Today’s airbrushing could be tomorrow’s Botox.
Doctors say the pressure to look good comes from seeing your own face popping up on social media: Over 40% of surgeons in a recent American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery survey said patients said looking better in selfies on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook was an incentive for getting surgery. “People see pictures of themselves fairly routinely on Facebook,” said Fred Fedok, a plastic surgeon, and president of the academy. Constantly seeing yourself from unflattering angles can take its toll on your self-esteem, he said.
Plastic surgery has never been more widely accepted or available in the U.S. and more Americans are finding inspiration through celebrities and celebrity plastic surgeons online. One renowned Miami-based plastic surgeon, Michael Salzhauer, has accrued hundreds of thousands of followers by exposing the details of his surgeries on Instagram and broadcasting real-time Snapchats of his surgeries. He now has over 500,000 followers on Instagram and started his Snapchat account on the back of advice from his teenage daughter.
One of my favorite patients–18 months post-op.
