A recent study indicates that random onlookers may think patients, who undergo cosmetic procedures are more healthy, attractive and eventually more successful.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported more than 220,000 nose shaping procedures, known as rhinoplasty had been done in the U.S. in 2016. This marks an increase of 2 percent from the previous year, 2015. The nose job procedures are as popular as liposuction among people.
Dr. Lisa Ishii, a plastic surgeon and associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore studied how random onlookers perceive people after rhinoplasty.” She added that people seek rhinoplasty to improve their self-perception.
The researchers appointed 473 people online to analyze the looks of 13 rhinoplasty patients. The participants aged between 18 to 75 years. Majority of the participants were highly educated White females.
They were shown the patients’ photos taken before the procedure and about 6 months after the procedure. The participants were also not made aware of “before” and “after” images. The researchers didn’t allow the observers to see more than one photo of each patient.
The rhinoplasty patients were mostly females with an average age of 34 years. Most females had visible nose problems and wished to appear better after the procedure.
Her team asked the online observers to rate the patients in terms of health, success level and attractiveness simply by looking at their photographs.
Considering the standard scale of 1 to 100, the average rating of patient’s attractiveness observed a rise of 14 points after surgery. Whereas, the ratings of success increased by 9 points and that of health increased by 10 points. Ishii considered the increase in average rating as significant and realized the positive impact of nose jobs on the patients. She believes that more attractive people tend to be more successful. It’s upon the patients to decide if they considered the procedures worthy of them.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Clinton Humphrey, associate professor, University of Kansas Health System commented that the study included the patients, whose results were considered to be “ideal” by the surgeons. He further added that rhinoplasty is one of the most challenging surgical procedures, and people should not think that rhinoplasty can make them attractive, healthier and more successful. However, he feels elated about the opportunity that comes to him, which leaves a positive impact on patients’ life after every successful rhinoplasty procedure performed by him.