Pain is all I felt after I got elbowed in the face during a wrestling match. My nose had broken pretty bad, but in hindsight, breaking my nose was lightwork compared to the surgery I had two years later.
I did not take the decision to get the surgery done lightly, but it ultimately was necessary due to my nose’s structural damage. Because I couldn’t quite breathe correctly, I was advised to get a reconstructive rhinoplasty—essentially a normal rhinoplasty, but covered by insurance because it was a necessity. After doing extensive research, visiting the best surgeon in my area, and watching almost every review and video on TikTok, I chose to go under the knife like so many other Americans. So, in the beginning of July, I got surgery.
I would not describe the recovery as necessarily painful—I was given a lot of drugs. However, it was incredibly uncomfortable.
Coming home from the surgery, I was out of it. The cast around my nose took up the entire middle portion of my face. I felt so weird I ended up just going straight home and falling asleep. However, I never got into a deep sleep because I had to wake up to take pills every few hours. The next day, I could not eat because I felt nauseous. My mouth and throat were incredibly dry. But the worst part was the swelling. By the two-day mark, my face had swollen to the point I could barely form words and open my eyes.
While I was going through all this pain, I could not help but wonder: who would choose to do this? Why would someone electively spend thousands of dollars to go through all this pain, when they could breathe just fine?
The answer? More than 1.1 million people who all got rhinoplasties in 2023, which is a whopping 26% increase in surgeries from the year prior. In fact, the number of cosmetic procedures as a whole has increased 19% since 2019. I blame social media.
Social media is an expert at making issues where there are none, especially when it comes to a woman’s appearance. In the past few years, women’s natural noses have been thrust into the spotlight and labeled as an “issue.” And with this new issue is a proposed solution: surgery. A “simple” fix that promises satisfaction. Yet, this is not the case for many who decide to go under the knife.
Almost 15% of rhinoplasties are second or third rhinoplasties, meaning a shocking amount of people continue to be unhappy with their noses after their first procedure and are compelled to get another in an attempt to achieve satisfactory results. This is a concerning statistic considering the complication rate for rhinoplasty is anywhere between 4 and 18%. Statistics vary, but it’s important to acknowledge that complications happen with any procedure where general anesthesia is used, but this is often brushed under the rug online.
No one would want to spend thousands of dollars and go through pain unless they were conditioned to feel less than perfect. As a young person, I have witnessed many people around me fall victim to the standards set by social media, especially young women. I know it will continue to make young girls feel insecure. Even after people get surgery they continue to feel inadequate because the social media standards for the “ideal body” are constantly changing. Unless you literally struggle to breathe, I do not think rhinoplasty surgery is worth it. Unless insurance will pay for it, the cost doesn’t outweigh the complications. Unless you feel no discomfort in the thought of someone knocking you out and slicing your face open, surgery is not worth it. The fix should not be surgery; it should be staying off social media and learning to love your body—not for what it looks like, but for the fact it keeps you alive.
To be clear, I have nothing against people who choose to have plastic surgery. Nor will I ever judge anyone for making that choice. I simply despise a culture that makes people (especially young women) think that they need to go under the knife and look a particular way. I also disagree with the popularization of taking such extreme solutions to insecurities. Because that’s what plastic surgery is: an extreme solution that is downplayed and sold to a young audience as an easy fix to their “imperfections.” And social media cannot convince me otherwise.
So please learn to love the little bump on your nose.
