A news report this week concerns a Korean woman aged 48 who for twenty years has been having cosmetic surgery procedures. She moved to Japan so she could have more but eventually surgeons drew the line and would not give her more.

At that point she returned to Korea where her family didn’t recognize her, so much had her face been changed. Her parents saw that she was addicted to cosmetic surgery and took her to a doctor for addiction treatment. Whatever was tried did not last very long and she found a cosmetic surgeon who gave her silicone injections.

He went so far as to also give her a syringe and a supply of silicone so she could do her own injections. After her silicone supply was used up, she began to inject cooking oil into her face. This swelled her face up so large in comparison to her petite body that local children apparently came up with the nickname for her: “standing fan”.

She was featured on Korean television and compassionate viewers sent donations in to pay for some face reduction procedures. She then had several such operations, the first of which released 60 grams of oil from her face and 200 grams from her neck.

Now her face is so disfigured and scarred that she is saying she would like her old face back.

How Not to Approach Cosmetic Surgery

This story illustrates dramatically the misuse of cosmetic surgery. When Dr. Rai first meets with a new patient, he makes an assessment as to their candidacy for the procedure(s) they are interested in. Part of being a good candidate is having realistic expectations. No cosmetic surgery, invasive or non-invasive, can make you into a different person. A certain amount of self-acceptance is part of being realistic.

Another element of good candidacy is understanding the risks of any given procedure. No reputable cosmetic surgeon should ever hand equipment over to an out-of-control patient and allow them to do self-treatments.

If you have an interest in any of the procedures we offer, such as facial fillers, treatment for a turkey neck, or breast augmentation and would like to know more about them, please contact our cosmetic surgery office to schedule a personal consultation.