On November 26th, 2010, Chinese star Wang Bei died shortly after her cosmetic surgery procedure. This was due to the surgeon`s improper operation technique that caused bleeding of her lower jaw, which flowed into her throat, resulting in suffocation. This is just one of the horrible accidents that can happen during cosmetic surgery. Yet, despite the risk, fifteen million people around the world go under the knife every year. Cosmetic surgery has hit twenty first century like a tsunami, whipping people in and not letting them out. Despite the benefits, cosmetic surgery can be highly addictive and is capable of permanent harm.

Initially, cosmetic surgery is highly addictive and can eventually lead to suicide. The quest for his or her`s level of perfection can be extremely addicting to their psychological state. BDD, Body dysmorphic disorder is a condition that drives one person to repeatedly go under the knife. Factors leading to this disorder can be an extremely low self esteem or severe depression. BDD patients are obsessed with fixing the most tiniest things on their body that no one would ever notice, like a tiny birthmark or a slight bump on the nose. Doctors refuse to operate on these patients for it is inhuman and immoral to operate on a person who is near destruction from repeated surgery. Also, Body dysmorphic disorder patients will never be completely satisfied with the results. This vicious cycle of cosmetic surgery can eventually make the patient go under extreme levels of depression. Patients consider suicide or self harm as a result. For instance, Laura pillera is just one of the many who have been trapped in this horrible cycle. She says,  “It looks as if they have all been in a fire at one point in their lives. It is a slippery slope. Once you start, it is just as if you can not stop. There is always one more thing that you can do.” This quote emphasizes how even normal people that go under the knife for self satisfaction can end up as BDD sufferers. Obviously, the addictive nature of cosmetic surgery can put the patient in extreme danger.

Moreover, cosmetic surgery can result in disfigurements or death. The possibilities of deaths or disfigurements occurring during an operation is actually extremely low at the percentage of 1 in 16000, which is about as low as being a victim of a fatal car crash. “However, psychologists and surgeons warn that many patients are not prepared for the full spectrum of physical and emotional side effects that sometimes follow.”(forbes). Accidents occurred during and after surgery includes a whole nose collapsing from a disastrous nose job, permanent scarring in facial areas or bursting breast implants inside the body. With this in mind, there is also a chance of a patient dying on the operation table. Like every other surgery, it has its own risks. Death factors include heart attacks, blood clots or bursting veins (hemorrhage). For instance, American novelist Olivia Goldsmith suffered a fatal heart attack while under anesthesia before she was due to have surgery on her chin. Stephanie Kuleba, a florida teenager died due to an accident during a breast enhancement procedure. This demonstrates the serious danger that cosmetic surgery operations can put a person under. Thus, the chance of disfigurement and death during an operation puts patients at risk.

On the contrary, some people argue that cosmetic surgery can help people living with disfigurements or pain, such as scars from accidents or body disfigurements from birth defects. This is true. Reconstructive cosmetic surgery is one way to help people lead a normal life.  However, the downside is that this isn't the case in most operations, and cosmetic surgery can lead to extreme addiction and permanent damage. According to 2010`s data on the purpose of plastic surgery, reconstructive cosmetic surgery took up only 27.3% of the operations in the U.S. Consequently, reconstructive cosmetic surgery is only a small percentage of the cosmetic surgery operations occurring in the world today.

To sum it up, the risky and addictive nature of cosmetic surgery puts patients in danger. Patients can end up as BDD (addiction to cosmetic surgery) sufferers, and go under extreme depression as a result, possibly leading to suicide. One wrong movement from the surgeon and patients can wind up with disfigurements or dead. Since when was pillars and botoxes considered beauty anyway?