Social media is great for a variety or reasons. It allows us to connect with friends and brands from a distance, and in a lot of ways, serves as a digital scrapbook to our lives. But there are some serious downsides and Snapchat Dysmorphia is the latest concerning trend in plastic surgery.
What is Snapchat Dysmorphia? You know when the camera opens up on you phone and it’s facing you but you’re not prepared? I don’t know about you, but it’s not a pretty view. I don’t really have a double chin in real life but I sure do when that camera opens! But by angling the camera right and applying almost any filter, you’re instantly a new woman (or man).
Many of these filters open up your eyes, give you glowing skin, and just make you look “prettier”, even if you have puppy ears going on as well. But let’s be honest, it isn’t real!
Teenagers are becoming more obsessed with the filtered images they are seeing day in and day out on social media platforms, such as Snapchat and Instagram. While they know these are filters, at the end of the day that’s what they want to look like in real life, minus the puppy ears.
Surgeons are giving this a name…’Snapchat Dyspmorphia’. Dr. Matthew Schculman tells The Sun:
“Everybody basically is using a filter on their own and they’re either taking that next step to bring it to me saying, ‘Hey, this is what I want to look like’.
“Not everyone is going that far, but in their head, that’s what they want to look like and then they’re coming to me and saying I want smoother skin, I want my eyes to be opened up, I want my lips to be fuller.
People are losing perspective on what it’s like to look normal. Not only are we comparing ourselves to models, but every day people on social media.
Here at Utah Facial Plastics, we are all about being the best version of yourself and if there’s an area on the face that makes you self-conscious or you’d like to enhance, we’re here to help. But with realistic expectations! Do not get caught up in what you see online. We see many beauty social media influencers in our office and while they are beautiful, they often come in with no makeup and do not look like they do in their photos and filtered stories.
Dr. Henstrom recently had a patient in with the following review, which is his favorite review of all time.
CONSULTATION REVIEW: NOT YOUR AVERAGE SUCCESS STORY
“I already posted this review under Utah Facial Plastics, but I want to post it here, too. Dr. Henstrom is an extraordinarily good doctor (and human being). I’ve been dealing with some severe body dysmorphia recently. I thought I had a pretty face a few years ago, but then I got into a bad relationship, and I also started spending a copious amount of time on social media. My ex compared me to one of his exes, and I compared myself to the seemingly perfect women I saw online. As time went on, I started to hate the way my face looked. I ended up spending countless hours researching plastic surgery. Yesterday, I bit the bullet and spoke to Dr. Henstrom. I sat down with him and explained my concerns, and when I was done speaking, he basically said, “You look great. I wouldn’t do anything to your face.” He said that he sees a lot of beautiful people every day, and he didn’t think there was anything wrong with me. I almost burst into tears in the chair. My biggest insecurity is my square face shape, and Dr. Henstrom explained why I shouldn’t feel bad about it. He said that certain face shapes go in and out of style, and mine would come back into style soon. Then we spent some time talking about the negative influence of social media and unhealthy relationships. My consultation ended up being more of a therapy session than anything. I actually did cry when I left the office. I’ve been carrying around the burden of feeling ugly for years, and I thought I would have to spend thousands of dollars to be attractive. Now I know better. I have the objective opinion of an expert in facial beauty. It’s crazy–I went to a “medical spa” once, and they said whatever they had to say to get me to buy things. Dr. Henstrom didn’t. He sacrificed a lot of money to give me the best experience possible, and I’m incredibly, incredibly grateful. I’m going to post positive reviews for this surgeon on every website possible”