Published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 22 October 2018
Plastic surgeons who pander to social media to create on-trend procedures and advertise their practices have earned a stern rebuke at their ‘Breast Masters Symposium’ in Sydney.
Professor Emerita Nichola Rumsey, a leading international expert on appearance psychology, delivered a scathing assessment of the cosmetic industry’s role in the unrelenting rise of poor body image.
Speaking at the Australian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons Symposium (ASAPS) Professor Rumsey said she was “deeply uncomfortable” with the advertising and social media marketing plastic surgeons engaged in.
Some were using “soft-porn images” on Instagram and other social media that “gives patients unrealistic expectations of the likely outcomes, contributes to negative body image and it should change,” said Professor Rumsey from the University of the West of England
Professor Rumsey is working with the Australasian Foundation for Plastic Surgery (AFPS) on strategies that would empower plastic surgeons to mitigate their role in perpetuating poor body image.
The AFPS is running a new public awareness campaign featuring plastic surgeons speaking out against cosmetic surgery as a quick fix for low self-esteem. The
“We know that people who are most active on social media tend to be more vulnerable to negative body image and anxiety about their appearance,” Professor Rumsey said.
“The cosmetics industry is creating more and more faults in appearance; faults we hadn’t thought of ourselves a week ago, and it offers solutions in the same breath.”
Her presentation was preceded by Sydney eastern suburbs plastic surgeon
“Year after year I alter my strategies and techniques and even my thoughts based on what is going on in social media,”
Patients now want close cleavage lines, ‘sideboob’, ‘underboob’, high nipple placement, to “look good without a bra”, and have a “did she or didn’t she” breast augmentation,” the ‘Breast Master’ surgeon said.
“It is impossible for us to ignore [social media] as an aesthetic surgeon … To get a happy patient we must speak their language and at least attempt to understand what their goals and drives are,” he said.
Plastic surgeon
Several plastic surgeons also said they needed to be active on social media to combat the onslaught of marketing by less highly trained cosmetic providers who were
Scientific convenor of the Symposium Associate Professor Mark Magnusson questioned whether plastic surgeons were “feeding the beast” of body image exacerbated by social media.
“However, a post that is 100
Plastic surgeons bore some responsibility for the onslaught of body image dissatisfaction that had grown very markedly over the past decade and was “far from benign”, Professor Rumsey said.
Poor body image was linked to depression, anxiety, stress, eating disorders and disordered eating, drug and alcohol misuse.
Body image was one of the top three concerns for young Australians, a 2017 Mission Australia survey found.
A recent Melbourne study found a sharp rise in the number of girls – some as young as 11 – seeking vaginal cosmetic surgery.
Australians are having more cosmetic surgeries in general than Americans, with half a million procedures performed in 2017, according to the Australian College of Cosmetic Surgery.
“At all stages of life now people are saying they are ashamed and unhappy with the way they look … it is the norm to be unhappy,” Professor Rumsey said.
The cosmetic industry was perpetuating the “beauty myths” that the more attractive a person is, the happier or successful they will be, Professor Rumsey said.
But research shows people who base their self-worth on their looks are more insecure.
“There is no correlation between how attractive you are and how happy or psychologically well you are or how well-adjusted you are,” Professor Rumsey said.
People who seek out cosmetic procedures are more likely to have a variety of mental health conditions that may affect their ability to be satisfied with the outcome of the procedure, research suggests.
“You are the esteemed providers who have the magic stuff, the stuff to make life better,” Professor Rumsey told the symposium.
“Do you want to be part of the problem that is causing one of the biggest social issues of our time or do you want to position yourself as part of the solution?”
As well as the public awareness campaign, AFPS chairman and retired plastic surgeon Professor Richard Barnett said the
“This problem of body image is increasing, and it was fairly obvious to us that we’re seen as part of the problem and should be part of the solution,” Professor Barnett said.
AFPS will also launch a new curriculum and professional development courses in 2019 that focus on increasing education about psychological factors that influence patients and the link between mental health, body image
Patient selection was key. “The wrong operation on the wrong person can have disastrous effects,”
Professor Magnusson said plastic surgeons should ask patients to seek psychological support if they think a patient has unrealistic expectations or is battling “more sinister issues”.
“When a patient
Link to article – https://www.smh.com.au/healthcare/soft-porn-and-instagram-how-plastic-surgeons-fuel-body-image-anxiety-20181020-p50ax3.html