Cosmetic Surgery: Would You? Have You?

I've kind of toyed with the idea of having breast implants since losing weight left me with A cups, but the more I weigh the pros and cons, the more I've decided to stick with my little boobs. It would cost mega $$, I'd have to wear a really good sports bra when running (I do now, but I can't imagine what it'd be like if I had D cups or something), they might get screwed up and look REALLY fake, and I'd probably want more surgeries after that.

Besides, that's why they make push up bras and those little silicone "chicken cutlets" that you can stuff in your bra (I have a pair...they're freakin' awesome).

Johnny Carson once remarked to Charles Bronson that Bronson's wife, Jill Ireland, had small breasts. Bronson said that he loved her breasts and that when she aged, her breasts would still be in the same place God had intended. (Such a cruel irony that she later died of breast cancer.)

Check out Truth In Plastic Surgery for some good advice to help you decide.

I've lost just over 100#s, and I carried most of my weight in my stomach area. So, I've been left with a large amount of excess skin. I plan to have plastic surgery to have it it removed.

My reasons? I'm tired of having to buy pants that are baggy on my legs and butt because they have to be big enough to go around my abdomen. I also have to wear spandex every single day to "keep it in" because the skin will jiggle so much without it it's painful (think of riding a roller coaster without a bra!). And, lastly, I have a skin allergy to metal. If anything but gold touches my skin, I get a rash. Well, since I have a fold of skin over my navel, whenever I wear jeans with a metal button or a belt with a metal buckle, I get a rash. And, since the skin is constantly being agitated against other excess skin, the rash frequently gets infected and won't heal quickly.

So, yes, some of it superficial...I worked my butt off (literally) to lose weight, and I want to be able to wear clothes to show it off. But, there are more substantial reasons for my doing it.

Does Lasik count as cosmetic surgery?

I think those are great reasons, Jen, even the more superficial ones. You deserve to feel and look great.

I have thought about surgery; not sure if I'll ever go through with it. I have large breasts, so that's not the problem, but they are already quite saggy and I'm in my 20s, so I know they will really be drooping later in life. So a breast lift might be the thing, one day...it's just I can't get over the fact that it entails a very similar procedure to breast implants. I really don't want to put something foreign into my body. Wish there was another way to give them a lift, but oh well. For now I just wear push-up bras--you know, with barbed-wire for that oh so comfortable support. Sigh.

I see no problem at all with people having procedures done if it makes them feel better about themselves (by the Jen, you rock...way to go!).

I do disagree with someone going to have lipo done INSTEAD of trying to get rid of the fat by proper nutrition and exercise.

Brian

I think that it depends on the surgery that you are having done. I do believe that in some cases, like after you have lost alot of weight the surgery can be required. Yes you have lost 100+ pounds and you may feel better but your skin does not recover. There is nothing wrong about getting that taken care of. But when it comes to breast implants I think that you are taking too big of a risk. On top of the fact that you may not get a dr that does the procedure correctly you have to think about the fact that after the procedure is done you will be at a higher risk for breast cancer. It is harder to detect breast cancer in women with implants. I myself have small breasts and I could really care less what a man might think of them. I get compliments on them from the men in my life that have mattered. If you are with a guy that wants that then I would tell him to keep looking or the moment that he said it I would tell him that I would get it done the day after he does. Check out badplasticsurgery.com and then decide for yourself if it is worth the risk.

Eyelid surgery.

...because I needd it.

My eyelashes were pretty much growing the wrong way, so I had to get surgery to correct that problem. Well, I guess i didn't *have* to, but it's been more helpful than anything.

I went to see an eye doctor when I was ten because of my vision problems, and she told me that I should either get eyelid surgery or contacts, because of my eyelashes. She said that my case wasn't as severe, so contacts would suffice for the time being--but surgery would be more effective. I left her office that day with a pair of trial contacts, and have been wearing them ever since (not the same pair, mind you!). Eight years later, I got my eyelids done.

Do I regret it? Well. Do I miss having my eyelashes poke and scratch my eyes? Not so much.

And I've found that I don't need to wear as much eyeliner--just another random perk that having little creases in my eyelids has provided me with. Half kidding...=)

I used to completely bash on those who received any kind of cosmetic surgery--Oh, how foolish I was. I've come to realize that cosmetic surgery for the sake of medical reasons...isn't so bad. I guess it really just depends on the motivations behind the action...and eyelid surgery isn't quite as invasive as other types of cosmetic surgery anyway. Not that I feel that because of that fact, all eye lid surgeries are fine. Just another perk, I guess. Not really a perk, but...

And now I'm just rambling. I think I've gotten my point across, so I'll end it here.

-CJ

I might have a little, but I haven't given it a lot of thought. Admittedly, I eat like a mouse and I'm kinda hyper by nature, so my body weight is stable for now. Maybe a tad on the face when I hit my 50's ... purely out of vanity (not health reasons).

I've contemplated breast reduction, especially when I was at my highest weight. My "girls" were busting out of 42-DDD bras! I decided that if my breasts were still too big once I'd lost the weight I needed to, I'd think about it seriously. I've now lost 85 pounds (with 15 more needed to go) and I'm in a 36 DD, so they're not exactly small, but I feel like they are more proportioned and not so bad. Granted, I will never be able to go bra-less in public, and I have to buy super heavy duty sports bras to avoid pain and serious wobbling, but surgery is scary stuff. I work in a hospital and see some the "simplest" surgeries have major consequences. I don't think I could justify it simply for cosmetic reasons. Now that I'm in better shape, my shoulders, neck and back don't suffer so much (which was purportedly due to my big breasts) so I'm not really thinking about it at this point. Plus, if I decide to have kids, I would like to breast feed and I've heard that could be more challenging after a reduction. Furthermore, my friend who had a reduction couldn't excercise vigorously for a long time, so that is now a dissuading factor for me. I'm happily addicted to working out, and would really miss it. Perhaps when I'm older and my breasts go further south, I'll feel differently, but for now I think I'll stick with what I've got!!

That said, I try not to be judgemental of people who do elect to have surgery. Its such a personal choice that I would never presume to decide for someone else what is right for them. I just hope that when people elect to do it, their surgeons consider the mental and emotional status of patients who are pursuing it, so that people suffering from emotional problems don't worsen their situations with major surgery! That's my little "soap-box moment" being a mental health professional. People shouldn't underestimate the seriousness of surgery and put that costs and benefits into a careful balance before undergoing the major stuff (like lipo, breast implants etc.)

I would have cosmetic surgery one day. When I am done having 3 kids, I wanna have my breasts lifted and made smaller, probably a tummy tuck and liposuction if I did not lose the weight. I wanna be a yummy mummy. Yes its vain but we live in a world where looks are everything and a bonus, my husband would find me sexy again and not have to go and look for something else.

Have to agree with Lose Weight with Me. There is nothing wrong with it if you feel it makes you a better person. But, doing it as a substitute for good health is a terrible idea.

I have... I got it for my 16th and my 18th birthdays, though I can't say I chose to have them. It was just.. expected. It was the least I could to make up for being so unacceptable, or it felt like that, at least. I got the sweet sixteen nose job, and then lipo around my chin and knees when I turned 18.

I have contemplated having some loose skin removed now that I lost all that weight, and maybe have a breast lift while I'm there, but one thing I really want and will probably have this year is the non-surgical nose job, where they use fillers to make your nose bigger. Although I've lived with the cosmetic surgery nose for half my life, I still wish it resembled my bigger, original nose, so I figured if it is cheap and doesn't require dangerous anesthesia, I should do it. It is so bizarre to look at one's face for 16 years and still think it has to be someone else's face, not your own. I always thought I'd grow used to it with time, but it looks like it is not gonna happen.

I went to buy some new bras the other day and every sngle one of them was padded or "contoured". I asked the salesgirl what was going on and she said that the natural shape of the female breast is out of fashion! Apparently, the fashion these days is to looks as though you've had a boob job. (The "contoured" bra is specially designed to give an artificially high, rounded shape.) We looked at all the bras - this was in the lingerie section of a major department store - and *every single bra* up to and including a C cup was padded or "contoured".

Geez - if I wanted to look as though I'd had a boob job, I'd have a boob job!

RedPanda, I like the padded bras because then you don't have to worry in cold weather...

I have lost 140 lbs. I have been lucky and the skin on arms and thighs is not real bad, I worked out at Curves hard to limit the loose skin, My stomach and waist is where it really is a pain, like Jen I have to wear a size larger for the waist and the butt and legs are loose. I would do it just to be able to buy clothes that fit. It is a dream tho since the cost is prohibative.

I would love to have procedures done but....the cost is so expensive! I suppose in a way it is vane but, I have been some-what-heavy all of my life. I do go to the gym and workout three to four times a week and try to eat somewhat healthy. I do not eat perfect but, I do eat much better than the average person. It just seems that whatever I do never works. I have read several things about lipodissolve. Has anyone had this procedure done? It is a more reasonable price(if it works). I don't want to be artificial but, I would just like a starting place. I know I am dedicated to working out and know I have to do it for the rest of my life. I just can't help but think if there was less to start with (since me
working out is not making that happen) I would be even more dedicated and feel better about myself. I don't want to be perfect, I just want to be healthy and normal
sized.

I am planning to have a couple of moles removed from my face soon, and would consider having a tummy tuck after I am done having kids for sure and if I can maintain a good weight for awhile first. Both surgeries would be purely for myself, to help me be happier with the way I look. I don't expect to be perfect, but since I can I would like to get rid of the two things that really bug me. I don't necessarily want to be able to wear a bikini, but it would be nice to get rid of the extra loose skin roll I have from losing and regaining a bunch of weight several times, including 85 pounds when I was pregnant. It hangs out over my waistband and is visible no matter what I wear.

once i get the weight off, i'd have get a tummy tuck or whatever i needed. For those who have lost weight woohoo! I think if you think it through and not just doing it because you think it will make you feel better go for it. I also got lasik, my youngest kept breaking my glasses. I don't regret it and love being glasses free.

I'm 43 now and after spending most of my teenage years running without a proper bra (they didn't have anything other than normal daily type bras back then), my boobs were saggy by age 20. By 26, after having and nursing two kids, I hated them so much I could not stand it. My husband had no problems and told me he loved them. He did not want me to have surgery, but since I had been telling him since before we got married I wanted it, he didn't object or make me feel bad about getting it.

I ended up having both a lift and the smallest implant available, and even at that my breast size was smaller than it had been in high school. I had lost so much tissue I had none left! It was the best move I ever made. I felt so much better about myself. Even though no one other than my husband even knew they were saggy, I knew myself and it bothered me.

I just had my implants replaced one year ago, since it had been so many years. I'm still a "high B, small C" and that's just where I want to be. I have never regretted the surgery.

I also had a nose job at age 16. I don't regret that either as my nose was huge and I was so self conscious about it. It was not something I would have been happy living with. It was the best thing I have ever done, as much as having braces on my teeth was.

Yes, I would have plastic surgery. I have not done so thus far but only because it's expensive and the down time associated with it. I want to have my eyes "done" and a mid-face lift. Here is why.....

As people age their face can take on a tired or angry look. It's because when the face sags (as all do eventually) the eyebrows and eyes "droop" and the mouth starts to turn downward a bit. This gives a person a tired/angry look.

I am in sales. I cannot have my clients thinking I am tired or angry! Like it or not....I may be competing with another sales person who is 20-30 years younger than me. Experience and wisdom are great to have. They give me an advantage, but, I have too look energetic, happy and healthy or I won't get my foot in the door. The looks get me in the door, the experience and wisdom get the sale. I am not talking about pretty here....although that does help. I am talking about that healthy glow that says you are confident, enthusiastic and you want to be there.

As far as breast implants, nose jobs, etc. go, if it bothers me then I would fix it. Anything that impacts a persons self-confidence needs to be fixed. I would never advise someone to go get huge breasts if they wish to be taken seriously in a business environment. But if your goal is to go from flat to curvy what's wrong with that?

I thought I was just being vain until I read this great book on professional image. The name is "You've Only Got Three Seconds" by Camille Lavington. Even if you do not aspire to being a CEO, doctor, lawyer etc. You need to take care of your image and if plastic surgery is needed then it just is. The book addresses this and more.

Go for it!

I had obsessd about getting breast implants since I was 16 years old. I am six feet tall, and had "A" cup breasts. After nursing a baby for 16 months, that "A" cup completely deflated. I finally got my surgery, and have been a "D" cup for 8 years now. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made! It was expensive, and excrutiatingly painful, but I would do it again and again if given the chance.

I've lost 145lbs in the last 4 years. Once I reached my current weight, my breasts were non-existant empty flesh sacks so I got implants. The implants help me feel better about myself. I'm glad I had the surgery and feel inspired to keep the weight off.

Jan said:
I still wish it resembled my bigger, original nose[...]

Dr.J said:
[...]Sure, I felt his accident gave him a cheap rhinoplasty, but of course, what felt most normal to him was what really mattered, and I learned a good lession that night about what was really important.

That is why I think the whole plastic surgery experience is a bit surreal. Before this, I used to think I'd get a face lift if I got older, but if something like this still makes it feel like someone else's face so many years later, imagine suddenly looking 10 years or 15 years younger. It would feel too bizarre.

Society is wrong.
you know it.
so why bother with plastic surgery if you know nothing is actually WRONG with you?
maury makes money off of the mistakes of surgeons with his "freak" show plastic surgery nighmare series.

What's everyone's deal here!?

hermajestyposh said:
I would have cosmetic surgery one day. When I am done having 3 kids, I wanna have my breasts lifted and made smaller, probably a tummy tuck and liposuction if I did not lose the weight. I wanna be a yummy mummy. Yes its vain but we live in a world where looks are everything and a bonus, my husband would find me sexy again and not have to go and loo[...]

meme said:
why bother with plastic surgery if you know nothing is actually WRONG with you?[...]

Yeah, I guess I was lucky with my weight loss...I have no real excess skin issues. I was only 19 when I started losing weight and I lost it quite slowly, plus I worked out a lot to make sure I didn't get too "floppy". I could see having surgery if I had a lot of excess skin on my abs or butt, but I think some surgeries (like teenagers wanting nose jobs or that sort of thing) are kind of ridiculous.

If you don't like your body the way it is, you'll probably never like it, even if you DO have surgery...you'll just find some other feature you want to tweak.

Spectra, your overall loss was around 50lb or 40lb wasn't it? That helps too. It seems once you break the 100lb mark, things are different. I have little loose skin compared to friends who crash dieted or had WLS, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any. I can definitely pinch an inch of skin on my thighs, knees, arms, and a couple inches on my stomach, with no effort. I'm also sure as I age, it will only become more and more skin there.

I'd call this type of surgery, like Lasik, plastic surgery but not cosmetic surgery. It is just reconstructing someone back to normal, not altering their appearance, like bigger boobs or bigger lips or a nose job.

That's interesting Jan. I often tell patients that their surgery will give them the appearance that they would have had if they had grown normally. Even with the more cosmetic procedures, I stress the functional aspects over the 'improved' looks. Studies have shown that people are much less satisfied with the results if it's solely for cosmetic reasons.

Jan--I went from 190 to 110ish, so around 80 lbs. But it took me a long time to get from 140 to 110...perhaps my skin adjusted during that time?

I just know that a if I had a big wad of skin hanging from my belly preventing me from doing stuff, I'd probably want it gone. That's probably a big reason people who get breast reductions are a lot happier with their results than a lot of other operations.

Is it weird that the main reason I would never have any type of cosmetic surgery is the recovery time?

I hate my nose. I would never have it done however, even if it was free... because how am I supposed to run after a nose job?
(Although, I wouldn't mind Lasik-- and there's scar removal for some very prominant scars I would have done, too--- The lasik because I have no peripheal vision in my glasses and sometimes my eyes are too dry to put in contacts; the scar removal because the scars aren't natural-- and reminders of an abusive relationship.)

And I'm not sure why-- but weight loss surgeries annoy me more than other cosmetic surgery. Perhaps because I can't magically make my nose better, but I can lose weight.

I would never go under anesthesia unless my life depended on it!

Oh, and Lasik is not cosmetic surgery. People who don't have vision problems will never understand this.

Spectra said:
Jan--I went from 190 to 110ish, so around 80 lbs. But it took me a long time to get from 140 to 110...perhaps my skin adjusted during that time?[...]

And you were pretty young too, so I'm sure that helped as well. I wasn't that old myself, but there seems to be a big difference in terms of skin between 19 and 25 already.

i wish i could have lipo-suction in my arms and between my thighs. the widest part of my arm has a circumferance of 11 inches exactly and no matter how much i try i cant seem to get them smaller or even have the compostion of the darn things changed (please no lectures on spot reduction i know that dosent work- thus my want of lipo)
as for my thighs- hypothetically while im under i might as well =)

Wow... over the past 2 years I went from wimpy 10.5 inch arms (biceps) to 12 inches now and I wouldn't mind getting them even bigger!

I've just had a rhinoplasty. My one regret: that I have had to wait till now to do it!

I had a bust reduction when I was 17. It was during the "burn your bra" era and I was too embarrassed to go braless. They were lifted 3 inches by the surgery!

I have since had 2 children and gained weight and I'm now a 42DD - hate to think what they would look like if I hadn't had it done.

Have I? Yes - it was the WORST thing I ever did. I was ridiculed by family and friends growing up because I was 5'4" about 100 lb and wore an AA cup bra. I was called "cupcakes" and people always said I had "no boobs." Guys laughed at me (but I always had plenty of dates, so some guys must like small chests!). I stupidly had breast implants at age 26 to go from an AA to a D. Now I feel and look horrible, people stare at my chest all the time. It's the worst thing I've ever done to myself and I wish these "boobs" were back in hell from whence they came. I am ashamed to wear t-shirts and wear sack-like shirts 2 sizes too big to hide them. I am going to try and get them reduced or removed when I get the money! So anyone thinking of plastic surgery - beware! Be sure it's what YOU really want and you're not doing it to please others.