Nose jobs and facial augmentation now the go-to plastic surgery of choice

Face adjustments have surpassed breast implants to become plastic surgeries of choice for Americans, data shows — and experts blame social media beauty filters.

Rhinoplasties, face lifts and eye lifts now account for about a third of all plastic surgeries in the US, with breast augmentations no longer the most popular surgery in America after its long run at the top.

A number of high-profile celebrities appear to have undergone serious facial changes, with many now sporting a shockingly similar look — including Kim Kardashian, Lara Pippen, and Chantel Jeffries.

Dr. Stefan Shuaib, a facial plastic surgeon from Dallas, Texas, told DailyMail.com that he sees up to 30 percent of his female patients come into his practice along with a photo of their faces that has been heavily Instagram-filtered, and he asks him to give them that look in real life.

Dr. Shuaib fears filters on Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, the proliferation of selfies and photo-based social media apps and work-from-home culture are changing the way people see themselves, leading to a new wave of facial dysmorphia.

“It’s a little disturbing when patients come in and have this body dysmorphic disorder and it was accentuated by Zoom and the filters,” Dr Shuaib said.

He explained that recent trends in the US have contributed to this growing body dysmorphia.

Zoom conversations helped [the increase] a lot,” said Dr. Shuaib.

“I think people looked at their noses a lot and they really didn’t like it. That’s why I see a lot of my patients.’

What the doctor is describing is a condition experts have described as “Zoom Dysmorphia.”

This phenomenon erupted during the Covid pandemic, when many Americans started working from home.

Meetings that used to be in-person were instead moved to Zoom, where many passed the time staring at themselves in the corner of their screen.

This led many to become unhappy with their appearance and seek cosmetic procedures.

Its predecessor – and possibly the source of all these problems – was Snapchat dysmorphia.

Similar to Zoom dysmorphia, the condition arose because people became unhappy with how they appeared in selfies, especially with their noses.

The number of plastic surgeries performed in the US rose 54 percent in 2021 compared to 2020 as the industry took a huge windfall from the Covid pandemic.

Women received 94 percent of the procedures, according to The Aesthetic Society.

In 2016, the popular photo and video sharing app rolled out “Lenses,” a set of filters that can significantly modify a person’s facial expression.

Until now, regular filters on apps like Facebook and Snapchat would change the color and lighting of photos — not change a person’s appearance with the click of a button.

The first pack of lenses included cartoonish and fun filters that made users vomit a rainbow or turn their appearance into a deer.

Among them is the now infamous dog filter. It quickly grew to be the most popular of the bunch, with many refraining from that at the time made everyone who used it look good.

Experts pointed to the filter that smoothes a person’s skin, sharpens their jaw, and lightens their tone as reasons why. But the most notable factor why people appreciated the filter so much is that it clogged the nose.

The dog muzzle that appears in the middle of a person’s face blocks his real nose, which is a point of uncertainty for many Americans.

Dr. Shauib explains how the iPhone’s front-facing camera features exaggerate this uncertainty for many.

“If you’re using the iPhone, the camera tends to enlarge the center of the phone about 30 percent. And those happen to be people’s noses,” he explained.

“That exaggerates people’s perception of their nose. And people become too self-conscious about it.’

In the years since, an ever-expanding list of apps has adopted these filters, with these beauty features now commonplace on TikTok and Instagram.

Apps like Facetune have also gained popularity, allowing users to quickly correct minor imperfections on their faces, smooth their skin, and sharpen their jaws in photos.

Many celebrities and influencers who have already had significant plastic surgery also heavily use these filters.

Reality TV stars Kim Kardashian and Larsa Pippen are famous users of beauty filters, and “pouting” poses are also said to have undergone a heavy dose of cosmetic surgery. However, Kardashian denies that she has received many procedures.

In another famous case was YouTuber Faryal Makhdoom’s love for cosmetic procedures reported to have played a role in her divorce from boxing superstar Amir Khan.

However, many see these changes as realistic. Dr. Shuaib says patients regularly ask him to change their face to look like a filter.

“Many of the patients I see in my office come in and bring pictures of their filtered noses and want me to replicate that,” he said.

“Which, you know, is kind of ridiculous.”

Dr. Shuaib has also learned the “dirty secret” from many of his colleagues, who use these filters and photo-editing techniques for before-after shots that they use to advertise on Instagram.

“Some people have made it their profession, but it’s a bit of a dirty secret,” he said.

It’s not illegal, is it? It’s unscrupulous. And it’s hard to prove,” he continued.

He said these posts will often work with “inexperienced” clients — younger people with less money who are likely to do less research before choosing a surgeon.

Combined, these trends have led to a surge in nose jobs and all facial augmentations.

According to the ASPS, 352,555 rhinoplasties were performed in the US in 2020. A nose job can cost between $2,500 and $15,000 in America, GoodRx reports.

Buccal fat removal can cost between $5,000 and $20,000, while a facelift usually costs a person around $10,000

Breast augmentations, often referred to as boob jobs, were dethroned in 2019 as America’s longest-running most popular plastic surgery by nose jobs.

Another rising trend is buccal fat removal surgery, where the fat is removed from the inside of a person’s cheeks to give them a lean and sharper look.

The surgery gained notoriety after it went viral on apps like TikTok and Instagram, but some surgeons are warning against receiving it.

Dr. Gary Linkov, a plastic surgeon in New York City, told DailyMail.com that removing facial filler can have long-term consequences.

“That fat is more permanent fat,” he explained.

‘A lot of the other fat that is more superficial in our face does [wither away] after a while. You usually want to keep as much fat as possible later in life.’

He continued that as people age and the fat in their skin begins to diminish, those who had distant buccal removal years earlier will look “extra skeletal.”

Dr. Linkov, who specializes in facial and neck procedures, now no longer offers buccal fat removal at his clinic.

“In general, I like to do procedures that years later people would think, ‘oh, yeah, I’m glad I did that.’

“The thought of doing something for someone, and later regretting it because of the changes going on in our bodies, doesn’t excite me.”

Dr. Linkov has that too speculated on his YouTube channel that Kardashian, and others like it, got a nose job, lip fillers, dermal cheek fillers, and a lip lift.