Filters allow to enlarge eyes and smooth the skin for social networks. But more and more people want to replicate that aspect in reality.
The German otolaryngologist Werner Mang has been making the wishes of
beauty of his patients. The director of the Lake Constance Plastic Surgery Clinic, in the German city of Lindau, notes that, however, every time he is rejecting more young people who come to his practice.
“This morning I had another 13-year-old girl here who wanted to have Kylie Jenner’s nose,” says the 71-year-old plastic surgeon, famous for having operated on various celebrities. “This development is sick. Mark Zuckerberg has created monsters”, Asserts the specialist.
Why was the American tycoon to blame? It seems that social media and photographic filters are driving a new beauty craze among young people. German plastic surgeon Alexander Hilpert also thinks this development is dangerous: “Those who frequently send photos of themselves want to look better”, Asserts the 56-year-old doctor. “This has increased enormously in recent years, inquiries come to us daily,” he adds.
The German Society for Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery (DGÄPC) does not have reliable figures in this regard. In its 2020 annual statistics, the association only recorded the interventions that actually took place and the motivation for them, but not the rejected applications.
According to their data, only 2.3 percent of patients submitted digitally edited photos of themselves as a beauty goal, which is 11.7 percent less than the previous year.
“The statistics are due to the coronavirus pandemic,” Hilpert objects. “I’m sure the requests will increase again,” he says. After all, he continues, During the pandemic, young people are immersed in the digital world more than before. “There they only see embellished and retouched models”, Hilpert points out. “And when they imitate TikTok dances, they want to look like what they see.”
According to a study published late last year by a German media research association, in 2020 young people used Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and more more frequently than the previous year.
According to the report, the increase was more pronounced in the case of TikTok: the number of youth who reported using the app at least several times a week increased by 19 percent. The app is especially popular with young people from 12 to 15 years old.
Mang and Hilpert stress that they do not accept requests from young people who want to look like the models they see there or their own filtered selfies. “But it is clear that then they leave and try elsewhere,” says Mang. “Unfortunately, they often come back when the damage is done“, Add. For this reason, Mang calls for stricter criteria in the training of plastic and cosmetic surgeons.
“There is a lot of lack of control,” he warns. “There are doctors who operate on a nose without ever having done it before.” Therefore, he advises that, when looking for a specialist, pay greater attention to the title “plastic surgery” or “plastic operations”.
Alexander Hilpert explains that there are many specialists from other fields who make extra money from cosmetic surgery, and are allowed to call themselves cosmetic surgeons because this is not a protected professional title.
“Even alternative doctors are allowed by law to inject collagens against wrinkles – training can be done online,” says Hilpert. “For this, however, you have to know a lot about anatomy to avoid damaging important blood vessels, for example ”, warns the surgeon.
In an attempt to prevent your young patients from turning to unqualified providers, Hilpert simply advises them to come back a few years later.: “I also promise you a small discount.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, more and more adults are also seeing themselves on their own screens every day: video conferencing has become part of the daily lives of many people who work from home. According to DGÄPC, cosmetic surgery interventions in 2020 focused mainly on changes to the face.
“Many people see themselves in Zoom during the remote work imposed by the pandemic ”, explains Hilpert. “That’s why many come and say that they would like to have eyelid surgery,” he adds. The videoconferences show the age of the participants “without mercy”, emphasizes Werner Mang.
DGÄPC data indicate that this was also the case in the field of distance learning: 27 percent of the association’s members indicated that, In 2020, inquiries by teachers and school teachers were more frequent than usual.
The so-called “pope of beauty”, Werner Mang, is very reticent about this type of intervention. He has never been subjected to the scalpel, stresses this 71-year-old man: “I am proud of the bags under my eyes.” (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
