Plastic Surgery Blog

If you’ve ever seen Dr. 90210 on E!, then you know about Dr. Robert Rey – the eccentric, hugely successful plastic surgeon extraordinaire. Even if you haven’t, he’s made numerous other television appearances, including, ironically, a commercial for the fast food chain Carl’s Jr. My point here is that Dr. Rey has become a celebrity in his own right — his popularity has transcended that of the show that made him famous and his influence as a kind of popular culture icon has become undeniable.

I haven’t watched Dr. 90210 in a while, but if I remember anything about Dr. Rey (besides his flashy suits and oblivious narcissism), it’s that when it comes to breast augmentation surgery, he seems to adhere to the maxim “bigger is better.” But is it?

The answer is really a matter of personal preference, but are those preferences influenced by popular culture? I think so, at least partially. Take, for instance, the image of Pamela Anderson. She has achieved pop culture status as today’s most well known sex symbol. But, when you think of Pamela Anderson, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For me, it’s her breasts, and I think this is probably true for most people. In fact, I have a rather vivid memory of an old friend who taped images of the blonde bombshell all over her desk as incentive to save money for breast implants.

Images comparable to Pamela Anderson’s bombard the media. And so do opinions like Dr. Rey’s. And this is not altogether a bad thing. Plastic surgery is more widely accepted than ever before. Consider the reigning Miss USA, Tara Connor, who enhanced her appearance with breast implants. This would never have been accepted if cosmetic surgery were still as stigmatized as it once was.

Still, not all women look better with huge breast implants. Kate Beckinsale recently had hers removed. Even Pamela Anderson had hers removed at one point. And perhaps I stand in the minority when I say that I preferred her look during her short-lived stint without the implants, but I’m willing to take that risk. Small-framed women often have a difficult time pulling off the oversized implant look (Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice, comes to mind). As far as beauty goes, proportion is key.

So, no, bigger is not always better, and I don’t think it’s blasphemous to say so.

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Maybe you’ve seen the infomercial for the fat burning supplement Lipozene. If you haven’t, the gimmick is the same as almost every other “miracle” diet supplement on the market: Lose weight quickly and easily (read: no diet, no exercise, no sweat) with this all-natural product. Claims such as the ones made by the makers of Lipozene are always seductive, even though never (or only partially) true!

It’s easy to allow yourself to believe in products like Lipozene. That’s called effective marketing, and we all fall prey to it sometimes. But the goal of marketing is persuasion, not truth. So, before you pick up the phone to place an order for Lipozene, consider the following:

• Lipozene is an “As Seen On TV” product. Weight loss products sold through television and radio advertisements are often some of the biggest marketing scams and should always raise red flags.
• The makers of Lipozene, Obesity Research Institute LLC, claim that their product is “clinically proven to reduce body fat.” Who conducted this clinical research? Who paid for it? Were the results published and if so, where?  Basically, the company has failed to substantiate this claim.
• Obesity Research Clinic has a history of making false and unsubstantiated claims. The company was charged with making misleading weight loss claims about two of its older dietary supplements – Propolene and FiberThin – by the Federal Trade Commission and forced to pay $1.5 million to settle the charges.
• Lipozene impairs the body’s ability to absorb important vitamins and nutrients.
• Lipozene contains only one ingredient – glucomannan, a derivative of the konjac root. Essentially, lipozene is a fiber supplement. Fiber can help with weight loss, although results are usually subtle. Also, it’s easy to incorporate fiber into your diet in healthy, less expensive ways.

Remember: There’s no such thing as a magic diet pill, so don’t be seduced by claims to the contrary. Always be cautious of any weight loss gimmick that doesn’t require some committment, consistency, and hard work on your part!

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Part of the human condition is to set goals before we know how to solve them, to choose a part of our lives that we perceive to be deficient and lock on until it’s fixed. The path to fulfilling that goal can lead to many different places. Some lead to success and some to failure, but all will inevitably lead to more perceived deficiencies and more goals. They are the gold at the end of the rainbow, our goals, which keep us from hitting snooze in the gray light of a new morning.

Our time here is limited and so, consequently, are the number of goals we are able to set and achieve. Everyday we consume this limited resource, trading it for experiences that pass through our periphery. The longer a goal takes to achieve, the less time we have to embark on the paths of others. Given the fleeting nature of this resource, it is undoubtedly important to choose the right goals.

Beauty (as a goal) is a form of perceived self-improvement, a fascination with our roles in life and how others perceive us. People discount the importance of beauty with cliché sayings such as “beauty is only skin deep”, this social mindset devalues the significance of beauty as an essential step toward achieving other, intangible, goals of self-improvement.

A half century ago, Abraham Maslow published his work (still considered to be the authoritative work on the subject matter) “A Theory of Human Motivation” in which he stated the hierarchy of human needs, beginning with physiological needs (breathing, food, water, sleep) and building through stages leading to self-actualization (contentment, happiness). In order to make his theory more readily accessible, the steps were manifested in the form of a pyramid, each new step building from the prior fulfilled goal, with beauty and self-esteem included as integral to the overall process.

This logic tears apart the social stigma that plastic surgery is solely the bane of those who are trapped in superficiality and vanity. Instead it encourages beauty as a base level of self-improvement leading to more worthy endeavors and goals. In order to keep your eye on the prize of personal fulfillment, you must first come to terms with what your eyes see in the mirror.

Plastic surgery can be an effective solution for those stuck in the physiological stages of personal development and needs. However, as Maslow’s Hierarchy states, it is not a question of “when” people move from stage to stage, rather a question of “if” people move from stage to stage. If you plan to have Plastic Surgery do it for the person you can be, not the person you can look like. Otherwise you will be seeing the possibilities of your life from a skin-deep perspective.

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