Google, garden but no surgery, thanks

THE occasional nip and tuck is gaining acceptance around the world but for Australian retirees plastic surgery is not a priority.
An Axa Retirement Scope survey covering 16 countries found Australian retirees were "less positive" about a surgical makeover compared with working Australians.
Behavioural scientist Dr Stephen Juan said the research showed that there was a greater acceptance of plastic surgery among those still working but Australian retirees were less positive.
"Retirees still see plastic surgery as being in the domain of the rich and famous but for working Australians, perhaps greater life expectancies dictate that maintaining one’s looks is becoming accepted as a viable option," Dr Juan said.
While retired Australians may be shying away from complete makeovers, they have embraced new technology and prefer to Google than garden.

Pursuit of beauty requires homework

The pursuit of beauty can have beastly consequences for consumers who don't do their homework. Dr. Alastair Carruthers, cosmetic dermasurgeon and president of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, has had patients arrive in his Vancouver office after a range of botched treatments, from the victim of an incompetent laser treatment who ended up with zebra-like stripes, to another who lost one lower eyelid and partially lost the other. Considering some of the other horror stories, they were the fortunate ones. There are the four people in Florida who landed up in hospital, paralysed and on respirators after being injected with an unapproved botulism toxin more than 200 times stronger than the Botox injections used to smooth out wrinkles. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery has issued a warning to consumers after reports of pain and disfigurement from procedures being performed by unlicensed practitioners and the tragic case of a woman who died after being injected with cooking oil in a California beauty salon.

Is Cosmetic Surgery Right For You? New Patient Education Campaign ...

Today men and women from virtually all walks of life are turning to cosmetic surgery as a way to bring their personal visions of beauty to life. But, with so much information out there, how do they know what's best for them? To help navigate their personal way to beauty, the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS) launched Be Wise About Beauty - an integrated, multi-faceted campaign dedicated to arming patients with the facts about cosmetic surgery, patient safety and qualified practitioners so that they can make informed decisions about cosmetic enhancement.

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'Ugly Betty' vs. Cinderella

As regular readers of this column know, I love to point out how the media portrays an image of women that most real women can never achieve, try as they might.
In recent years, this trend reached ridiculous heights, with the avalanche of "makeover" and plastic surgery shows, in which women went under the knife to become as slender and youthful looking as possible.
I almost tossed my cookies watching a few minutes of Fox's "The Swan," a show in which so-called "ugly ducklings" went on starvation diets and sustained several painful surgeries, so they could compete with one another to become "The Ultimate Swan."
But now, ABC executives are pulling muscles patting themselves on the back as their new hit show "Ugly Betty" actually is making an effort to raise the self esteem of young women all over the country.

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