“I hate plastic surgery. I have a horror of any kind of knife. I don’t like it.”

Rebecca De Mornay, Actress

Advantages & Disadvantages of Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery has become increasingly popular over the past decades.

However, there are still many issues related to cosmetic surgery.

Thus, before you decide for plastic surgery, make sure to evaluate all the pros and cons of cosmetic surgery in this article to get a better idea of whether plastic surgery is indeed suitable for you or not.

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Advantages of Plastic Surgery

1. You can cover your flaws through plastic surgery
2. Can make you look younger
3. You may become more confident
4. Your overall quality of life may increase
5. Can make sense after serious accidents
6. Positive health effects in some cases
7. May improve job opportunities
8. Plastic surgery may help you to find a partner
9. Plenty of experience in the field of plastic surgeries
10. Can make sense in case of birth defects
11. Can help you to improve your vision
12. Plastic surgery can make sense for people who suffer from serious obesity

You can cover your flaws through plastic surgery

One advantage of plastic surgery is that you can cover your flaws.

In fact, nobody is perfect and everyone of us has weaknesses regarding our appearance.

However, many people are still quite insecure regarding their looks and don’t want to live with those flaws.

Instead, those people can get plastic surgery to look and feel better.

Thus, if you think you will never be able to accept your flaws and yourself as you are right now, cosmetic surgery might be one way to deal with these issues.

Can make you look younger

Another benefit of plastic surgery is that it can also make you look younger.

Many people in our current state of the world struggle with their age.

Especially women often feel the need to look younger once they reach a certain age.

Consequently, if you are currently not happy with your appearance and the age many people associate with you, plastic surgery can also help you out in this regard.

You may become more confident

Many people also become more confident through cosmetic surgery.

It is quite sad but many people still struggle with their confidence since they simply don’t look like top models.

However, as long as you have average looks, cosmetic surgery should not be on your mind.

It should only come to your mind in case you really suffer from your looks quite a lot.

Otherwise, the risk will simply not be worth the potential reward.

Your overall quality of life may increase

Many people who got plastic surgery also report that their overall quality of life improved quite a lot.

If everything goes well, this can be indeed the case since you will look better through plastic surgery.

In turn, you will enjoy many advantages in life.

In fact, looks matter in various parts of life, even though some people may claim the opposite.

Can make sense after serious accidents

Plastic surgery can also make sense after serious accidents.

Imagine you got involved in a car accident and your face got burned quite a lot.

In such a case, people often look quite bad and are also not able to hide it.

Thus, in such extreme cases, plastic surgery can make quite a lot of sense to give people back a decent quality of life.

Positive health effects in some cases

Plastic surgery can not only make sense from an aesthetic perspective, it can also make sense from a purely medical standpoint.

For instance, if you can’t breathe properly since you have problems with your nose, this can be fixed through plastic surgery.

There are also numerous other application areas where plastic surgery can make sense from a medical instead of from an aesthetic perspective, even though people often associate plastic surgery with something that is done solely for cosmetic reasons.

May improve job opportunities

Looks matter, not only in your private life but also in the corporate world.

In fact, people who look good have much better chances to get promoted and to earn good salaries.

This has been proven by many studies and also if you have a look at people working in well-paid jobs, many of those people have above-average looks.

Consequently, if you currently look rather bad and struggle in the corporate world, plastic surgery may also be able to help you in this regard.

Plastic surgery may help you to find a partner

If you look better due to plastic surgery, it will also be easier for you to find a partner.

Even though many people claim the opposite, looks are a major factor when we select our significant others.

Thus, if you are currently unhappy with your looks and also struggle to find a partner, cosmetic surgery is one way to solve this issue.

Plenty of experience in the field of plastic surgeries

Since plastic surgery has been around for quite a long time, doctors also gathered plenty of experience in this field and the long-term consequences are much clearer compared to just one decade ago.

Hence, doctors are able to advise their patients in a much better manner and also the risk associated with plastic surgery is usually lower compared to past decades.

Can make sense in case of birth defects

Some people are also just born with birth defects which they can’t do anything about it.

In such a case, it can make sense to use plastic surgery, either from a cosmetic or also from a purely medical perspective to increase the quality of life of a patient.

Can help you to improve your vision

Plastic surgery can also make sense for people who suffer from poor vision.

This can be either due to birth defects or also due to accidents.

There are many surgery methods that can help to improve your vision in such a case and since good vision is crucial for various parts in life, it can also help you out in many different ways.

Plastic surgery can make sense for people who suffer from serious obesity

Also in case you are heavily obese, plastic surgery can make quite a lot of sense for you.

In fact, some people have just accumulated so much weight that they are simply no longer able to lose enough weight since they simply can’t exercise too much anymore.

In such extreme cases, removing excess fat through plastic surgery can really help those people to get back control over their lives.

Disadvantages of Cosmetic Surgery

1. Plastic surgery can be expensive
2. Cosmetic surgery can be painful
3. Results may only be temporary
4. Mistakes are rather common
5. Some people become addicted to plastic surgery
6. You may expect too much
7. People may make fun of you
8. You may look even worse after your cosmetic surgery
9. Your well-being should not depend too much on your looks
10. Risk for infections
11. Risk for scars
12. It takes time to heal
13. You can’t make yourself perfect anyway
14. Quality of plastic surgery greatly depends on the doctor
15. There might be better alternatives

Plastic surgery can be expensive

Apart from the many reasonable advantages of plastic surgery, there are also many issues related to them.

For example, one problem with plastic surgery is that it is simply quite expensive.

In fact, many people pay tens of thousands of dollars for their surgery.

This might not be a huge problem if you can afford it, but there are people who even go into debt to afford cosmetic surgeries.

In turn, those people will have to pay off their debt for many years.

Hence, make sure that you can afford plastic surgery before you decide for it to protect yourself against any financial issues.

Cosmetic surgery can be painful

Another disadvantage of plastic surgery is that it can also be quite painful.

While you will often get anesthesia for the actual surgery, you will suffer from the consequences for days or even weeks.

In some cases, there might even be complications that prolong the healing process.

Consequently, also make sure that you are willing to suffer quite a lot before going for plastic surgery.

Results may only be temporary

While the effects of certain types of cosmetic surgeries may be permanent, other effects are only temporary.

This means that in some cases, one application will just not be enough.

Instead, you will have to get treatment on a regular basis if you want to maintain your looks.

This can not only be quite annoying, but will also imply huge follow-up costs.

Mistakes are rather common

Nobody is perfect. This is also true for doctors.

In fact, mistakes related to plastic surgery are rather common and there will be no 100% guarantee that your surgery will be executed in a successful manner.

Under certain conditions, those mistakes may completely destroy your looks or may even lead to serious complications, which could cause fatalities in the worst case.

Some people become addicted to plastic surgery

Some people also consider plastic surgery as magic pill to solve their problems.

In turn, some people even become addicted to those operations since they incorporated in their minds that this will be the only thing that works for them.

However, addiction is never a good thing and people who are addicted to cosmetic surgery will often spend a fortune on unnecessary operations which make them not look better, but actually even worse.

You may expect too much

You should also not expect too much when it comes to plastic surgery.

Yet, there are many things that can be done. However, don’t expect miracles.

If you don’t look good at all right now, chances are that you will also not look like a model after your surgery.

Plastic surgery is not a magic pill to boost your looks from 1 to 10, it is rather meant to resolve minor to medium selective issues.

People may make fun of you

Another downside of getting plastic surgery is that people will often make fun of you in case anything goes wrong.

Moreover, even if everything works like planned, your family and friends will still notice the difference and will ask you why you got plastic surgery.

Some of your peers will also not understand your decision at all.

In turn, you may even lose some friends and may have serious disputes with others.

You may look even worse after your cosmetic surgery

There are also many cases where people wanted to look better and decided for cosmetic surgery, but the outcome was just horrific.

Due to mistakes or complications, some plastic surgeries go terribly wrong and if you are one of those unlucky guys, chances are that you will have to suffer from the consequences for the rest of your life.

Your well-being should not depend too much on your looks

We all know that looks matter to a certain extent.

However, I don’t think that it’s reasonable to base your confidence and well-being too much on your looks.

There are much better ways to improve yourself instead of improving your looks.

For instance, you can learn many skills that are demanded on the job market right now and get a leading position in a company.

You can also increase your experience by traveling the world and become much more confident due to that.

There are numerous other ways how you can increase your overall quality of life and plastic surgery should be one of the last measures to do so.

Risk for infections

There is also a significant risk for infections related to plastic surgeries.

Especially if hygienic conditions are rather poor, bacteria will be able to enter the wound and this can lead to serious long-term consequences.

In fact, some people even die from infections related to cosmetic surgeries.

Hence, make sure that you choose a doctor’s office with pretty good hygienic standards to minimize the risk of those infections.

Risk for scars

Some cosmetic surgeries also imply the risk of scars.

Hence, while you get plastic surgery with the intention to look better, the opposite might be the case and the end result may be quite disappointing.

Consequently, make sure that you inform yourself properly before getting plastic surgery to avoid any unwanted and unexpected issues in this regard.

It takes time to heal

It will often take quite a long time to recover from plastic surgeries.

This could mean that you will have to spend days or even weeks on your couch since you will not be allowed to do any physical exercise during this time.

It can also mean that you have to take some time off from work.

All this can not only be annoying, it can also lead to serious consequences in case your boss has no empathy for your cosmetic issues.

You may even lose your job and may end up homeless if you can’t work for an extended period of time due to the consequences of plastic surgery.

You can’t make yourself perfect anyway

Many people try to be perfect all day long.

However, perfection is just not feasible for anyone of us. It is just a fictional construct with no link to reality whatsoever.

Consequently, it doesn’t matter how many plastic surgeries you get.

In the end, you will still be imperfect like everyone else and you should really ask yourself whether spending all the money is really necessary since you will never reach your goal of perfection anyway.

Quality of plastic surgery greatly depends on the doctor

If you really want to go for plastic surgery, you should definitely choose your doctor wisely.

While there are some doctors who exactly know what they are doing, others are just incompetent and will often do more harm than good.

Thus, make sure that you ask your friends where they got the best results to minimize the risk associated with cosmetic surgery.

There might be better alternatives

Apart from plastic surgery, there are also many other ways how you can look better.

While you could just use makeup for minor issues, you could also eat healthier, exercise more and also make sure that you get enough sleep.

Those measures are perfectly natural and also far less risky than going for plastic surgery.

Top 10 Plastic Surgery Pros & Cons – Summary List

Plastic Surgery Pros	Plastic Surgery Cons
Plastic surgery can make you more confident	Plastic surgeries can be expensive
You can hide your age	Risk for mistakes
You can hide imperfections	Long recovery periods
Potential positive health effects	Some plastic surgeries go terribly wrong
Useful in case of birth defects	Results may only be temporary
Not only useful from an aesthetical perspective	Addiction to plastic surgery is a problem
Can help against breathing issues	Risk for infections
Plastic surgery can improve your vision	Risk for scars
Can help in case of obesity	You can’t be perfect anyway
May improve job opportunities	There might be better alternatives

Should You Get Plastic Surgery?

As we can see from the previous discussion, there are many advantages and disadvantages of plastic surgery.

In my opinion, cosmetic surgery should only be one of the last measures in case nothing else helps to solve your issues.

The risk-reward profile is simply quite bad and there are many better alternatives out there to deal with your issues.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgery

https://www.plasticsurgery.org/

https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/plastic-surgery.html

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.

As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.

After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.

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