Plastic Surgery and the Dangers

A 2004 study published in the official medical journal of the ASPS, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, found that deaths occurring at office-based surgery facilities are rare-less than ¼ percent. More than 400,000 operative procedures in accredited office-based outpatient surgery centers were studied from 2000-2002. Serious complications were infrequent, occurring 1 in 298 cases or 0.34 percent with death occurring 1 in 51,459 cases or 0.0019 percent, which is comparable to the overall risk of such procedures performed in hospital surgery facilities.

According to the ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons), one in every 54,459 plastic surgeries results in the death of the patient. With more than 10 million procedures performed annually, doing the math implies that each year, in the US alone, more than 180 patients opting for elective plastic surgery die as a direct result of the operation.

Cosmetic surgery in general is frowned upon in certain ethnic communities. For example, changing the facial features is not something that is often sought after in the African American communities because some may see this as a person wanting to act or be white. For some cultures, changing inherited features can be an insult to your ancestors. But plastic surgery is growing nonetheless.

Tummy tucks, liposuction, face lifts, breast augmentations and butt augmentations are some of the more popular procedures. These surgeries are ways to maintain youth or turn back the clock and not erase heritage. African Americans account for about 5% of all the cosmetic surgeries per year. There seems to be trends in what white women versus black women want touch ups on. Caucasian women opt for a nose jobs, eye brow lifts, lip augmentation while African American women choose the tummy tuck, breast reduction and liposuction. The reason it seems that Caucasian women have more work done on their faces is that African American women seem to age more slowly regarding their facial skin....