How can Plastic Surgery Adversely Affect a Woman’s Health?

Most discussions about plastic surgery usually focus on the remarkable before and after effects. Truthfully, there are many different procedures capable of dramatically effecting the appearance. These procedures can help not only the patient’s self-esteem, but at times even improve the quality of life this person experiences. Far more women than man feel the need for surgical procedures that change their appearance. Statistically, most of these surgeries are performed without any issues, but it is important to understand how plastic surgery can affect a woman’s overall health.

The Highest Price of All

The death of comic talent Joan Rivers brought the fears many hold of cosmetic surgeries to the surface. Rivers died in 2014 of cerebral hypoxia, an event in which an individual’s brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen. Almost any surgical procedure in which the patient is unconscious, and receiving oxygen involves this type of risk. The fact that many of these surgeries take place outside of a hospital where emergency procedures are more accessible quickly is a cause for concern for many prospective cosmetic surgery patients. Although going private at places such as the North West Independent Hospital is fine. What’s key to understanding how a woman’s health is affected by plastic surgery is the reasoning behind women such as Rivers having multiple surgeries or undergoing a procedure at an age when any surgery should be avoided if possible.

The Body Out of Balance

Any surgery that involves a drastic change can have an effect on other parts of the body. The easiest to spot is in the case of liposuction. The immediate results are often satisfying for both the surgeon and the patient, as the appearance in one area of the body such as the thighs is immediately improved. After liposuction most men and women will need a second surgery to lift and tuck the skin around the shrunken area now devoid of fat tissue. The real problems this procedure can produce will not demonstrate until months later. Since the fat cells are removed entirely from this one area, the body will compensate by storing fat in another area such as the stomach, hips, or the abdominal region. This will throw off the proportions of the body, and even lead to other effects on health. Naturally, a woman experiencing this new problem will seek the same remedy paving the way to the “revolving door” of having multiple cosmetic procedures over time.

Pain, Stress, and Consequences

Another aspect that can undermine a woman’s health is the emotional toll of surgery. With any surgery there, is pain, swelling, and this can often cause feelings of isolation, and depression. These feelings are seldom addressed by doctors, and most women are left to deal with these issues privately. Since this is a voluntary process even family and friends might not understand how real these feelings are, or how to deal with this common aftereffect of surgery.

Expecting Too Much

The expectation a woman has for the surgery might not completely manifest in her appearance after surgery. For some women who expect too much of a face lift or a tummy tuck the quest for perfection can cause a drain on their health as they attempt new procedures, and a drain on their finances as they seek to attain their perfect image of themselves. For doctors it’s difficult to determine if a patient has a true issue with their body image, or if they simply want to make logical changes to their appearances. Responsible doctors will question patients who return frequently or who have had multiple procedures in order to determine if the need for surgery is genuine or the result of a emotional problem.

Aging and Plastic Surgery

For many women various types of plastic surgery become routine. The real risk of any surgery heightens as a person ages. Doctors and women having surgery should always weigh these risks which include the overall effect of sedation, problems with respiration, and longer healer times against the hoped for benefits of a surgery.

Looking Carefully at Plastic Surgery

Any woman considering having a cosmetic produce should seek out information on all the risks and the post-surgery effects before making a decision. Speaking with other women who have undergone a procedure is one recommended method of assessing risks and unwanted effects to health.