The Mutilation Of Self-esteem

Imagine going through a windshield at 70 miles per hour - face first? That’s what a facelift is like according to one woman. It’s a serious consequence for a decision that changes the way you look and the way others look at you.

But every year, millions of people make the decision to land on the chopping block of a plastic surgeon. They willingly pay these professional and widely respected knife wielders to renovate their face and other body parts.

In 2007, nearly 11.7 million cosmetic surgical and non surgical procedures were performed in the United States, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery which has been collecting multi-specialty procedural statistics since 1997.

The 2008 statistics for cosmetic surgery declined at least 10 percent because patients are putting off their procedures until the economy recovers from it’s facelift.

Botox is one of the most popular procedures, which is injected most commonly into the face to fill in wrinkles, was almost 10 percent lower than the 2007 statistics.

Botox is a trade name for botulinum toxin A, which is a relative of botulism, a neurotoxic protein produced by bacteria. It's a form of food poisoning with a single drop being capable of killing 50,000 people.

So while it is the most poisonous naturally occurring substance in the world, small doses are used to treat painful muscle spasms, migraine headaches, severe sweating and the effects of aging. It was reported that the overuse of Botox can also cause bleeding on the brain.

What drives people to go under the knife? What do they really want to change deep within themselves?

In the popular and deliciously dark cable series Nip/Tuck, the first phrase the plastic surgeons ask a potential client in this fractured medical fairy tale is,

“Tell me what you don't like about yourself?”


The myriad of answers range from the pathos of emotional dispossession to the utter ridiculous. At some level it must occur to the would-be client that they can’t change something internal with something external, but for all it’s worth, they throw logic and reason to the wolves.

We are constantly cannonaded with false ideals about beauty and perfection - enough to anesthetize us. The time we spend trying to build self-esteem and acceptance of ourselves, is rapidly undercut by society’s glimmering billboard to be “perfect.”

Perfection isn’t sliced any better or more beautifully than on Nip/Tuck; in fact it’s sliced, marinated, skewered and tossed into a bowl of ‘miso-unhappy soup.’

Cosmetic surgery’s blood runs back to ancient times. Physicians in ancient India were utilizing skin grafts for reconstructive work as early as 800 B.C.E. The real driving force behind most plastic surgery developments took place during the late 1800s and early 1900s as a result of war.

In 2008 over 10 million procedures were done. Breast augmentation beat out liposuctions for the first time ever. 62 percent of women and 51 percent of men approve of cosmetic surgery, and 40 percent of women and 18 percent of men are considering it.

Women had 91% of cosmetic procedures while men had nearly 1 million procedures.

The top five surgical procedures were (in descending order): liposuction, breast augmentation, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), rhinoplasty (nose surgery), and abominoplasty (tummy tuck).

The top five non surgical procedures were: BOTOX, laser hair removal, hyaluronic acid treatments, microdermabrasion, and chemical peels.

The top five procedures for men were: liposuction, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, male breast reduction, and facelift.

Patients between age 35 and 50 accounted for the majority of cosmetic procedures at 47% of the total.

For an extra twinkle in their eyes, some people have even had star and heart-shaped platinum jewels implanted in their eyes by doctors at the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery. These millimeter-sized specks of metal are called JewelEye.

Last year a Korean woman addicted to plastic surgery injected cooking oil into her face and is now unrecognizable. There have been several cases of cosmetic surgery addicts who can’t seem to stop getting procedures. Do you think the doctors are to blame or the patients?

As a comparison, in the animal kingdom, the multi-wrinkled Sharp Pei is one of the most coveted dogs in the world. The more wrinkles the better.

What is perfection and does it lie in the hands of plastic surgeons? Does it exist or is it just a figment of our over stimulated imaginations?

Self-esteem issues occur when we compare ourselves to others and judge ourselves on someone else’s ideal of beauty. Back in Roman times, if a person was born with a crooked nose, it was considered a sign of nobility.

Sadly the breakdown of self-esteem starts at an early age. Last year three eleven-year old girls savagely beat another girl, hitting her in the face, wearing brass knuckles. When questioned why they did it, the perpetrators said of the girl they attacked, “because she was too pretty.”

There lies a dysphoria so deep that no surgeon’s blade can touch, cut, repair or replace that undercuts a deep malady in the spirit of our relationship with love. Love from all sides and angles; from self-love to our relationships and how we seek to feel a part of love’s grand design.

When we are not happy with ourselves, we choose false solutions to mask our insecurities and disillusionment. While we can entertain beautiful lies that we all come to know, they still are a stranger to our real sense of identity and purpose.

If beauty is only skin deep, where does inner beauty come from? We are always skinning, shedding, peeling, masking and growing new skin. The inner beauty that some may dismiss is there staring us in the face.

Age is not a curse, it is a blessing. The experience of getting older is one we should embrace, not sell to a plastic surgeon. We are all part of God’s mosaic. We are not meant to look the same as everyone else.

A body is only a hermitage for the soul. A plastic surgeon can’t augment a withering soul. A knife can’t cut away our feelings of despair. The real task we should be concerned about is the preservation and the sanctity of love.

We don’t have to distort our face or figure to be loved, but we do have to be happy with the blessing of life. The experiences of life will naturally shape us, adding some, cutting some and leaving room to grow. That’s the real beauty of living; perfecting the state of contentment.

Would you ever go under the knife and why?