Social Media and Edited Photos - How They Influence Plastic Surgery Requests

In the past, Photoshop was one of the best ways to alter your look in order to get a better idea of how you would look after cosmetic surgery. These days, apps on your phone can show you how you will look after rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, or a facelift. In addition, plastic surgeons are sharing stories of patients bringing in photos they found on social media as inspiration for their plastic surgery procedures. Let’s examine how social media and edited photos impact plastic surgery choices.

Social Media and Edited Photos – Multiple Looks to a Body Part?

During consultations that occurred pre-filter apps, patients would bring in photos of, for example, a specific nose they wanted to use for inspiration for their rhinoplasty results. Now, patients will show a doctor multiple photos of noses with a different look to the nose in each photo. The inspiration photos are often altered or filtered through a photo editing app such as Facetune so none of them have the same appearance.

Another change in the past few years has been a trend away from altered or edited photos of celebrities for inspiration. Instead, patients will bring in edited photos of themselves as a reference point for their desired plastic surgery results.

Apps such as Facetune allow people to alter the photos they want to post on social media. These apps let people erase any imperfections in their appearance such as large pores or acne. They also have the ability to alter the look of body parts that they view as undesirable.

Even though dragging a fingertip to highlight a portion of the face in an app is simple and quick, the ease of this action does not translate to what surgeons are able to accomplish during a surgical procedure. This includes the permanent changes that are made by a doctor during the surgery. Every section of the face is considered during surgery so what seems like an “easy fix” on Facetune actually requires making a big change in the real world. Patients do not always take this into account, which means they can be quite surprised during a consultation appointment when a doctor discusses realistic expectations.

Social Media and Edited Photos – Unrealistic Expectations from Patients

As the public becomes more comfortable with the idea of having cosmetic treatments, they are also starting to view some treatments as making a simple change in their grooming instead of being an actual medical procedure.  If a person views non-invasive treatments such as nonsurgical rhinoplasty or laser resurfacing, they often make the assumption there is no need for any recovery time after the procedure. The actual downtime is rarely shown in social media photos or videos, but there are multiple cosmetic treatments that require some amount of rest and recovery.

In the section above, there was a brief discussion about doctors setting realistic expectations after a cosmetic treatment. As an example, some patients do not have a realistic idea about the changes that can be made with surgical rhinoplasty. If a patient wants to gain a smaller shape to the nose, this might not be possible as the nose would not be functional, and it would eventually collapse. The changes that are made in an edited photo of the nose often cannot be made during surgery as the patient would not be able to breathe.

The discrepancies in photos on a social media feed might not be visible to the average person as they are also viewing photos of other items such as outfits and activities such as sporting events. It is often necessary for the doctor to point out the differences in the appearance of the body parts in the photos for the person to gain a better understanding of what is not possible with surgery.

Social Media and Edited Photos – Starting with an Image of the Patient

Filter apps also provide unrealistic results due to the way the filters light the face. The filters warp the manner in which the light hits the face, so it is often not anatomically correct with the light. Having said that, Facetuned or Photoshopped images can be easier to work with if the image is one of the actual patient. The doctor will be starting the process with an image that has the biological facial structure of the person as opposed to a celebrity or influencer with a different build or structure to the face.

There can also be issues with older patients who want to improve their skin texture as photos taken with filers do not have pores. Older patients need to understand their skin texture will not look as smooth as it did when they were younger. They can have a laser treatment to improve the look and the texture of the skin, but the final results cannot look like a filtered photo.

Even though most patients understand the changes that are able to be made to their appearance once the doctor explains this to them, patients are not stopping the practice of using filters since this is considered to be the “new norm” on social media. Patients want to look younger and more contoured than ever before, and they still compare their appearance to others who use filters and Photoshop. They might even understand that filters do not provide realistic results, but this does not stop them from trying to match the filtered results they view online.

- MA