As society in general continues to move towards a more digital landscape, sharing and posting photos, videos, and information on social media continues to grow. Younger generations are using social media and the internet for things that the older generations could never have imagined. It’s truly amazing that most people have a device in their pockets, with them at all times, that can answer any question they may have, at any time.

With large social networks taking over the internet, and the spread of information becoming easy, and sometimes dangerous, it’s interesting to look to the future to see where we’re headed.

Today, most people use social media to keep in touch with friends and family members, to post photos and videos focusing on what they are doing, and even using these platforms to look for future life partners. Things that would have gotten you strange looks in the infancy of the internet are now the lifeblood of what the internet is.

It’s amazing and scary at the same time.

As we’ve seen all over the world as of late, information can spread extremely fast on social networks and it’s hard for some people to understand what is real and what is exaggerated or fake. We’ve seen this in the current political landscape as well as in the medical field.

Social media is a great tool to use as individuals and as businesses, but where do we draw the line? What sort of things should we be posting and what things should we reserve for private conversations?

There’s a fine line between truth and misinformation these days, as well as restraint when it comes to publishing certain things.

With that being said, more and more doctors and surgeons are moving into the social realm when it comes to communicating with patients and even trying to attract new patients.

Should Surgical Procedures Be Lived Streamed on Social Media?

Live streaming is becoming more and more popular as technology advances and people are looking for more ways to interact with people. Having the ability to share an experience with your followers or fans on social media brings are more personal touch to the idea of online interaction. But where do we draw the line?

There are many plastic surgeons in the country that broadcast their surgical procedures live on their social media channels for anyone to watch. This could be anything from a simple procedure all the way up to extensive surgery, but one fact remains, it’s not for everyone.

As a patient, would you find that watching a surgeon perform a procedure live would help you make a decision about whether or not to use that doctor, or to undergo that procedure for yourself?

As a doctor, are you comfortable enough, and trust yourself enough, to put yourself and your work out there for the world to see?

As doctors ourselves, we would hope that anyone live streaming their procedures would be highly skilled and highly capable of performing the surgeries to the best of their ability. We hope that all their techniques and the way they handle themselves, are conducive to the best results for the patient.

Surgical procedures can sometimes be more intense than a lot of people realize, but doctors understand what they can and cannot do to a patient in order to achieve the best results with the least amount of side effects. There are also challenges that can arise during surgery that may not be suitable to show viewers on social media.

In certain cases we can see why it would be important to broadcast a surgery across the internet, but live streaming every surgery, or random surgeries, has a lot of risk involved. We don’t recommend always live streaming surgical procedures unless they are intended for private training viewers. The public doesn’t always understand what goes into surgeries and it could land you in hot water with the patient and could even be used in court if something were to go wrong.

Social Media and Plastic Surgery

Social media is a great way to attract potential patients and to show off your work, but we recommend sticking to photos and pre-recorded videos as opposed to live demonstrations. While we don’t condone editing or manipulating the images and videos that you show on your website, there’s so much that can go wrong, or be misconstrued, in a live video when compared to picking and choosing what shows up on your website and social channels.

If you’re looking for other ways to engage your followers, or possible future patients, live streaming does have its pros though. Answering questions from people live, or talking about different procedures using images and diagrams, is a great way to utilize live streaming without having to show the actual surgery.

Finding new and innovative ways to use social media in the medical setting can help set you apart from other doctors, but live streaming surgical procedures can open you up to a lot of the negative aspects of the internet, which may have the opposite effect you’re trying to accomplish.

As plastic surgery becomes more commonplace and accepted within the ranks of society, there’s one group that has embraced it more than any other, millennials.

The number of millennials opting for plastic surgery recently continues to grow and outpace those of the generation 56 years and older, and it may surprise you as to what procedure millennials are requesting most often.

As we’ve discussed previously on our site, during the stay-at-home orders over the last couple years, because of COVID, more and more office workers have been forced to work from remote locations rather than go into an office. Because of these virtual interactions, workers have been forced to look at their own faces on their computer screen more often than normal.

Seeing your face in the mirror in the morning is one thing, but a lot of folks were forced to look at themselves for hours on end while attending these virtual meetings which has led to a shift in the age groups looking towards facial plastic surgery.

Rhinoplasty Is the Most Popular Plastic Surgery for People Under 34

Not breast augmentation and not liposuction, the most popular plastic surgery procedure for millennials under 34 is rhinoplasty (nose job).

Rhinoplasty is extremely common across all age groups, but the millennials have embraced it more than any other age group over the last few years.

There are a couple of reasons for this, one which we talked about above. With all of the ZOOM calls and video conferencing that people have had to do as the corporate landscape shifts towards remote work has forced people to look at themselves more often.

One of the other reasons that rhinoplasty is more popular amongst the 35 and under crowd is because the older age groups have begun to focus on more age-related forms of plastic surgery and non-surgical enhancements.

Rhinoplasty typically isn’t a procedure you have done to help with the anti-aging process. It’s not designed to get rid of wrinkles or to help your face appear more youthful, it’s designed to help reshape the nose and help with insecurities that the patient many feel about their nose. In some circumstances there are health conditions that can also be alleviated with a rhinoplasty procedure, but in general, this procedure is not used to help with anti-aging.

Anti-Aging Procedures

As patients get older their focus tends to change from correcting the features they were born with to trying to maintain the look they had when they were younger. The top procedures for women, overall, in 2021, were neurotoxins, fillers, and then rhinoplasty, while for men it was rhinoplasty, neurotoxins, and blepharoplasty. Hair transplants have also been gaining popularity over the last couple years amongst men.

Non-surgical procedures continue to gain popularity over traditional plastic surgery in a lot of areas as the technology proves to have great results. There are even non-surgical fillers that can help change the appearance of your nose in similar ways to what a rhinoplasty can do.

The problem with using fillers as a substitute for a rhinoplasty is that fillers are not permanent and can’t do all of the necessary reshaping that may be needed with some patients. Fillers will be absorbed by the body over time and will require follow-up/touch-up appointments to maintain the desired look.

A rhinoplasty is a permanent procedure that will help reshape and rebuild your nose to help create the look you want. They can be used in everything from shaving down bumps in the nose to changing the shape of the tip of the nose. These are things that fillers cannot accurately do without some sort of surgical intervention.

Plastic Surgery

Age is just a number when it comes to plastic surgery. Yes, there are some procedures that become riskier as you get older, but the overall goal of plastic surgery is to help you look and feel your best. Whether that means looking younger or just enhancing some of your lesser liked features, plastic surgery doesn’t care what age you are.

Just because millennials are having more nose jobs these days doesn’t mean that the over 40 group isn’t, it just means that the popularity of certain procedures is appealing to a younger generation. If you’re thinking about having plastic surgery and have questions, or would like to setup a consultation, contact us today at Dr. Adams Plastic Surgery. We’re here to help guide you in the process and ensure that you get the best care possible.

Plastic surgery numbers continue to grow year over year as technology advances, results become more natural looking, and pricing becomes a bit more affordable. The number of plastic surgery procedures available for patients is also growing. We’ve discovered different ways to perform the surgeries, which allow for less downtime and healing, as well as non-surgical procedures that can sometimes provide great results without having to go under the knife.

In general, women are more likely to seek out and undergo plastic surgery than men, but that doesn’t mean men aren’t looking for surgical options to enhance their appearance or help boost their self-esteem.

In 2019 92% of all cosmetic procedures were performed on women while only 8% were performed on men. This goes to show you just how many more women are having plastic surgery procedures when compared to men, but the number of men undergoing cosmetic procedures has been growing over the years.

Let’s take a look at just some of the plastic surgery procedures that men are having done as we move into the summer months.

Male Plastic Surgery

Even though the male and female body are different, it may surprise you to know that most males are seeking out plastic surgery that is very similar to what women are looking for. Men are focusing on their face and necks as well as recontouring of their body. This includes things like male breast reduction, liposuction and tummy tucks as well as brow and neck lifts as well as wrinkle reduction.

Brow Lift, Eyes, Face

The “zoom effect” has hit males just as much as it has hit females. Since everyone is sitting in front of their computers more often these days, and looking at themselves through their camera, they have noticed different imperfections that they don’t like in their face.

This has led to more men seeking out plastic surgery as well as non-surgical injectables to help rejuvenate their skin. This includes procedures like brow lifts, upper eye lifts and even liposuction around the cheeks and jawline.

There has also been an uptick in males receiving non-surgical injectables, like botox, to help smooth out their face and reduce wrinkles.

Neck Contouring

Going along with the facial surgery that males are undergoing, we’re also seeing a lot of males looking for neck contouring and rejuvenation. Sitting in front of that computer screen looking at yourself on video calls all the time has made people notice their jawlines and necks a lot more.

As you get older the skin in your neck begins to lose elasticity and starts to stretch out more than it did when you were younger. A lot of people feel that this is a trait that makes you look even older than you are, so a neck lift and/or neck contouring can help a great deal with this.

Tightening the skin in the neck can help give you a more pronounced jawline while also giving you a more youthful look. 

Skin Reduction/Tummy Tuck

With fitness and exercise becoming a huge part of a lot of people’s lives these days, more and more people are losing weight and getting into better shape. Losing weight can be an amazing feeling, but your body may not always look the way you want.

If you’ve lost a lot of weight then you might notice your skin hangs a little looser around your mid-section, which can be unsightly and embarrassing depending on how much skin is there. A lot of males these days are opting for skin reduction surgery to help eliminate this loose skin to help the appearance of their stomachs.

In addition to this, sometimes there’s just some stubborn fat that won’t disappear no matter how often you work out. In that case there are also tummy tucks available to help contour the mid-section to give you those abs you’ve always dreamed of.

Male Breast Reduction

And finally, while it may not seem like males are undergoing breast reduction surgery, you’d be surprised at how many of them are.

As you age your body begins to change and you may start to hold weight in different places than you did when you were younger. You may notice your breasts beginning to become a bit fattier than they once were.

Male breast reduction, or gynecomastia, is a great way to help reduce the amount of swelling in the breast area of males.

Plastic Surgery For Men

As plastic surgery becomes more accepted in society, and the results become more natural with updates in technology and procedures, more men are opting to have work done than ever before.

Plastic surgery is not just a female industry. If you are unhappy with something about your body, you deserve to look and feel good as well.

One of the best assets in our playbook, when it comes to plastic surgery, is the ability to show potential patients our book of before and after photos. These photos can give a patient a way to manage expectations as well as see the quality of work that we are presenting.

Unfortunately, while we love technology and its uses in the field of plastic surgery, it is now easier than ever for doctors or medical offices to manipulate those before and after photos to give the impression that their work is performing much better than is to be expected.

This is obviously a problem for a couple reasons. For one, it will set patient expectations to unreasonable levels which will only hurt you as a doctor when the patient is underwhelmed by the actual results. So, manipulating your before and after photos, or adding filters or camera tricks, to make them appear better will probably come back to haunt those doctors in the form of bad reviews or lack of referrals.

The other thing these manipulated photos are going to do is diminish your credibility. If your patient is smart enough to call you out on an altered after photo, then any trust you had gained with that patient is going to be immediately lost and you’re most likely going to lose a client before you even have one. And this can also cause you to lose possible referrals from this person in the future.

Therefore it’s extremely important that you ask your doctors questions, you look through their before and after photos and call out anything that you think may look suspicious, and you educate yourself on what to look for when it comes to photo manipulation.

In most cases manipulation of these before and after photos can be easily spotted if you know what you’re looking for.

What to Look for in Plastic Surgery Before and After Photos

Here are a few things to keep an eye out for when looking at plastic surgery before and after photos. These tips will help you to better identify if a photo has been manipulated or if they are trying to make the after photos look better than they would be in real life.

Lighting and Angles

One of the easiest tricks in photography is using lighting and angles, as well as lenses, to trick the viewers eye into seeing something in a way that isn’t exactly natural.

When looking at before and after photos you want to make sure that the images are as close to the same as possible. This means that the photos were taken with the same camera, from the same angle, and under the same lighting conditions.

There are many times where you’ll see a before photo that looks like it was shot with a 10-year-old cell phone camera, while the after photo was taken with professional lighting and a more professional stand-alone camera. Obviously the after picture is going to be cleaner, sharper, and brighter compared to the before photo, yet there was no computer manipulation done.

Now, not all plastic surgeons have access to the patients when trying to acquire after photos, so there may be some disparities between photos taken at the doctor’s office and ones taken by the patient at home, but in a lot of cases the after photos will be taken at the doctor’s office when the patients come in for follow-up appointments.

Lighting can also play a huge role in how photos look. With professional lighting directed at the patients face or body it can blow out any minor imperfections you may be able to see without professional lighting. It can help enhance features as well, which can make someone look totally different.

The angle in which the photo was taken will also play a role in how you perceive the before vs the after. Make sure the photos you are looking at are taken from as close to the original angle as possible. And, if you can, ask the doctor for multiple photos at different angles of the patient so you can compare.

When people think of photo manipulation a lot of people immediately jump to Photoshop, or some sort of computer program used to smooth out the skin or remove blemishes, but don’t forget that manipulation can happen outside of a computer as well.

Computer Manipulation and Filters

One of the biggest crazes these days is using filters to make yourself appear differently than in real life. Pretty much every photo app that you have on your phone has some way to smooth out skin and remove blemishes, so it’s important to know what to look for when looking at before and after photos.

Extremely smooth skin on the face and body with small little photo artifacts near the areas with more details, like the eyes and nose, are a sure sign that some sort of smoothing technique has been used.

Look for birthmarks, wrinkles, or other imperfections on the skin in the before pictures and try to match them up with the after photos. If you notice that a birthmark was very pronounced and sharp in the before picture, but doesn’t exist or is blurry in the after, then you can bet that some sort of filter or manipulation is going on.

Photo manipulation is just a part of our society these days, for better or worse, but the tactics that the media uses to make people look glamorous and flawless in magazines and online shouldn’t be used in the plastic surgeon’s office.

It’s almost like false advertising and it will eventually come back to hurt the surgeon that is manipulating their photos.

It’s important to find a reputable plastic surgeon that you can trust, and manipulating photos is a quick way to lose a person’s trust.

After looking through a surgeon’s book of before and after photos, ask if it would be possible to talk with a prior patient to get a firsthand take on what the surgeon is actually like. You can even seek out previous patients that may have left a review online and ask for their honest opinion.

Whatever you do, make sure that you look at multiple before and after photos, ask lots of questions, and try and verify as much information about the doctor as you can. Remember, most plastic surgery is permanent so you don’t want to have to undergo another procedure in order to fix an issue that a previous surgeon may have made.

If you have questions about plastic surgery, or would like to setup a consultation, please contact us today at Dr. Adams Plastic Surgery in Dallas, Texas. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding our procedures and/or Dr. Adams himself.

We pride ourselves on being upfront and truthful with all of our patients.