Gratia

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I had a very painful temporomandibular joint problem when I started doing surgeries in veterinary school, probably from clenching my teeth with nervousness, and I had braces put on for 3.5 years to correct my overbite. I didn't mention it earlier as I have never thought of it as a 'cosmetic' but a 'medical' procedure. I still wear a retainer at night 2-3 times a week to prevent backsliding of my teeth, but it is worth it not to have the pain. I was offered the choice between braces for 3-4 years or jaw surgery (which would have been healed in 6 weeks), but the surgery would have required an implant, which has been shown in many species to increase the incidence of osteosarcoma and other bone cancers. I wanted the pain to go away; I didn't want a quick fix that could possibly jeopardize my future health. I absolutely agree with cosmetic surgeries done to correct birth defects, for accident or burn victims, etc., but I really think it is a sad waste of financial resources and human skills to perform cosmetic surgical procedures on healthy patients for the sake of vanity. I refuse to crop dog's ears for the sake of the owner's ego, and would refuse to perform any unnecessary cosmetic surgical procedures on a human if I were an MD surgeon rather then a DVM surgeon. The physician's oath, in a nutshell implores us to: "Above all else, do no harm.", which rules out unnecessary surgeries in my book.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

The only thing I may, seriously, have done is laser eye surgery. And I don't think of it as cosmetic, either, not when my myopia is -9.5 in one eye and -10 in the other -- but apparently my insurance company does.

If I had money to burn, I might get my teeth bonded. Might.

The only other part of my body I'm seriously aesthetically dissatisfied with is my breasts... they sag and dangle as if child-free me had had ten children, and breastfed the lot. However, no knife is ever getting near them without a very serious medical reason; appearance may not be everything I could wish, but performance is top-notch. Besides, all cats are grey in the dark.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

No I don't like pain and the recovery time is hell...

My mother has had everything done at least twice, and the results don't last with the increase in the earths gravity. THat is her choice not mine.

Let the boobs sag... well I don't really have any to sag, let the waddle and the neck drop... let the eyes be hidden with little hoods...

I have hair color and a wonder bra.. I am happy.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I've written about 20 articles on various plastic surgery procedures for the local paper. I can't say as there's anything I'd want done. I'm happy enough with the way I look, and coupling that with a deep fear of surgery, I'll probably leave well enough alone.

I will say, though, with all of the research I've done on the subject, the only procedure I'd recommend actively avoiding would be liposuction. Very dangerous stuff, especially since there are a fair number of undertrained doctors performing the procedure.

Also, of the number of people I've interviewed about post-surgical satisfaction, only the people who underwent lipo had complaints, ranging from cottage-cheese looking skin to lumpiness to extreme agony.

My .11.

sa

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2000

Nope. I wouldn't ever have it on my face or liposuction or tucks or a lot of the things that have made Michael Jackson look like a Halloween mask.

I think that most Hollywood type folks who are just trying to stave off age are nuts.

But when plastic surgery can help with true physical deformities, especially those that are life-threatening, or even socially crippling deformities, like burn scars, then who am I to judge the choice of the person involved?

Like anything, plastic surgery is a personal choice, but I still think that people like say, Joan Rivers, are nuts.

There are only two things I might consider:

1) A breast reduction to relieve stress on my shoulders and back 2) Getting loose flaps of skin that might result from weight loss removed, but only if they were an impediment to daily life. I saw a guy on TV who had lost something like 400lbs and had a flap of skin down to his knees as a result -- I think that would definitely be something that would be reasonable to take off, in order not to trip down the stairs.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2000

Actually -- there is a third option which, someone else mentioned that I forgot is considered to be cosmetic, since I think of it as a medical procedure to correct a serious impediment:

I'd get laser surgery on my eyes in a heartbeat.

I cannot see without my glasses, and if they break/get knocked off whatever, I am as good as blind.

Yet they finally have a procedure that can correct my vision so that I can see.

But no insurance will cover it because it is considered cosmetic.

The irony there is enough to make me want to cry.

I've worn glasses since I was 2 years old, I cannot remember being able to see without corrective lenses and the insurance companies are telling me that the one operation that could change all that, is _cosmetic_.

Give me a break.

The price of the surgery would actually be paid for within just a few years, what with the cost of having to replace my eyeglasses every two years or less/eye doctor visits etc.

Guh. Now I'm pissy about this issue again.

But yeah, fixing my eyes would definitely be something I would do if I had the money for it.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2000

I think the most successful case of plastic surgery in my point of view is Linda Tripp.

I might add as it was much needed one too.

Emil

(any of have URL of before and after picture of Linda Tripp?)

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2000

As someone who's had the LASIK surgery, I can wholeheartedly say "Beg, borrow, or steal to get the money to have it done!" Honestly, it's been one of the best things I've ever done. I had -12 vision (yup, 12 diopters) and astigmatism in both eyes and I managed to have it done.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2000

Hm. Somebody should do an update of that old Burgess Meredith episode of the Twilight Zone, "All the Time in the World".

Stephen Root could play Mr. Beamis, the bookish gentleman who happens to be in the vault in the bank where he works when nuclear chaos erupts. Being the only survivor, he would be pleased to find all the canned supplies he needs, all the books he could ever hope to read, and all the time he wants in which to read them. But then in an ironic twist he thoughtlessly rubs his eyes, causing the heavy surgery that had enabled him to read without glasses to go all to hell. Poor guy.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2000

My inclination is to say that I wouldn't have anything done. Many of the women in my family, including my mom and several aunts on both sides of the family, have had some work done, though, and I have to admit that their various nips and tucks have made them look younger.

It was actually pretty traumatic for me having my mom go in for surgeries on her face. I was scared that she would look weird afterwards, and all I could think of was those facelifts they show on the Learning Channel! It's a pretty freaky procedure--in crude terms, they basically surgically remove your face, stretch it out, and sew it back on, and it's kind of disturbing to think of someone cutting your mom's face off, especially when she looks perfectly fine, even young for her age, as she already is.

My sisters and my dad and I all urged her not to do it, but she was determined.

It was weird seeing her scars afterwards. The thing that was most disturbing to me was the scars she had in front of her ears. You know how there's a little flap of cartilage that sticks out from the inside of your ear? Well, that's where many of her stitches were, and those little bumps were much smaller than before and had a weird shape, which freaked me out for some reason.

But after a few months, you couldn't even tell she'd had stuff done, and her skin did look better.

It was right around that time that I started religiously wearing sunblock and moisturizing every night. But I know I won't stay young forever, and I guess I might consider following in my mom's footsteps at some point.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2000

I don't think I would ever have plastic surgery. The idea of any kind of surgery completely freaks me out. I'm fortunate enough to be made of hearty peasant stock and have never had to go to the hospital for anything *knock wood*. The only thing close was having my wisdom teeth removed, and I swear to god I woke up in the middle of the surgery and they had to give me more drugs.

If I weren't so freaked out, I might consider getting my eyes lasik'd (I can't see a thing w/o glasses and contacts really irritate my eyes), but I'm afraid I'd be one of the 1% who end up with permanently dry eyes or something worse. And I'd consider breast reduction, except that I think just losing 20 pounds would solve that problem.

Insomniatic,

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

I don't see plastic surgery as making everyone look the same. Yeah, there are bad nose jobs where the doctor puts a teeny little nose just like some movie star onto a face that needs a larger nose, but that's not good cosmetic surgery. A good cosmetic surgeon can pare down the huge nose that's wrong for a face, and leave it looking the way it =should= have been, which isn't a cookie cutter version of a "cute" nose.

And I don't think it's a waste of medical training - some doctors go into cosmetic surgery to make money. It's not like they'd be curing cancer if they weren't getting distracted by all these people who want nose jobs. Some of them do things like fly to impoverished areas and do cleft palate surgery on their vacations.

The current issue of Allure has a detailed article on breast reduction surgery with all the details of how it's done, before & after photos etc. I'm totally bumming because my bosom looks like the "before", but it would be $10,000 or so to change that.

I'm extremely nearsighted but laser eye surgery is one that doesn't appeal to me. My glasses and contacts seem to do the job.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Done the braces things, does that count? Laser surgery if i could. They tolds me that eye chart has an E at the top. i'd like to see it w/o help someday. Its not critical though. Thank goodness for contacts. 20/20

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

Well, had braces, although I still think I didn't need them. And I will have some kind of surgery done when I can afford it, either laser vision correction or getting the top of my ear unfolded. My right ear is folded in pretty flat against my head on the top, so glasses tend to fall off that side unless they are quite tight.

I'll probably go with the vision correction, though. I want to be able to walk in the rain without spattered lenses, and see a clock when I wake up in the middle of the night. Plus people tend to find my ear interesting when they notice it.

As for other things... I don't think less of anybody who gets a surgery done because they don't like something about their appearance (let alone those who are correcting major defects or injuries). The problem I have is with the people who use surgery to try to look like somebody completely different (Getting _everything_ done).

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

I think plastic surgery is just wrong.

Am I the only one?

Some things I dont consider plastic surgery though. Breast reduction, for example, or getting a nose bob during nose surgery to correct a medical problem.

I also don't really count it as surgery if you are awake during the process, like lasering off a port wine stain, or getting a mole hacked off.

But the rest! oy! Why willing go through the pain and risk associated with surgery to look like a barbie doll or a model? Who cares? Do your friends only like you when your belly is flat and your ass is firm?

And have you ever seen breast augmentation surgery? The part where they cut the nipples off and then stuff these huge saline bags in like they are stuffing a turkey? Makes me wince to think of it.

ick.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000

I have been looking around at before and after pictures on the internet all morning, before even seeing your question. wow. Suck it out from the waist down, just go on and suck.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

So, Kristin, your problem with plastic surgery is that it's not worth the pain and risk just to fit a societal beauty ideal?

I'd agree with that for myself, but given the pressure women are under to look good, I have a hard time condemning other women for choosing to do so.

I think the above-mentioned Linda Tripp is an excellent example of this. All throughout 1998 she was brutally lampooned for her appearance, and unflattering photos of her appeared in the newspapers on a daily basis. So, as a result, she decided to change her appearance: she lost weight, changed her hair, and had her nose and chin done (if you have a hooked nose or a weak chin like Linda Tripp, surgery is your only option for changing it).

It would be nice if we could all just be accepting of our faces and bodies the way they are, but I think it's a bit unrealistic to expect that in a world where others will inevitably not be so accepting.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Ooh, what do you guys think about this elective surgery? Two mentally disturbed men chose to have their healthy legs amputated, because they perceived them as being flawed.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Jennifer: That's plastic surgery, Old Testament style. If thy leg offend thee, hack it off.

Not for me. Although, if you took off both legs, that'd save on pants, shoes, socks, dance/karate classes, you'd be able to use all those handicapped parking zones, first in line for the rides at amusement parks, discount coupons everywhere... hmm... good way to lose 50-100 pounds... naahh.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

That amputation surgery is in its own category. Like Munchausen's disease, sounds like. I mean that they sound psychotic.

On the other hand, I was thinking about this (I saw the story yesterday) and about the differences & similarities to sex change surgery. Those people feel "wrong" in their bodies too, but that dysmorphia is pretty accepted as a real thing for which surgery is the appropriate treatment.

I don't know.

I figure if you don't want to go through the pain and discomfort of surgery for cosmetic reasons, that's perfectly understandable. And photos of just about any kind of surgery are pretty disturbing. But that seems like a weird reason to dissaprove of somebody else having the surgery.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

kay i am sorry but my idea is osme poeple can't help there looks if they wanna change it and be someone they aren't that is fine i agree since i am liek that i do not have the expensices and moiney to pay for it but i would love to chnage some of my horrible fitures and poepel do this to be excited so you gotta woundering poeple must jugde poepple to much

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2001

I find it strange that pretty much nobody questions a person's desire to have a nice car, or a nice home, or a nice cell phone (heh!), but if you want a nice body or face there's suddenly something wrong with you.

I respect other people's choices.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

I don't think I would ever do it. I can't say for sure because maybe when I get old and sagging everywhere I'd change my mind, but the idea of surgery at all just freaks me out. I dread getting old and being forced to have surgery. I want to scream at the very idea of a laser in my eye, too. And I don't want scars.

I have the double chin thing mentioned above (which is obviously genetic since I weigh around 110), which isn't the greatest, but the idea of getting it cut off is just too weird.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2001

Well, after 22 years of wanting to get a nose job, I finally did it. My experience left me more confident and relaxed. But my final results were not what I planned on. My nose looks still the same and I don't know if i'm happy with it or if I would want to do it again. Everyone says that it looks the same and I look good. Maybe God didn't want my nose to change so he left it original. I've always keep that idea in my mind, but it's hard to understand and live with that concept...

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

I want to have a breast implant although just one. My breast on the right is much smaller than my left (my left is is a C and my right is an A) I have been told by several people that it is not noticable under my clothes and my past two lovers really wish I would not have it done but I really want to. I think it would make me feel much better. I still have to consider how visibly different it would be with one fake and one real. I know it sounds very foolish but I am very self concious about being so lopsided.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

You know what, this isn't a fucking sex board. Go troll somewhere else.

--B

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2001

I have had extensive plastic surgery, all elective. After every procedure there was lots of swelling, but never any pain. Cheek implants, double eyelid, nasal, chin reshaped (no implant), my beard lasered off, six chemical peels, a very small enlargement of my upper lip. Braces, teeth bleached a truly terrifying shade of white. Hair transplants. Additionally, I eat extremely healthily, workout six days a week (thats only six hours a week, so don't even start) Have done steroids in the past...

How terrifying is that?

But I am also friendly, humble, and nonjudgemental. I want to be the best me (inside and out) that I can be. It cost me out of pocket less than 10,000$ for all of the above over the course of a decade. Hell of a lot less than a sportscar.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2001

How timely that this question resurfaced again, as I just called and made a consultation for cosmetic surgery this morning. I have dark red patches of veins on my feet and lower legs, and neither my doctor nor my dermatologist knows what to make of it. They aren't spider or vericose veins, but something similar. In any case, I was told that laser surgery is the only thing that can get rid of them. I tried to convince myself that it didn't matter that much, that it is only an issue during the summer, etc. But I hate feeling bad every time I want to wear sandals or go barefoot.

Has anyone else had this type of laser surgery who can give me any advice?

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2001