Cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, cosmetic dentistry and aesthetic surgery, these are all examples of a new wave of procedures created by doctors to squeeze more money out of their patients. Or are they?
Cosmetic medicine is by turns demonised and canonised by different people. There are those who swear that they would never resort to any type of cosmetic treatment whatsoever as only excessively vain people would do so. Others kiss the cometic doctors' hands and beg for any and all treatments available in the hopes they would suddenly transform into an Angelina Jolie look-alike.
There are many people who are self-proclaimed 'beauty junkies', and these are the ones who religiously read beauty magazines and blogs, and have a well-developed beauty regime that includes facials, skincare and makeup. For these people, cosmetic medicine is merely the new tool they have at their disposal to fulfil their desires for physical perfection. With or without the advent of Botox, these individuals would still search endlessly for new ways to boost their self-images.
If there is any culprit in the development of cosmetic medical techniques, it must be said that skin care and cosmetics companies are the ones who first created the idea that it is possible to create beauty through the application of their - brand new! - lip plumping lipsticks, celulite smootheners and undereye circle banishers. Many women have fallen, and continue to fall prey to these often empty promises.. Add to that an entire industry of beauty salons and spas, all employing perfectly touched-up models to further convince people of their ability to provide that porcelain skin or that hourglass figure.
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| Beauty in a bottle? Beauty product companies make it all seem possible. |
The worldwide cosmetics and perfume industry currently generates an estimated annual turnover of US$170 billion. Certainly it is a very big incentive for these companies to keep women convinced they could be the next big model, if only they buy their new product. It is only because people began to realise that a quick solution to their physical concerns is very hard to achieve and maintain, that more and more women (and men) began to search for other ways to make their dreams come true. Thus was the plastic surgeon's bread and butter created, and the need for nonsurgical cosmetic medicine born.
Beauty junkies aside, the concern of the average career woman is to look well enough to protray confidence and competence in an increasingly competitive global market. It is very rare, and some would argue distasteful, to find a woman in a corporate or official setting without makeup or properly groomed hair. If the purpose of makeup is to hide the ill-effects of a stressful workplace and the ravages of time and environment, it is certainly understandable that some women may seek the services of a cosmetic doctor to correct some of the concerns she has that makeup alone cannot.
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| Infographic by OnlineMBAPrograms.Net |
Of course, the competitiveness is not merely confined to the gentle sex, and more men are exploring how cosmetic medical treatments can help to address their physical concerns too. Lest we forget, competition exists not only in the job market, but also in the marriage mart, where physical desirability is most certainly an asset.
An acne-ravaged youth is certainly grateful for the powerful lasers of today that can erase the worst of his acne scars, or even help to clear it up before it becomes a problem. In fact, much of the laser technology we have today is thanks to efforts by early scientists to create a tool that would address the concerns of people sticken with birthmarks, moles, and other chronic skincare problems such as rosacea, eczema and so forth.
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| Baby with Port Wine Stain birthmark, correctable with laser treatments |
Youth is also a highly valued commodity in a world where people are living longer and more affluent that their forebears. Unlike previous generations where wrinkles and age spots were a well-earned mark of wisdom, today, aging is a sign of the slow decline towards senility, disease and mortality. Just as teenagers are urged to use sunblock to ward off the aging effects of UV rays, and women of all ages take it as gospel to apply their nighttime anti-aging creams. For those who find the spa scrubs and winkle-erase lotions no longer potent enough, medical science comes to the rescue.
Cosmetic medicine is also a response to bridging the gap between the low cost yet limited results from skin care and salon treatments, and the dramatic results yet high costs of plastic surgery. Cosmetic surgery employs new technology and increasingly sophisticated techniques to give patients the non-surgical, no-downtime and considerably less painful way of achieving their goals, at a fraction of the price.
Without refuting the fact that many of those who seek out cosmetic treatments are certainly those who have low self-esteem, it must be opined that cosmetic medicine is not the cause, but most certainly can be the panacea for the condition.
CosMed, MD
