Plastic Surgeons Are Doing ‘Facebook Facelifts’

Tecca by Fox Van Allen for 4
Tecca

Doctors say Facebook and video-chatting tools like Skype and FaceTime have partly fueled this decade’s boom in plastic surgery.

“People will come in and say, ‘I saw myself in the mirror, but I didn’t really notice it until I saw myself on Facebook or on my iPhone or iPad,’” says Dr. Adam Schaffner, a New York plastic surgeon. “When you look in the mirror you’re seeing the mirror image of yourself. But when you see yourself on social media, you’re seeing yourself the way the world sees you.”

This new, social-media-derived vanity is driving plastic surgeons to cater to the growing market. Schaffner performs a surgery called the “Lifestyle Lift,” a minimally invasive procedure to tighten up the face.

One doctor in Virginia is even offering what is being called a “FaceTime Facelift,” a procedure designed to make people appear more attractive during FaceTime conversations.

And the prevalence of tools like Photoshop aren’t helping. By making everyone else look more attractive, image editing tools make you feel less so when you view yourself in your natural state.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, gbrundin

Tecca is a Mashable publishing partner that offers news and reviews of gadgets and technology. This article is reprinted with the publisher's permission.

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4 Comments
  1. Nik Gee

    so what we see here is plastic surgeons finding new ways to exploit ppl for there money to “look” better in pictures, even though they had no issues…. looking in a mirror or looking at a photo on the ipad/iphone etc is no different… WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES…

    Reply 1 Flag this comment
  2. griffin byrne

    Facetime and facebook booth have helped a lot of people to earn big. Now its time for surgeons to get the most our of this social network.

    Reply 0 Flag this comment
  3. Leslie Stockton

    I see no issue with *enhancement* to a degree. When it becomes evident that gravity can not be fought and there is a point when you can no longer fight it! But if you are in good shape and take care of yourself and the body fits the face so to speak…then why not!! As i have said Gen-X’er the 50 is the now 30 lol! see who can keep up with whom!!! lol! is that the right way to say that…lol!! :)

    Reply 0 Flag this comment
  4. Adam Downer

    I think Skype and things like that just make us more aware of how we look, which causes many people to want to change that. According to this article a special procedure is needed because of the angle that iphones look at our faces, exposing incision sites (i.e. scars) that are not normally seen – http://www.costhetics.com.au/news/the-facetime-facelift/

    Reply 0 Flag this comment
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