Should Cosmetic Surgery Be Banned?

Cosmetic surgery in this day and age has a very broad spectrum. From nose jobs to sex changes, cosmetic surgery has many applications and has found a niche in most societies as a necessity to some and a taboo to others. Cosmetic surgery has helped people who have had accidents as well as helped many boost their self-esteem. However, it has also caused misinformed decisions and even death. I feel that although cosmetic surgery has its downfalls, it ultimately does more than enough good to compensate its negativity.

Advancements in the field of science, particularly cosmetic surgery has helped tens of thousands across the globe regain their self confidence. Many burn victims require skin grafting in order to repair their skin, allowing it to look close to or just like its original state. If cosmetic surgery was banned, these victims of shock events would have to suffer the remaining of their lives looking different. Thus, cosmetic surgery can help them regain their self esteem. In Pakistan where honour killings are witnessed, a 32 year old lady was victimized by her husband and branded as having a bad character. She was then tied up, and had her eyes, nose and ears cut out. Somehow, she survived and managed to escape from her husband. However, the damage was done and she never looked the same again. She lost her self confidence and refused to go out of her house. However, with cosmetic surgery in the united states, she regained her confidence with an artificial nose, eyes and ears. Thus, we can see that the benefits of cosmetic surgery is far reaching and it should not be banned.

However, many cosmetic surgeries, when conducted by inexperienced doctors, can lead to a misinformed decision. This is largely seen with young teenagers who are greatly affected by what they see in the media. They believe that the Barbie standard is the perfect road to looking good. Thus, they undergo unnecessary cosmetic surgeries, sometimes resulting in regret. In 2003, there were over 300,000 teenage cosmetic surgeries in the US. Of these, it was estimated that fifteen percent was due to misinformed decisions. Thus, we can see that in fact, cosmetic surgery should be banned because many teenagers are unaware of the risks and the outcome of the surgeries. Thus, a ban on teenagers of 18 and below should be put into place.

However, by banning cosmetic surgery, we can expect that all the professionals around the world will lose business. All their talent and effort in setting up clinics would go to waste. Millions of dollars will go down the drain in terms of revenue lost. In all, there were 11.7 million procedures done in the US in 2007. Thus, we can see the magnitude of the market. In addition, if cosmetic surgery was banned, we can expect the black market to suffice. This would encourage more misinformed and unprofessional procedures to be done, resulting in accidents and even death.

Cosmetic surgery has proven a killer. In 2008, Stephanie Kuleba, a girl who had it all, wanted to go for an unnecessary breast surgery. This morale booster resulted in her death after complications. It is estimated that 1 in 1000 cosmetic surgeries in the United states results in complications that lead to permanent damage. Thus, we can see that in fact, cosmetic surgery is not as safe as most people believe it to be. If unnecessary cosmetic surgery was indeed banned, many lives would be saved.

In conclusion, although cosmetic surgery has caused deaths and misinformed decisions that resulted in regret, we can expect that it has helped more people than not. People who have been victims of fire, and brutal disfiguration stand to gain a lot from cosmetic surgery. Also, the revenue generated can effectively used to save more lives than are lost from cosmetic surgery. Thus, cosmetic surgery should not be banned, at least not from the general public. It is possible however, to ban teenagers, those 18 and below from unnecessary cosmetic surgery.