Why do people choose to have aesthetic surgery?
People come to me for a variety of reasons. It is a fallacy that people who seek aesthetic improvements are in some way fundamentally unhappy and are seeking to make internal improvements by working on the external. It is also a misplaced justification that women are driven to aesthetic surgery due to pressures from men or social media. Most commonly it is the rational, well-considered need to have some aspect of their appearance (structural and / or functional) that bothers them changed or improved. Often I hear my patients say: I’m working on being the best “me” I can be – and I’m doing it for myself- to finally free myself from this burden that has been holding me back from living my best life.
It is a very big step to “confess” and “expose” your most private of concerns or insecurities to a medical professional. This is something I never lose sight of, and I see it as a privilege to help people at their most vulnerable.
My patients are often on an emotional journey, the loss of a loved one, a divorce or the road back from weight gain/ loss or pregnancy. They have reached a point on their “road”where they have realised that surgery is an essential step towards “self-actualization”. Stepping into the future they imagined for themselves, looking and feeling better and therefore more confident than before.
What a privilege it is to be a part of their process to becoming a better version of themselves. Aesthetic surgery gives people strength and hope and a second chance in life.
