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By Marc Meisfelt (2010)
Disfiguration from cosmetic surgery always is a risk, and the world is full of people who wanted to look better, went for cosmetic treatment, and ended up looking worse. Michael Jackson is a sad example.
I understand the lure of the "everything is possible" idea. And because I believe that I have a good awareness of the ideological implications of cosmetic procedures, I consider personal beautification a highly relevant endeavor.
But nevertheless, I myself have a conservative approach to cosmetic surgery. I do not do alteration surgery (surgery that aims to change my basic physical features, such as my nose, chin, cheeks), and I have no implants whatsoever (I am even critical of fillers).
All I do myself is rejuvenation surgery, the aim of which is to re-establish my natural appearance of 10, 20, or even 30 years ago. In most cases, this means stretching skin. Therefore, I consider the facelift the king of cosmetic surgery. Practically everybody's looks profit from facelifts, and the risk of things going wrong in conventional facelifts is minimal.
Those risks that are related to general anesthesia do not count for me, as anyway, I undergo all procedures (and have undergone all my facelifts) under local anesthesia.
One "risk" that, in my opinion, most people overestimate, is the one of scars. First of all, scars in men are probably less of a concern than scars in women. Until a few decades ago, men would even be proud of scars, displaying them as signs of manliness or bravery (such as "Schmisse" from dueling).
I would not go that far in my case, but I have always found the impact of small scars from facial cosmetic procedures quite bearable.
Certainly, I find them more bearable than the negative impact of implants gone wrong, as, for example, in the case of Michael Jackson.
And I also find scars less of an impediment than the negative effects of skin surface treatments. I have never undergone any peeling, chemical or laser-based, as I consider the risk of a disfigured skin surface much worse than that of a scar or two. (le*n)
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