Plastic Surgery: Should It Be Banned?

Plastic surgery: should it be banned?

Some people’s obsession with plastic surgery is obviously getting out of control. It starts with only getting one thing fixed or corrected but then quickly escalates and before you know it, a face that once was all-flesh turns into plastic. According to a study conducted by Nigel Mercer (2009), “The number of official cosmetic surgeries has more than tripled to 34,000 since 2003”. The two reasons why plastic surgery should be banned are because of its high health risks, and because of the additional pressure it puts on people to look picture-perfect.

One of the leading reasons as to why cosmetic surgery should be banned is because of some serious, and neglected, risks that patients may encounter when put under the knife. To be more precise, a procedure that one may see to be harmless and basic may carry out just as many negative affects as a serious one. In “Clinical Risk,” Mercer (2009) states, "All cosmetic treatments are medical interventions, and every medical intervention has a complication and failure rate”. The paraffin being injected in the faces of people who get Botox done, for instance, may overtime spread into unwanted places that would cause the sagging of the face, contrary to the whole purpose of this procedure. Sometimes the negative effects are not seen immediately, but over the course of life become more apparent. When one has a more serious surgery the risks obviously boost drastically. A vast amount of blood loss is also a major threat in such operations. One may simply die of excessive bleeding even after the surgery is done, meaning that you are not only in danger when under the knife, but even when you are finished from the procedure (whether it be a success or not). Moreover, statistics prove that most people that even though a high number of people get surgery done, a higher percentage get a second one of those same surgical operations done later on due to not being satisfied with the results the first time around. It is this factor that aids and results in the unhealthy obsession.

In addition to the many health risks, unnecessary societal pressure also adds on to the list of why plastic surgery should be banned. As oppose to spending thousands to hide their flaws, people should learn to love and live with them, as they are what essentially make them truly unique.