Will Cosmetic Surgery Make You Happier?

Posted: October 6, 2021 by Mary Oluonye

Is cosmetic surgery just what you need to make you happier?

I don’t know. Will it?

You’re the only one who can answer that question. It depends on how you measure happiness and success.

If you truly believe that you’ll be happier after cosmetic surgery and that you will find your soulmate and true love, or you’ll be more popular and have many friends and followers, then cosmetic surgery may be your answer.

If you believe that you’ll be more successful and that you will get a promotion or secure a new and better job, then cosmetic surgery may be what you are looking for.

Then by all means, go for it! It’s your life, after all. But before you do, here’s something to think about.

If people like or dislike you based upon what you look like, does that mean they like or dislike the person that you really are? The real you? What if cosmetic surgery ends up not being a prescription for happiness and success? What if equating the idea of physical appearance to happiness and success leads to disappointment because you realize in the long run that the old sentiment just might be true: Happiness comes from within.

A question

What is it about yourself – your face or your body – that you don’t like or value? Why? Did someone tell you or teach you not to like something about yourself? And who are they anyway?

I read an article about a young Chinese actress who shared her experience of an unsuccessful surgical procedure performed on her nose. The photographs revealed that some tissue at the tip of her nose had turned black in color which indicted tissue death.

I wondered why she’d had the surgery in the first place. That led me to more research, and to more and more articles about cosmetic surgery and the sharp rise in the number of surgeries taking place in China, especially among younger and younger women.

And it’s not only young women who are undergoing cosmetic surgery, sometimes multiple surgeries; an increasing number of young men are going under the knife too.

An important difference

In the past, it was more common that most people getting cosmetic surgery were primarily women trying to alleviate the signs or effects of aging in an attempt to look more like their younger selves. They were seeking to reverse the clock, so to speak.

Today’s young people are getting surgery to alter their looks in pursuit of some impossibly perfect or ideal standard of beauty as defined by society, culture or media.

Some will tell you that cosmetic surgery is about enhancing their natural look, but what if after surgery the alteration is so complete that the person’s before and after photos bear no resemblance to each other?

While older people try to recapture their youthful look, young people today are trying to change what they look like. Period. Why is that? Why don’t they like their natural selves? Why does it mean so much to them to look like something or someone that they are not?

A global obsession with looks

It’s not just China. The obsession with physical appearance is global. You’ll find the same thing in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Germany, India, Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, Japan, S. Korea and many more countries.

Here are some of the most popular procedures:

• Skin (lightening or whitening the skin)
• Nose (making noses thinner or narrower)
• Breasts (making them bigger or smaller, or lifting them up)
• Face, thighs, buttocks (removing fat to make slimmer or more contoured)
• Lips (making them fuller or reshaping)
• Stomach (removing fat)
• Eyelids (creating a new eyelid fold to make eyes look larger)

Cosmetic surgery is big business

Cosmetic surgery is huge. According to a report by ihealthcareanalyst.com, the Global Health Care and Procedures Market is anticipated to reach $50.5 billion dollars by 2027. And where there is big money to be made and so many eager customers, along come the unscrupulous, unlicensed, unregistered, inexperienced clinics and doctors who practice “medicine” that result in botched jobs and horror stories.

Back to the original question

Back to my original question. What is it about yourself that you don’t like? Why would you put yourself through one or more surgeries to change your physical features. Is it that you want to look perfect? Is there such a thing as perfect?

Even if after changing your looks, do you really think surgery will change how you will feel within, or change how you feel about the real you?

And those new friends and people in your life? Are they really your friends? Or are they friends only because you look a certain way?

Will you be happier after cosmetic surgery? That is the question that only you can answer. It depends on how you measure happiness and success and what being happy and successful means to you.

If you still believe that cosmetic surgery is the right course of action for you, just be sure to do your homework. Research several doctors and clinics. Check out reviews and testimonials and pay particular attention to any complaints or lawsuits. Best of all, try to speak with people who have had the surgery that you are contemplating having. Learn about their experiences and find out who performed their surgery. And don’t forget to ask them if they are truly happier because they had the surgery.

Just make sure to have all the information you need in order to make the best informed decision that is best for you.

You might be interested in reading my article about skin bleaching. Skin Bleaching Is A Symptom of A Deeper Problem

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