Know This Before Going Under The KnifeBy Kim Droze, Special to LifeScriptThursday, July 26, 2007
When it comes to plastic surgery, many of us tend to be overzealous. At the first sight of a wrinkle or a cellulite pocket, we rush out to correct the problem faster than you can say "nip/tuck." Unfortunately, we often tend to be a little naïve about how serious surgery really is. We opt for a quick fix and either choose the wrong procedures or put our looks – and our lives – in the hands of the wrong people. Renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Arthur Perry has seen it happen many times. Now he's sharing his expert advice on what you need to know before you go under the knife in his book Straight Talk About Cosmetic Surgery (Yale University Press, 2007)…
Last year an estimated 11 million people underwent cosmetic plastic surgery, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgery. The most popular procedures were breast augmentation (329,000), nose reshaping (307,000), liposuction (303,000), eyelid surgery (233,000), and tummy tuck (146,000).
While the overall number of surgical procedures edged up only 2% from the previous year, minimally invasive procedures such as Botox (4.1 million), chemical peel (1.1 million), laser hair removal (887,000), microdermabrasion (817,000), and hyaluronic acid fillers (778,000) skyrocketed.