Heidi Montag, one of the cast members of the recently concluded hit reality show The Hills on MTV, became a phenomenon when at the age of 23 she went for a complete plastic overhaul, ten plastic surgeries including a G sized breast implant and became even unrecognisable to her own mother! Now, nine months after the change, she apparently says “I’m desperate to go back to normal, I’m downgrading and going a little smaller.”
She spoke in an interview to an international magazine. But that’s not just Hollywood, as the silicon craze gets bigger and a little nip, tuck and lift becomes the order of the day, peeps in town too often end up doing double takes on what are later termed as ‘plastic moments of insanity’.
Dr Lalit Chaudhary, senior plastic surgeon says that this behaviour is not uncommon and it is very difficult to satisfy people who already have an image created in their minds. “The procedure takes at least a month to settle down and prior to that surgical oedema (swelling) generally prevails in the treated area,” he shares.
While a heated moment of distorted body image might lead people to go opt for extreme procedures for change in their appearance, it’s friends and family who play the devil’s advocate later. Dr Pritam Pankaj, a dermatologist says that a lot of people fail to understand the side effects that might come with surgery. “The skin lifts show varied results as a person ages and people simply don’t understand that, one can’t get the same result at 35 and at 50!” he reveals. Perhaps no one understands better than Ramya Gulati*, about how public opinion can make a difference to your appearance. “I got a lip augmentation done as I thought my lips were too thin. But then, everyone started saying that it didn’t suit me, even though I liked it, so ultimately I had to go and get it reversed. It was a month and a half of mental torture,’ she shares with us.
* Name changed on request