Plastic surgery: the boon of civilization?

Plastic surgery seems to be gaining ground in Greece, at the rate of some 10,000 operations a year. Sure, the number seems small, but in a country of 10 million people with a median income that is pretty damned low, it is a high number.

Yiannis Litras, the president of the European Academy of Plastic Surgery, told a conference in Athens yesterday that most operations in Greece are done to the nose, followed by changes made to the breasts. The third most popular area is the gluteus muscles.

I can understand, to some extent, "getting your nose done" if it is really out of control. But I highly doubt most of the people who had rhinoplasty had really horrible noses. I can understand breast implants if you had a mastectomy, but not for any other reason. And honestly, I'm not really sure I want to know what is being to the gluteus muscles.

There is a well known male (the guy on the right) in the entertainment business here who supposedly had a great deal of plastic surgery done. Like everyone else in the world who has had tons of plastic surgery done, he looks weird, not attractive, or young, or whatever the end goal was. I honestly can't believe he looks in the mirror and thinks he looks normal. But then again, our minds can do strange things to convince us that we are right.

I don't like plastic surgery, except where it improves deformities caused by birth defects, injuries, illnesses, what have you. I think it is a really wonderful thing in those cases. But I am not sure it is meant to be a cure for our vanity ills - and yes, I have discussed all this before, so I will step down from the soap box.

Ironically, Greece is also seeing a boost in patients seeking psychiatric help (good thing my husband picked psychiatry as his speciality!). Maybe somehow all this head shrinking can convince people they don't need plastic surgery. I doubt it though, as it seems people all over the world have been forever seeking a fountain of youth. Too bad they haven't found it yet.