Plastic Surgery: Do The Risks Matter Or Are The Benefits More Important?

Cosmetic or aesthetic surgery, as the name suggests, is performed for aesthetic reasons. Although certain medical conditions might suggest the need for reconstructive plastic surgery, aesthetic plastic surgery is primarily carried out to alter and beautify features that the patient finds unappealing. While some people go in for aesthetic surgery to defy the signs of aging, others do so as they crave for a celebrity look.

Cosmetic surgery appears to be the most prevalent modern way of personal enhancement. Evidence of this lies in the fact that millions of aesthetic surgery procedures are performed worldwide on an annual basis. And the inherent risks hardly boggle a prospective patient, since the desire to improve appearance is rather unyielding.

Aesthetic surgery, like any other surgical procedure, has possible risks and complications. These may include, but are not limited to, infection, blood clots, bleeding, and reactions to anesthesia. However, such complications are a rarity, and can be further eliminated if the procedure is performed by an expert aesthetic plastic surgeon. Moreover, it is imperative that the patient heeds to the advice of the surgeon, on both pre-operative and post-operative care.

As increasing numbers of people line up for aesthetic surgery, a debate rages whether the procedure is worthy enough of the risks involved. People that hold a dissenting opinion argue that meddling with the natural aspects of beauty is not appropriate and, moreover, opting for a risky surgical procedure for mere beautification purposes is not justifiable. However, aesthetic plastic surgery continues to grow in popularity, as people seek to erase signs of aging, rare blemishes on skin, and beautify features that they find unattractive.

As long as the aesthetics govern our choices in a plethora of ways, the popularity of cosmetic surgery will never die down. With much safer and constantly emerging advanced technology equipment at cosmetic surgeons' disposal, there is no looking back for aesthetic surgery.

An alternative to the invasive procedures that plastic surgery often employs is the new medical area known as medical and aesthetic cosmetics.

What is medical cosmetics?

It's probably easier to start with what Medical Cosmetics is not. It is not beauty treatments administered by Beauticians and it is not Cosmetic Surgery. It is non-invasive medical procedures, delivered by qualified medical professionals such as doctors, nurses or dentists, that change and enhance the way people look. The most well known products and treatments are Botox, Dermal Fillers and Skin Peels.

How does the treatment work?

Over time, our skin creases in the areas where we use our facial muscles the most - if you frown a lot, you develop lines between your eyebrows, if you raise your eyebrows a lot you develop lines on your forehead.

Treatment temporarily inactivates the muscles, giving you time to break the habit of using them repeatedly and giving your skin time to recover.

The treatment only takes around 15 minutes and consists of a few tiny injections in the area to be treated.

Within two weeks, the wrinkles you were so used to seeing in the mirror will have started to fade or disappeared altogether.

For the first couple of years, frequent treatments (three monthly) are required to 're-educate' the facial muscles. Thereafter, treatments are less frequent until a yearly maintenance treatment is normally all that is required.


Visit the Advanced Rejuvination Clinic for botox in Glasgow, Scotland. Their sister clinic, Medics Direct, offer chemical peel training courses for doctors, nurses and dentists to provide medical cosmetic services to the general public.

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