The ethics surrounding plastic surgery are very controversial. There are those who believe it is largely harmless and beneficial, and then there are those who believe it is completely unnatural. Viewpoints on plastic surgery range so widely for a number of reasons. Plastic surgery is a relatively new procedure. There are those who feel that surgeries should be reserved for people who require them for health reasons, not beauty reasons. People of this mindset usually feel that plastic surgery is a frivolous uses of a surgeon’s expertise and an individual’s money, as well as a way of trying to control nature. Others think that people should be free to alter their appearances however they want to, so long as the means to do it safely are available. People are free to their opinions, but there are several considerations to make in order to determine if a particular plastic surgery procedure is ethical.
- What is the scale of the procedure? If someone wants to commit to a plastic surgery procedure that is so large scale that they would hardly be identifiable afterward, this raises ethical red flags. Plastic surgery is most tasteful when it is minor and subtle, and most likely to go wrong when it is major and obvious.
- Has previous work been done? Someone who has never had plastic surgery before or who has had very little plastic surgery is more likely to be conservative in their decision making. But someone who is routinely having work done could be abusing the option of plastic surgery.
- Is the individual mentally healthy enough? Believe it or not, plastic surgery can turn into a legitimate addiction. People have become addicted to plastic surgery to the extent of morphing their appearances into very disturbing altered states. A person who has become this carried away should be intervened upon and strongly encouraged to quit plastic surgery. Anyone struggling with this problem should be referred to addiction counseling Beverly Hills.