Touch-ups, Rejuvenation, Re-dos and Revisions: Remote Communication and Cosmetic Surgery on the Rise

• Published in: Aesthetic plastic surgery Vol. 45; no. 6; pp. 3078 - 3080
• Main Authors: Padley, Roxanne H., Di Pace, Bruno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-12-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Communication; Cosmetic surgery; Humans; Letter to the Editor; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Otorhinolaryngology; Plastic Surgery; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures; Rejuvenation; Self image; Surgery, Plastic; Teleconsultations; Lockdown face; Psychological impact; Cosmetic surgery; Zoom boom; Rejuvenation
• ISSN: 0364-216X; 1432-5241
• DOI: 10.1007/s00266-021-02235-1

The way in which communication takes place has undergone significant change over the last year leading to alterations regarding the way we perceive our own personal image. Indeed, the increase in remote video interaction seems to have led to an increase in the number of requests for teleconsultations with plastic surgeons in private practice (70% in the UK and 64% in the USA), the so-called Zoom Boom. The reasons connected to this increase are still under investigation, but it is likely that patients’ greater exposure to seeing their own image in online video communication for prolonged periods has highlighted what patients perceive as flaws and/or their self-image does not correspond to the same image that they see in the mirror. However, the motivations for seeking cosmetic surgery cannot be solely attributed to seeing ourselves online more frequently; the psychological impact of the pandemic (lower moods, isolation and greater concerns) may also be to blame. Therefore, the reasons patients hope to touch-up, rejuvenate, re-do or revise their “lockdown faces” need careful attention with a view to understand the extent of which the online distortion of one’s own body image may be the underlying cause.
Level of Evidence V
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