YouWish

It has become difficult, recently, to read through any of the Sunday papers without there being an article about cosmetic surgery.  Whether it’s a story about a procedure nearly killing someone, or someone else relating how it completely turned their life around, or speculation on which public figures have or haven’t had something done to them, there is always something.  Whether it’s Katie Price, Kerry Katona, Ulrika Jonsson or Kylie, they’ve all been there and the press have been keen to comment.

But considering how long it’s been around, I find it surprising that there is still this need to treat it as a matter for debate.  Whether we want it ourselves or not, there are not only plenty of people out there willing to pay for it, but some extremely talented surgeons out there who can do the job well.

Is cosmetic surgery all about vanity?  In the case of some of the celebs- Cher being the most obvious – vanity must be a huge motivator.  While she may have a point about not yet wanting to retire and being forced into it were she to allow herself to look her real age, her recent efforts have been quite extreme.

The majority of cosmetic surgery in the UK, however, is not performed on celebrities.  At one end of the scale there is the removal of minor blemishes that made people self-conscious.  On the other end of the scale you get people having a combined breast reduction and tummy tuck.  In between there are boob jobs, Botox, face lifts, ribbon lifts, eye bag removal and lid lifts, liposuction, fillers, collagen injections and doubtless many more.

Should we really still be demonising cosmetic surgery?  I believe it’s time to wake up and accept what’s happening.  Men and women are going to continue to have the procedures, so surely it’s more important now to make sure that they can do so safely?  In the same way as Society finally ackowledged the existence of pre-marital sex and gave people condoms, is it not time to work out a way to help people find the right practitioner and find a way of eliminating the less scrupulous from the profession?

We do get wishes on YouWish from people who are looking for cosmetic surgery.  They’re coming here, for the most part, because it can be hard to work out who’s good, who’s bad, what’s a reasonable price and is there anyone someone could recommend.  Simple stuff, really, but because of the generally polarized views on the subject they can’t find clear, unbiased information to help them make a choice.  At times like these you realise that, whatever your reason for creating a tool and letting it loose on the public, it can – and occasionally will – take on a life of its own.  As a result of the wishes, we’ve attracted some truly professional providers.  Let’s hope it’s the start of someone more beautiful to themselves.