Cosmetic Surgery Guide

The cosmetic medical and surgical industry has become a multi-million dollar entrepreneurial industry.  Rapid and  ad hoc growth has opened the way for unregulated practices and some questionable  methods of promotion, posing ethical dilemmas for some members of the medical  profession, consumers and legislators. Advertising and promotion of cosmetic medical and surgical procedures focus on the benefits for the consumer, downplaying or not always mentioning the risks.  Different “boundaries” are tolerated for  promotion of these procedures (which  are not driven by medical need and where there is significant  opportunity for financial gain by those promoting them) than is  the case for “mainstream” medical procedures. Factual, easily understood information for  consumers contemplating cosmetic medical or surgical procedures from a source that is independent  of practitioners and promoters is  not always readily available. While...

Face Transplant Since the world‘s first face transplant in 2005, only nine have been completed in the US. and 3; worldwide. Given the complexity of the procedure, facial transplantation has been limited to patients with severe facial deformities. Following the success of the arm/hand transplant program, a multidisciplinary team at Johns Hopkins. including plastic and reconstructive surgeons, ENT surgeons, oculoplastic surgeons, and critical care and anesthesiologists, has been preparing for face transplants. “A critical aspect of our facial transplant program is the collaborative effort of these different specialties coming together, providing their expertise, and forming the very best that Johns Hopkins Medicine olfers for our potential recipients,” says Amir Dorafshar, clinical co-director of the Face Transplant Program. The multidisciplinary team has identihed a potential recipient and recently trained surgeons from various backgrounds to work cohesively in a synchronized ...

Women Figure  4  presents  women's  mean  scores  on  two measures  of  body  satisfaction  (self-rated  attractiveness  and  comfort  in  a  swimsuit)  and  the  measure of  face  satisfaction,  based  on  women's  degree  of interest  in  cosmetic  surgery  and  liposuction.  As predicted,  planned  comparisons  revealed  no  difference  between  wromen  interested  versus  not  interested  in  cosmetic  surgery  only  on  measures  of self-rated  attractiveness,  comfort  in  a  swimsuit,  or satisfaction  with  one's  face  (p  >  0.001).  Also  as predicted,  planned  comparisons  revealed  that women  interested  in  liposuc...

Studies  with  nonpatient  samples  have  documented  only  weak  and  inconsistent  associations between  global  body  image  satisfaction  and  a  desire  for  cosmetic  procedures.3'4  Research  finds  that cosmetic  surgery  patients  generally  do  not  differ from  nonpatients  in  body  satisfaction,  except  that they  are  more  likely  to  express  strong  dissatisfaction  with  the  specific  body  region  targeted  for surgery.5-7  (See  Further  Notes,  number  1)  In  contrast  to  most  cosmetic  procedures,  however,  interest  in  liposuction  may  be  related  to  global  body dissatisfaction  rather  than  to...

One's physical attractiveness affects the way a person is perceived and treated, by others. Women experience considerable pressure to look young and attractive. One potential consequence is that women are much more likely than men to express interest in and receive cosmetic surgery, particu-larly procedures that restore the appearance of youth, such as liposuction, face lifts, and eyelid surgery.1'2 Furthermore, older women may expe-rience added pressure to obtain appearance-alter-ing surgery because they feel they are competing with younger women for the attentions of their current or potential romantic partners. An addimass  index  and  general  interest  in  cosmetic surgery.3  One  possibility  is  that  body  mass  index  is tied  to  interest  in  specific  surgical  procedures  such as  liposuction,  particularly  among  individuals  dissatisfied ...

The popularity of plastic surgery as a socially acceptable form of body modification has created a booming cosmetic surgery industry. More than 9 million cosmetic surgical pro-cedures were performed in 2004, a 24 percent increase over 200Q.1 Despite the prevalence of cosmetic surgery, little is known about who is most interested in cosmetic surgery and why. The present study of over 50,000 men and women examined how gender, age, marital sta-tus, body fat level, body satisfaction, and invest-ment in one's appearance were associated with interest in cosmetic surgery. These findings may be useful to researchers, plastic surgeons, and others seeking to understand the growing inter-est in cosmetic surgery.

Background: Little is known about interest in cosmetic surgery among the general public or how this interest is related to gender, age, relationship status, body mass index, or body image satisfaction. Methods: The present study tested these associations among a sample of 52,677 heterosexual men and women aged 18 to 65 years who completed the online "ELLE/MSBNC.com Sex and Body Image Survey" in 2003,, Results: Many women were interested (48 percent) or possibly interested (23 percent) in cosmetic surgery. A substantial minority of men were also interested (23 percent) or possibly interested (17 percent) in cosmetic surgery. Individuals interested in cosmetic surgery did not report poorer global body image than individuals not interested in cosmetic surgery. Individuals specifically interested in liposuction, however, tended to have poorer body image, and interest in liposuction was greater among heavier individuals. Conclusions: The finding that many women and men are...