It seems that many people in our society have an obsession with youth for beautiful appearance. The toy Barbie doll is one example of this. She has been an icon for the last four decades because she stays "perfect".
Do you think that Barbie has, in some way, led to unrealistic expectations in patients ?
We often have patients requesting impossible dimensions and difficult to maintain youthful appearances. The motto of my cosmectic dermatology practice is "Looking Good and Feeling Great!" So what is realistic in achieving and keeping this goal?
I really applaud the mindset behind the campaign of Dove products that focuses on real women, real shape, real life. This idea should be our focus. In my practice, I advise my patients to have two goals when it comes to outcomes for any type of cosmetic dermatology procedure.
- I want the patient's friends and family to have a pleasant reaction. They will notice that "something looks better." However, the change should be subtle enough that most of them will be unaware of exactly what was done.
- The patient should look and feel better and be more confident about their appearance.
I do not endeavor to make a patient look unrealistically younger than their age. But I would like to have my patients feel fantastic for their age. In the practice of cosmetic medicine, if the procedures are pushed too far, appearance can end up looking odd and strange. We have all seen pictures of some people, many of them stars or celebrities, that are examples of this. By trying to look younger than their chronological age, they do not look normal. They may even look weird.
So, in conclusion, when it comes to the unattainable images that are portrayed in the magazines with airbrushed photos, and in the movies using special make-up, camera angles and computer generated techniques... let us stop and ask "What is real?" Let's be proud to look good, and be real,... and feel great.
