Medical

Amanda Davila

This is my blog about plastic surgery and its connection to beauty. In the media, most models and celebrities in the media are full of plastic surgeries and modifications to their bodies. Common plastic surgeries are mostly to rewind time and fight against gravity. Most celebrities are starting to get face lifts starting in their 20's now to think ahead. Should plastic surgery really be something that doctors should focus on?

Background

Rhinoplasty

The first documented plastic surgery was a rhinoplasty
 around 1500-2000 BC, in Egypt using papyrus as a mold and splint. Most plastic surgeries were for soldiers after a war to fix their face for functional reasons instead of aesthetically as it is mostly today. Surprisingly, it was mostly men who went under the knife until the 1900's and advertisements in the media became big. It can be inferred that media played a big part into plastic surgery to be aesthetically pleasing.

Baseball magazine Issue June 1923
"You have a beautiful face but your nose?"

It is understandable why a woman would go through plastic surgery when there are mental illnesses like body dysmorphia with the defect of seeing an unreal image of their own appearance. To put it simply, I think I can agree with plastic surgery if it is for yourself and not to please others.

In a Barbie world

Valeria Lukyanova 2012

There are people that seem to think the bigger the better. In one case the "human barbie" Valeria Lukyanova has invested $800,000 into plastic surgery. Her body is unnaturally proportionate and yet this is what brought her up to fame. It is natural to always want to improve but in cases like Lukyanova it seems unhealthy to find beauty through multiple plastic surgeries. Since 2012 Lukyanova has ditched the plastic barbie idea and has transitioned into a "fit gym bunny." It is 2017 now and her transition proves that artificial beauty is not the ethical path to go down.

Lukyanova 2017

Lukyanova and Jedlica

Although the stereotype is that only women focus on appearances, but there are several men that are dubbed "human ken barbie doll." One in particular that stands out is Justin Jedlica. Jedlica has invested in 190 procedures at a price of $220,000. Even though he has had many procedures done he still thinks he is still far from "perfection."

The big question is at what price do you stop? These two will always find flaws externally, but it shows how they won't spend the time to better themselves internally. Is beauty really valued at thousands of dollars? 

Start them off young? 

Nadia Ilise

 

Warning Graphic scenes

For childeren, it is natural for them to be brutally honest. The two videos shown here are examples of ethical plastic surgery and non-ethical plastic surgery. Nadia Ilise in the first video was bullied continuously as a kid and hurt her self-esteem. Being 10-years-old she wanted surgery to get her ears pinned back. I can see how the parent is concerned on Nadia's mental wellness, but to indulge Nadia into other plastic surgeries is another thing. The mother should have considered that her daughter is going to grow into her ears. It is common for the ears to appear large as a child and as they grow older the head will grow in size, belittling the ear to head ratio. Another thing is that not only was she getting her ears pinned back, but also other procedures to point her chin back and a rhinoplasty. Nadia did not even notice the issue until the doctor pointed it out. Even though Nadia seems happy and even if it helped her self-esteem, I do not agree that it has helped her mental wellness because she will always find more drawbacks into her appearance instead of having body positivity.

 The Little Baby Face foundation is a non-profit organization that helps children have plastic surgery if the parents cannot fund it. In the second video, it shows the ethical way to have a child go through plastic surgery. There is an infant that had a birthmark that grew too big that it finally obstructed his sight. In this perspective, I can condone a child have plastic surgery for functional reasons. It is probable that the first video was biased to make the foundation controversial by not showing one of the extreme cases like the second one.

Is it better for doctors to focus on other things like stem-cell research rather than plastic surgery?The answer is that there are enough doctors for both 😁.There are a lot of reasons that can bring a person to plastic surgery.To put it simply, I can agree with plastic surgery if it is for yourself and not to please others. Although there is an ethical way of having plastic surgery, people should not be stopped on treating themselves if they want to.

Work cited

• Khunger, Niti. "Ethics in Aesthetic Surgery: Rituals and Realities." Journal of Cutaneous & Aesthetic Surgery, vol. 8, no. 3, Jul-Sep2015, pp. 123-124. EBSCOhost, doi:10.4103/0974-2077.167259.
• PEĆANAC, Marija Đ. "Development of Plastic Surgery."
• "RAZVOJ PLASTIČNE HIRURGIJE". Medicinski Pregled / Medical Review vol. 68, no. 5/6, maj/jun2015, pp. 199-204. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.2298/MPNS1506199P"Redirect Notice." Redirect Notice. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.
• -"Rhinoplasty in Chicago, IL | Nose Job in Winnetka, Kenilworth, IL| | Dr. Lee." Rhinoplasty. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://www.michaeljleemd.com/rhinoplasty-chicago/>.
• -"Not sure this one worked…." History's Newsstand Blog. Rare newspapers, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
• -"Little Baby face Foundation - How we change lives. Youtube, uploaded by littlebabyfaceorg, 14 Dec 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8joAkXfyQrE&feature=youtu.be
• "Bullied kids receive free plastic surgery." Youtube, uploaded by CNN, 27 Jul 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BdL9GEbplo
• Krupnick, Ellie. "Valeria Lukyanova Is A Real-Life Barbie Doll (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
• Reporter, Dailymail.com. "'I want to be 100% plastic'" Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
• Hferrett, and Hannah Ferrett. "The 'human Barbie' has an extreme makeover - now she's a ripped gym bunny instead." The Sun. The Sun, 22 Aug. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.